Hoppin' Frog and Southern Tier Pumpkin ales

I'd like to start off this new topic with two excellent seasonal beers.

For those who are unfamiliar with Hoppin Frog, they are a small microbrewery located near Akron, Ohio. Fred Karm, the brewmaster, is well known in the area for making very flavorful and strong beers. Their 22oz beers can be found anywhere from $6-$14.

Brewery: Hoppin' Frog
Beer: Frog's Hollow Double Pumpkin Ale
Style: Field Beer or Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer
ABV: 8.4%
IBU: 7
Price: $7.99 for a 22oz bottle

Upon opening this bottle, strong notes of allspice and pumpkin fill my room. As I pour this into my glass the aroma only gets more pronounced. The color is beautiful deep orange with excellent clarity. The carbonation is low, with a thin white head. The first sip left me flabbergasted. I kid you not, this ale tastes like pumpkin pie filling. The flavor of the spices is much stronger than the aroma suggested. A nice earthy pumpkin flavor is also present. Since the IBU's are so low, this is a very sweet beer. The low carbonation works perfectly for this beer. This beer has a nice medium body. There is no hop flavor/aroma present. As the beer warmed it became less desirable. I'd recommend serving this below 45F.

Aroma: 7/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 8/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 16/20

Final Score: 39/50


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Brewery: Southern Tier
Beer: Pumking
Style: Field Beer or Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer
ABV: 9.0%
IBU: ?
Price: $8.99 for a 22oz bottle

Upon opening this bottle, a buttery/biscuit aroma was present. Quite the opposite of the Hoppin' Frog. Pouring this into a glass revealed its light orange color and a medium carbonation (about 1 finger of white head). The biscuit/pumpkin aroma really shined after it was poured. The first sip reminded me of pie crust with a nice pumpkin finish. Body is medium, a tad lighter than Hoppin' Frog. Hop presence is limited to the bitterness, which I'd guess is in the upper 10's/lower 20's for IBU's. It's still on the sweet side despite this. As it warmed it also became less desirable. I'd recommend serving this beer below 45F.

Aroma: 7/10
Appearance: 3/5
Taste: 8/10
Palate: 3/5
Overall: 15/20

Final Score: 36/50


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I got the idea to mix these two beers, since one tastes like pumpkin pie filling while the other like pie crust. If my mouth could orgasm, it would. It is seriously a perfect liquid pumpkin pie. If there was a commercial example of this I would most likely go into debt within a week. I mixed it 50/50. The biscuit aroma/flavor was very dominant, so I'd probably mix it 66/33 in favor of the Hoppin' Frog next time.