It used to be, in the early days of craft beer, that we all thought of pumpkin beers as holiday winter seasonals. OK, sure, they came out in fall (not August as they do these days), but hey, they were just in time for Thanksgiving and we always had some left for Christmas. You eat pumpkin pie during the holidays, don't you? So why not drink pumpkin beer?
It was with that in mind that I picked up a bottle of Boulevard Funky Pumpkin Spiced Sour Ale in November of 2015. I socked it away in one of my beer fridges with the notion of drinking it that winter. Problem is, I never did, but not really a problem I reasoned; I'll save it for Christmas in July. Except, well, I never got around to drinking it then either. Before you knew it, there I was in Total Wine picking up fall beers (Oktoberfest lagers and pumpkin ales), and I got another bottle of Boulevard Funky Pumpkin.
So, there it is. A vertical tasting of two years of Funky Pumpkin ensued and I'm here to tell you about it. First, though, a little about Boulevard Funky Pumpkin. The labels have changed between years, and though the 2016 label doesn't tell you anything about the beer, the 2015 label does:
Ingredients from the website:
Malt: Pale malt, Munich malt, amber 50
Hops: Zeus, Magnum
Spices: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice
Other: pumpkin
Boulevard Funky Pumpkin Spiced Sour Ale has an alcohol content of 5.8% by volume with 28 IBUs. My 2015 bottle is dated as best by 01/11/16, while the 2016 says its best by 16DEC2016. Let's give them a whirl, shall we?
About Boulevard Brewery
Founded in 1989, Boulevard Brewing Company has grown to become the largest specialty brewer in the Midwest. Our mission is simple: to produce fresh, flavorful beers using the finest ingredients and the best of both old and new brewing techniques.
Boulevard Funky Pumpkin Spiced Sour Ale 2015 and 2016 in two Boulevard Brewing Glasses
Tasting Notes
Boulevard Funky Pumpkin Spiced Sour Ale 2015 pours to a bright orange color with a medium sized head of spritzy, short lived foam and a tart sour nose laced with pumpkin and dry spice. Taking a sip, the beer is quite sour up front and you get nutmeg for sure and cinnamon, maybe clove and ginger. A bit of squashy pumpkin pokes through, and the sourness takes over in the finish and mixes nicely with the drying spices.
Boulevard Funky Pumpkin Spiced Sour Ale 2016 is more restrained, with hints of spice (but less of them) and a little less sourness. Taking a sip, the beer is definitely lighter in body, with less spice for sure and less pumpkin too. It's a little more crackery wheaty and a little less pumpkin and spicy, almost cidery to a point, but again tart and spicy dry in the finish, though less so.
Value & Verdict
Boulevard Funky Pumpkin runs $8.99 a six-pack in these parts, very reasonable indeed.
The 2015 has held up nicely and is definitely the better of the two in my opinion. I'm drinking on September 25th, well beyond the January suggested best by date. Yet the 2015 is bolder and spicier, even with age, than the 2016. Boulevard Funky Pumpkin Spiced Sour Ale certainly ages well. Then too, I wasn't prepared for the difference in color, with the 2016 being much lighter in color than the 2015. Finally, I didn't really get the Brett funkiness, just sourness. Likely the spices drowned it out.
I'd give Boulevard Funky Pumpkin Spiced Sour Ale 4 stars and the 2016 3.5, so that's where I'll peg the beer overall, but heck, at the bargain price I think back up to 4 stars it shall be.
