Reviewed By Ron DeGregorio
As my search continues for the perfect pumpkin ale, I stumbled acrossed the Arcadia Ales Jaw Jacker. Arcadia Ales; another great brewery out of the great beer state of Michigan, has created a pumpkin beer that actually contains no pumpkin! Even though it has a pumpkin on the label, the beer is described as an ale with spices added cinnamon allspice and nutmeg.
Arcadia Ales describes Jaw Jacker as follows: “This spiced amber-wheat ale is our celebration of the arrival of Autumn. Using the finest malted barley and little wheat for mouthfeel, Jaw-Jacker displays a brilliant orange-amber color, despite the absence of pumpkin in the recipe. The addition of cinnamon, all-spice and nutmeg (in the exact proportions of our brewer’s Grandmother’s pumpkin pie recipe) creates a refreshingly spicy, season brew.”
Appearance: Dark orange with a very thin whitehead. I almost thought it was under carbonated until the end of the poor when a very thin white finally appeared. Tiny CO2 bubbles float to the surface throughout and the beer has that very nice deep orange that goes along with pumpkin beers.
Aroma: …Woah. The aroma jumps right out of the glass. You can smell this beer from a few feet away. It has that very classic pumpkin spice smell; that of fall aromas. Smells include a mint like smell with bitter vegetal pumpkin, complimented by cinnamon, allspice, peppermint, gingerbread and finally, a hint of nutmeg. It smells simply delicious.
Mouth feel: Jaw Jacker is very well carbonated (despite my initial fears). While there is almost no bittering from hops, the beer is so well carbonated it feels like an explosion of little CO2 bubbles on your tongue.
Taste: Wow!! An absolute explosion of cinnamon spice hits your taste buds. This is definitely the most spiced forward fall ale I’ve had yet – and- I love it. It almost tastes like a mouthful of cinnamon toast crunch cereal. Tastes of all the advertised spices are abundant. This is an excellent beer.
Conclusion: Overall I would give this beer I’m 96 or a very solid A. In terms of what the style is supposed to be, this nails it. I have a personal love for cinnamon, so the fact that this beer is an explosion of cinnamon in your mouth is exactly what I want, and is very much welcomed.
On a cool September evening in Ohio, this is exactly the type of beer you want to be drinking. Buy all you can of this beer;It’s That good. Even though it’s not TECHNICALLY a pumpkin ale, I absolutely love it.
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