Brewer: Starr Hill Brewing Company
Location: Charlottesville, Virginia
Type: English Porter
ABV: 5.2%

Time to end our work-inspired travel tour and bring it back home for this week’s seasonal brew. Remember how I said, in my review of Dark Starr Stout, that Starr Hill would be making a return appearance this Darktober? Welcome to the return: Boxcar Pumpkin Porter.

Warm autumnal scents of nutmeg, cinnamon, clove, and allspice over the pungent trace of star anise rise from the depths of this midnight-tinted brew. The taste, however, is…incongruous.

Boxcar dropkicks your palate with a full-frontal bitter blast. It’s actually quite jarring, especially considering the “comfort food” nose that precedes it. You wouldn’t be wrong to expect a rush of flavors reminiscent of a warm slice of fresh pumpkin pie.

Instead, this porter’s flavor is more like the truest essence of cooked pumpkin