The most wonderful time of the year

Today is the first day of autumn. My favorite time of year! The leaves change colors, the air gets cooler, sweaters come out. It's also Oktoberfest - and more importantly, to me - pumpkin beer time. I know some people complain about the fact that pumpkin beers are available at the beginning of September, saying it's too early. I don't feel that way at all. Bring them out in July and I'd be happy!

A couple of years ago, someone told me about Southern Tier Pumking, saying it was one of the best beers they'd ever tried. I had one and couldn't believe how good it was. It's become an all-time seasonal favorite for me. I think I have about 5 bottles waiting in the fridge right now. And one that I'm cellaring for next year, to try against the 2012 batch.

Last week at Hawthorne's I bought a bunch of pumpkin beers, so that I could try some new ones and enjoy some old favorites. It was quite the haul and I've been enjoying them nightly.

The ones that have really stuck out to me include Brooklyn Brewery Post Road, Dogfish Head Punkin Ale, Fegley's Devious Imperial Pumpkin, and Uinta's Punk'n. and the Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale

Luckily, the season is far from over. So if you've been waiting for the right time to try a new beer, now is it! And if you have a recommendation on a beer I should try, I'd love to hear it.

Brooklyn Brewery Post Road Pumpkin Ale

As I mentioned in my last post, fall is a great time of year. As the temperatures cool, everything becomes a little heartier. Food. The clothes we wear. And most importantly, the beer we drink.
In addition to the great Oktoberfest beers that are so prevalent this time of year, pumpkin ales make a strong showing now, too.

I had the great Brooklyn Brewery Post Road Pumpkin Ale last night at 12 Steps Down. Although I've lived just a couple of blocks from this bar for almost 4 months now, it was my first trip in. It won't be my last. You can read more about the bar here because right now I'd like to focus on the beer.

The beer is a nice orange/ amber color. It smells of pumpkin, which should be expected given that - according to the brewers web site - hundreds of pounds of pumpkins are used in the mash of each batch. This heralds back to the early American colonists tradition of using natural ingredients in their brews. Pumpkins were chosen because of their abundance, flavor and nutritional value. Lucky for us!

The taste is somewhat spicy - cinammon, nutmeg, clove. You can even taste real pumpkin. But the nice thing is that it's not overwhelmingly pumpkiny, as some pumpkin beers are. The pumpkin taste is really nicely blended with the malt, giving it an almost bready taste.

This is a nice, easy drinking beer. Given it's low ABV (only 5%), and low caloric value (best I can figure is about 150 calories per 12 oz) this is a beer even the Great Pumpkin himself would enjoy (sorry. I wanted to get that in there somehow. I'll try not to make it a habit when reviewing other pumpkin beers).