There was a time I wouldn’t have been all that offended by a beer that didn’t just taste like … beer. Y’know, the blueberry pale ales; the cranberry lambics. And, among these were the spiced beers for fall, usually with nutmeg and/or cinnamon, during the fall and winter months. These days I can only take these beers on rare occasion, and I make special exception for the Halloween-time favorite: pumpkin beer. This year, though, I may have found something I might be able to stomach more than once: Shipyard Brewery’s Pugsley’s Signature Series Smashed Pumpkin.
Shipyard makes another pumpkin ale, called Pumpkinhead Ale, with an admirable ABV of 5.1%. Smashed Pumpkin trumps the Pumpkinhead with a staggering 9% ABV, and that’s where this pumpkin beer stands out. No longer do you need to endure the ridicule of fellow beer drinkers with your nutmeg-y, fruity beer — you’re holding a bottle of rocket fuel, baby! What’s more, it doesn’t taste like it’s rocking that amount of alcohol. Many times, with heavy stouts or Belgian-style ales, you can tell you’re going to be in trouble if you down more than a couple pints. With Smashed Pumpkin, it’s pretty well hidden … which, I guess, can be dangerous.
Apparently, judging by the label above, the beer comes in one-pint bottles, but my local specialty liquor store seemed to only be carrying the 22 oz. size. The page at Shipyard’s website indicates it’s only available in 22 oz. or kegs, though, so I’m not sure what’s going on there. This is the sort of beer that I feel belongs in the larger bottle alone, further letting you on that it’s not your typical pumpkin beer — if you drink that full bottle, you could indeed be “smashed” pretty quickly.
Smashed Pumpkin still has that very cinnamon-y and nutmeg-y flavor that you either love or hate, so there’s nothing new there. But that boost in alcohol content gives this seasonal beer a step above the rest.
Clacked by Keith McDuffee 
on Oct 08, 2010 @ 09:23 EST5EDT
The label one pint, six fluid ounces. That’s 16 ounces plus 6 ounces for a total of 22 ounces. I’mjustsayin’.
*POST AUTHOR*
D’oh! Saw the 1 Pint, didn’t think the 6oz. meant to add to it. Of course a pint isn’t 6 oz.! Thanks.
Since the taste of the beer doesn’t give you any indication that you are drinking something pretty darn high in APV, is the beer at least filling enough to keep you from needing another?
I’ve been curious about finding a good pumpkin ale ever since the nights have been dropping into the 50s. The search is already leading me to my local microbrewery Wednesday, but hopefully I can find this in a liquor store so I can enjoy some while watching some Halloween specials as well.
This is a terrific ale! Strange, but I remember pumpkinhead tasting like this when it first came out without the alcohol content. At 22 oz. I can limit myself to one. One caviat, make sure you pay attention to the recommended 55 degree temp (best at) suggestion. I think this is why so many people seem to be getting more of an alcohol taste out of this remarkable ale.
I certainly hope that they brew more of this, I missed it when it first came out last year.