Dogfish Head Punkin' Ale

So I missed Halloween by a couple days. Nevertheless, I had a bottle of DFH Punkin' Ale lying around, and I figured now was as good a time as any to dust it off.

Actually, it turns out now's not as good a time as then, because this particular sample, which dates from last fall's release, is past its prime.

I had read somewhere that Punkin' Ale drank pretty good at about a year old. So I held onto a bottle.

Well, the truth is that, while the beer isn't what I would call bad (and at 7% ABV I wasn't worried about rapid spoilage), it has nevertheless lost it spicy luster and thus much of its character.

Better would have been to hold back a few bottles and try them at intervals. I'm thinking three to six months would have been closer to ideal.