The Canadian’s celebrate thanksgiving a lot earlier up there.   However, that doesn’t mean that they can’t enjoy a good pumpkin beer as well!  St. Ambroise Citrouille is one of the great products from our neighbors to the North.  Is their pumpkin powered purveyance pure pie pleasure, or just poor poured imitation?

Wondering where the wine is?  More wine reviews are on their way, unfortunately due to constraints of the hotel room, pumpkin beer will be rounding out the week.  More on St. Ambroise Citrouille after the jump.

Sight:  A rather bright brown color, similar to a mahogany.  Head retention is smooth, but not considerably large.

Smell:  There’s a decent amount of pumpkin in the nose, but it’s not the strongest odor.  It’s slightly on the butternut squash side.  There’s a little bit of spice, but it’s not as heavily spiced as many others in the category.

Sip:  Plenty of carbonation, and a rather considerable amount of mouth chew.  It doesn’t quite ever hit pie.  It’s almost more going for a pumpkin soup of sorts.  The spices are rather subdued, and the lack of sweetness makes it much more earthy and squashy. [A.B.V 5%]

Savor:  The flavor of pumpkin grows rather faintly with a bit of bitter clove before disappearing.

Overall, St. Ambroise Citrouille is mostly pumpkin, and less pie.  For those that prefer toned down spice, this gives a more pumpkin concentrated flavor.  It’s not the best at it though, and the loss of the spice means there’s less depth.  It might be worth a try, but it’s just not as much fun as some of the other pumpkin beers in the same price range.

Verdict:  Tennis… or squash?
Price: $1.89 / 12 oz bottle
Montreal, Canada
http://mcauslan.com/