Sharp cinnamon spicing paces less enthusiastic 2020 version of brown-sugared pumpkin pied libation. A tad slick compared to the triumphant 2012 original, its cinnamon-nutmeg-allspice alacrity still maintains a sweet distinction, and the spiced orange tang’s a nice touch, but the carbolic fizziness retains a certain aridity.
On tap at Shepherd & Knucklehead, passively interesting golden-hazed white stout affixes vanilla-sugared white chocolate adjunct to mild cream soda sweetness and mellow lemon meringue tartness – contrasting latent grassy-hopped astringency. But its vanilla affectation falls off before subsidiary cacao nibs, espresso and coconut illusions provide sufficient backup. Canned version contrasts lemon meringue tartness against sweet vanilla creaming, but not as convincingly.
