Sam Adams Fat Jack Double Pumpkin Review

Name: Sam Adams Fat Jack Double Pumpkin
Style: Pumpkin Beer
ABV: 8.5%

It's a cold, windy & rainy night here in Duluth and driving home is liking being in your own horror movie but without the dumb teenagers running from a serial killer. With Halloween about 4 weeks away, what better night than tonight to review a pumpkin ale.

A couple years ago, Sam Adams started releasing these specialty bombers of beer as a way to branch out more into the craft beer community and have been pretty successful so far. This one is Sam Adams' Fat Jack Double Pumpkin Ale, the brewery's own pumpkin ale. Much like Southern Tier's Pumking, this has a rather high ABV, clocking in at 8.5%. Many will call this an "Imperial Pumpkin Ale" but I think the term sounds a bit silly so we'll just call it a Pumpkin Beer for the time being.

Fat Jack pours a dark clear ruby red color with a foamy brown head that retains a filmy appearance after it settles down and leaves behind some good lacing. The visible carbonation is also quite light.

The aroma starts you off with a nice pumpkin pie and light cinnamon scent. After that, there are some spice, clove, nutmeg, malty and vanilla notes in the back. It's smell is not unlike that of Pumking.

The flavor is rather cinnamon and clove heavy upfront. The sweet pumpkin pie flavor takes a back seat to those flavors along with the vanilla, malts and hops.

The body itself is rather heavy and the carbonation starts out moderate before coming down a couple of notches to a lesser intensity.

It's a decent Pumpkin beer but the flavor is quite imbalanced and could use some work. Also I paid about a dollar more for this than Pumking, which I think is a more superior Pumpkin beer than this. If you have the money, go for Pumking instead of this.

Sam Adams Fat Jack Double Pumpkin - 7/10