Fisherman's Imperial Pumpkin Stout

I actually have not had anything from Fisherman's (aka Cape Ann Brewing) brewery before. I'm not entirely sure why, I've seen it around State Line before and just haven't bothered to pick any up. However, fall seasonals are in full swing, and what that generally means in the brewing world is tons of beers loaded with pumpkin and spices. An Imperial Pumpkin Stout sounded a little bit more out of the ordinary and intriguing, so I decided to give it a shot.

This beer poured a dark, almost black color with a deep tan head. I had about 2 fingers of pillowy foam in my glass, which left a nice coating of lace on the glass.

The aroma that hit me initially was sweet with caramel malt, nutmeg, and pumpkin forming a nice balance. There wasn't nearly the roasted quality I expected from such a dark beer, and I couldn't distinguish any noticeable hop quality on the nose. I thought this was either because it was masked by the other smells, or simply because it wasn't present. I noted there may have been a trace of fruity hop quality, but that it easily could have also been from the yeast or other ingredients, and certainly wasn't very strong.

The taste initially struck me as smooth and creamy, with an up-front but not overwhelming nutmeg quality. The roast and bitterness came through somewhat subdued at first in the back of the mouth, but as I continued the glass it became more pronounced. There's definitely a strong malt backbone to this beer, but it's flavorful without being either cloying or overly bitter. The pumpkin is mixed nicely in without being showy, adding to the beer rather than being there just to be different.

In the mouth I found it to have a medium-heavy body with fairly light carbonation. It's actually a pretty pleasant change to beers from so many other breweries that tend to be fairly highly carbonated, whereas this evokes more of a "cask" feel. The carbonation had the quality of tiny sharp bubbles prickling the tongue. The beer also left a slick coating in the mouth and just a touch of warmth in the throat, the only indication of it's 11% ABV.

I enjoyed this beer thoroughly. It had a quality to me that I've found missing in so many other pumpkin and spiced fall seasonals, which is the elusive drinkability factor. Unlike beers like Dogfish Head Punk and others, I didn't feel like I would get sick of it after 1 bottle. I think the reason it worked well in this beer is that the pumpkin wasn't in your face or unbalanced, but rather blended nicely with the darker malt flavors found in the stout base. I could definitely see myself going back to this one again.

- Adam