Granville Island Brewery Pumpkin Ale launch party

All 3 of us (Raul, Anabelle and I) headed to Granville Island on Tuesday evening to try out some Pumpkin Ale (#GIBPumpkinAle). Now, I’m not a professional critic and I’ve never taken any sort of tasting course, but I do love craft beer, and I am well-versed in all GIB beers. I hope this review is a helpful guide to others like me, who just love to enjoy good seasonal beer, and apologies if I’m missing the proper beer review methods!

We started the evening with a taste-tour of 3 different beers – ales, to be exact.

The Pale Ale and an explanation of the malts used in it was the first to go. It was paired with local cheese from Granville Island’s Benton Brother’s Fine Cheese. The idea of beer and cheese tastings crossed my world about a year ago, and I’ve been obsessed with it ever since. I’m so glad that GIB took part in this, because Granville Island’s artisan shops are fantastic and it tasted delicious.

The second beer was their Maple Cream ale. I’ve tried this one before and remember disliking it, but this night it tasted just fine. Maybe the recipe has changed in the year or so that I haven’t drank it, or maybe it was just a good evening. The Maple Cream Ale was sweet but not sugary, and went down smoothly.

Finally we got to the Pumpkin Ale! It’s brewed with real roasted pumpkin puree and a blend of secret spices. This is the third year that Granville Island has produced their seasonal Pumpkin Ale, each year they change the recipe slightly. In my opinion, this year’s was bang on. When we were finished the test and given the choice of any beers at the tap-room, I had to go for more pumpkin. It tasted like pumpkin pie, and even though it went well with cheese, I would like to try it with an entire turkey dinner. The colour was a beautiful amber, and the aroma was super light (I probably wouldn’t have guessed pumpkin if I hadn’t known.) The taste was light as well, but lightly spiced and very delicious.

Our Pumpkin Ales’s earthy undertones lend a unique twist to this untraditional ale. Burnt orange in colour, this ale is a reflection of autumn’s changing landscape. Smells like fresh pumpkin pie. Roasted pumpkin with dashes of nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves create a lingering finish.

EDITOR’S NOTE AND DISCLOSURE: I (Raul) was invited to the launch party for Granville Island Brewery’s pumpkin ale and brought along my interns Jessica and Anabelle. A blog post is neither expected nor paid for, although we did get to sample a couple of glasses of beer compliments of our hosts. As always I retain editorial control on anything published on my site. Jessica wrote this review on behalf of all three of us as she’s the one who does love beer

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