Heads up! It’s Pumpkin Down. Pumpkin Down Scottish Ale that is from Ballast Point Brewing of San Diego, California. This is a new variation on Ballast Point’s tasty Piper Down Scottish Ale for 2016 (I think). Mine is pretty fresh indeed, as I just bought it about a week ago and drank my bottle a few days later. If you don’t want to take my word for it, let’s decipher the bottling date from the stamp on the bottom, shall we?

My bottle says “PKD 27 16212 09:28”. That means it was the 27^th batch bottled, and it was bottled on day 212, which would be July 30^th, of 2016, at 9:28 AM. I drank it on Thursday, September 22^nd, 54 days after bottling. A beer like this could go well beyond that, of course. One footnote to add to the photo at right is that, though there’s no head in it, the beer did indeed have a fairly good sized one. It’s just that somebody (me) forgot to put an SD card in my digital camera when I took the pictures right after the pour.

From the website:

A pumpkin ale that bucks the trend.

Some might think we’re out of our gourd for making a pumpkin ale, but our Pumpkin Down is not like the others.  The caramel and toffee maltiness of our Piper Down Scottish ale is the perfect backdrop for a boatload of roasted pumpkin. Just before bottling, we add a subtle amount of spice to complement, but not overwhelm, the earthy flavor. It was a smash at the brewery, and we think you’ll agree.

Ballast Point Pumpkin Down Scottish Ale has an alcohol content of 5.8% by volume with 22 IBUs. It will cost you $10.99 a six-pack at Total Wine, a better price indeed than I’ve seen in the past for Ballast Point six-packs.

Ballast Point Pumpkin Down Scottish Ale pours to a beautiful reddish brown color with a thick creamy head and a delightful toffee and pumpkin spice nose. Taking a sip, I love the toasted toffee flavor up front, the roasty squashy pumpkin, and the dry nutmeg and cinnamon spice that increases into the finish. The spice and pumpkin and caramel all meld together perfectly and a malt sweetness infuses, yet the beer still finishes spicy dry.

Just a wonderful pumpkin beer, and one I’ll be going back for a six-pack of. It’s so good I didn’t want to stop sipping, until the next thing I knew my glass was empty. A true example of pumpkin pie in a glass, Ballast Point Pumpkin Down Scottish Ale is not a beer to be missed. So don’t.

Update 10/5/2017: Here's a better picture! Ballast Point Pumpkin Down from Stout's Growlers, $8.75 for 32-ounces. All that wonderful pumpkiny goodness on a tasty Scottish ale. My daughter helped me drink it, and she enjoyed it, too.

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft

(G)=Growler

 

 

 

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