Pumpkinhead Ale from Shipyard Brewing Co.

The beer this pumpkin-headed horseman is holding in his hand has considerably more head than the actual ale in the bottle did *sigh*

Brewer: Shipyard Brewing Co.
Location:  Portland, ME
Name of Brew:  Pumpkinhead Ale
Manufacturer's Description:  "A crisp and refreshing wheat ale with delightful aromatics and subtle spiced flavor."
ABV:  4.7%

Head
Not much more than 2-3mm of white head on this beer, even after several attempts to swirl it just to generate head.  What did show up cleared pretty quickly, leaving only a trace white ring around the glass and nothing in the middle.

Color
Poured into a glass, this ale is slightly more orange than your typical blonde ale.  The color actually reminds me quite a bit of a coppery cider.  There are some slight bubbles but no "floaties" or clouded debris indicating that this must be a filtered wheat (if it is indeed even a wheat, as the manufacturer claims).

Aroma
The first hit of this ale is very nearly wine-like.  Hints of fruit scents (apricot, apple) come through on the first pull, but a second sniff uncovers a touch of cinnamon spice as well.  There's virtually no "beer" smell here at all.

Taste
Early palette
Very tart, strong intial presence and bite at the front.  Immediately I noticed the carbonation "zing" on the tip of my tongue.
Middle palette
Apple and spice flavors are really coming through here.  The taste is sweet, but not overly so, with the tiniest hint of hops coming through.
Late palette
Finally, the pumpkin flavor creeps in, although it's a very muted pumpkin taste.  Still getting hits of spices lingering on the tongue (nutmeg, cinnamon), but the strong apple flavor present in the middle palette is much weaker here.  Almost as weak as the fleeting pumpkin flavor, which is already gone about as fast as it came in.

Overall thoughts
While the flavor was mostly pleasant, it almost tasted more like a cider than an ale.  The strongest flavors that come through are clearly apple and spices, and although it didn't have that clear, crispness of an actual cider, it certainly felt like some kind of cider-ale hybrid.  About as weird as it sounds.  And I'm not trying to say it tasted like an apple-beer either (which my brother has the most amazing recipe for - I hope he'll make it again sometime in the future).  At the end of it, I'm left wondering, "did I really just drink an ale?"  More specifically, "did I really just drink a pumpkin ale?"  Even more specifically, "did I really just drink a pumpkin wheat ale?".  I feel like if I were given this in a blind test, I would never have known it was supposed to be pumpkin or wheat, as there is nothing distinctly wheat about the appearance, smell, or taste, and the pumpkin flavor is elusive at best.  I think it's there?  Or I may have been trying to convince myself it was there, since this was supposed to be a pumpkin ale afterall.  Enjoyable, I guess, but not one I'll be buying again.  Really makes me curious about these pumpkin ciders I picked up, though...

Alas, the hunt for the best Fall seasonal continues... see you next beer!