Perfect time for a pumpkin ale

Our fourth weekly craft beer column in the Auburn Corner News. This one focused on Pumpkin Ales. The thumbnail to the right links to an image of the Corner News article, or click here for a .pdf version. The original text is copied below. The end result appearing in the paper may be a little bit different than the original due to space and formatting issues.

Now is the Perfect Time for a Pumpkin Ale
by John Little

Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas…. All perfect excuses to sit back and enjoy the amazing aroma and flavors of a well made pumpkin ale. Get your hands on a good pumpkin ale, and one sip will take you back in time to the days when your brothers, sisters and cousins came in from playing in the cold and were met with the warmth of a fireplace, football on the T.V. and a kitchen filled with the aroma of pumpkin pie coming from the oven.

Most pumpkin ales are made with real pumpkin, caramelized in the oven, before being added to either the mash, boil or fermentation stage of the brewing process. Many also use a combination of brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and all-spice to obtain a distinct pumpkin pie character, but the use of spices are best if well balanced with, and don’t overwhelm, the underlying beer, which is typically a pale or amber ale but can be darker, roastier style such as a robust porter or oatmeal stout. The use of real pumpkin in the brewing process typically produces a slight orange tinge in the appearance of the beers with a lighter underlying style, and the most popular pumpkin ales tend to be in the 6.5% to 8% a.b.v. range, making them inaccessible to local Auburn retailers and consumers due to Alabama’s archaic, prohibition-era laws restricting the sale and consumption of the finer craft beers currently on the market in other parts of the country.

Among the highest rated pumpkin ales in the U.S. are Pumking by Southern Tier Brewing Company, Schlafly Pumpkin Ale by Saint Louis Brewery, Cottonwood Pumpkin Spiced Ale by Carolina Beer & Beverage, Imperial Pumpkin Ale by Weyerbacher Brewing and Punkin’ Ale by Delaware’s famous Dogfish Head Craft Brewery. And at least 3 varieties of very tasty pumpkin ale have been recently brewed at home by local Auburn-Opelika area craft beer enthusiasts and shared at meetings of the Auburn Brew Club. Don’t miss the opportunity to enjoy one of these delicious Autumn beers at holiday gatherings this year.

Filed under: Commercial Beer, In the News