Well, no… at least not in the south… while it has been getting down in the 60’s at night, it’ll be Halloween before it starts getting downright chilly. But, in anticipation of crisp fall weather, this year’s crop of pumpkin beers is already being harvested. So, for the first pumpkin beer of the season for me, we have Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin Ale.

And it’s not bad. A good pumpkin spice scent, a malty first taste blending into pumpkin spice with, to me, a little hint of crust and cream; and not too heavy. All in all, a middle of the road pumpkin beer; but surprisingly good when you consider Blue Moon = Coors.

An 8 quart, 3.7 ABV pale ale. A friend of mine and I had been talking for some time about brewing our own beer, and he picked up a Mr. Beer kit. Yeah, I know; Mr. Beer, the Kraco car stereo of the homebrew industry. But it’s a good, cheap way to get a feel for homebrewing before stepping up, equipment-wise. The kit came with West Coast Pale Ale hopped malt extract and yeast. So, off we went with the first trial run.

Not too difficult; the instructions were clear, and a lot of the confusing gobbledygook we’d encountered while browsing homebrewing websites became a little clearer. Sanitize everything, mix up the wort, add the yeast, let it ferment in a cool, dry place… A couple of weeks later, after the fermentation has stopped, bottle it in the supplied bottles and add a little sugar for secondary fermentation to add CO2, and let it carbonate. Another couple of weeks and voila! You have beer.

A little apprehensive at the first tasting, but we seemed to have avoided the bad outcomes I read about befalling other first-time brewers. A little fruity flavor to it, but otherwise a good, crisp ale with a decent head. We’re going to run a couple of other styles for practice while saving for equipment to step up to the next level. The expensive part will be kegging equipment, as we want to brew 5-gallon batches and force-carbonate them in the keg.

I admit it, I’m a fan of “dessert” beers. Nice, thick, sweet, dark beers that could easily substitute for an after-dinner sweet. Hence the review of Southern Tier’s Creme Brulee Stout; and, with my love of pumpkin pie, this review of three Pumpkin beers.

Eeeew… pumpkin beer? Yup, and it’s tastier than you might think. And while the pumpkin beer we enjoy today is more or less a modern invention of craft brewing, there are historical beers brewed with pumpkin… although they did this because of the expense of obtaining maltable barley in the colonies, and anything with sugar content went into the kettle. I suspect those colonial pumpkin beers tasted nothing like today’s.

In any case, the first on the list is Samuel Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale. Fairly light in taste, with a very subtle smoked flavor and noticeable pumpkin taste with some other spice notes. It’s not as heavy as some of the others, so it’s probably better if you want the distinct pumpkin pie flavor without feeling like you ate an entire one. It’s still got a fairly complex blend of tastes; and you always know with a brewer the size of Sam Adams that you’ll get a consistent quality brew. It’s only found in their seasonal Harvest Collection, which is unfortunate.

(On a side note, another item in that Harvest Collection is the Bonfire Rauchbier; brewed with smoked malts. It’s advertised as having a deep, smokey flavor with a hint of sweetness; and it’s quite true. This is another one I could drink year ’round, and wish it was around for longer… and makes me want to try my hand at brewing something similar.)

Next up is Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale. I’m not quite as impressed with this one, but it was one of the first of the inevitable wave of pumpkin beers to show up at my local beer store. This one is very hoppy, giving it a lot more bite and bitterness with the pumpkin flavor not really noticeable until the finish. It’s a bit too hoppy for me, with an almost metallic taste to it; so I’ll have to give it a pass. After I finish the six-pack, of course.

Finally, there’s the pumpkin beer that, as a dessert beer lover, I’d have to crown as king: Southern Tier Pumking.

When I was at le beer store, nosing around to see what was new, I ran across the Smuttynose and asked the clerk how he thought it compared to Pumking, which I had had last season but hadn’t arrived at this store yet. He shook his head vigorously and said “It doesn’t. Nothing does. Southern Tier has sold their soul to the devil to get that much flavor in a beer”.

And that’s not an exaggeration. Like the Creme Brulee, when you first smell Pumking, you’d swear there was a freshly baked pumpkin pie somewhere nearby. Pours a clear, amber/orange color with a short-lived head, and then slaps your tastebuds with pumpkin pie. And I don’t mean “yeah, that’s pumpkin; and I can taste a little allspice”; but “Holy shit! That’s pumpkin pie!” Pumpkin, vanilla cream, even a hint of the graham crust; it’s all there, in a rich, slightly hoppy beer. Sold their soul to devil, indeed; every other pumpkin beer is a pale imitator when it comes to matching the taste of fresh pumpkin pie. Finishes smooth, though it is a bit heavy and remember, it’s an 8.6 ABV; so it’s a strong beer as well. If you’re not a fan of sweet beers, you won’t like this one; but if you’re looking for a no-shit pumpkin pie beer, this is the only one you need.

I first had this at a restaurant in downtown Athens. Can’t remember the name of it, but it was a block from the 40 Watt. They had quite a few stouts, and would let you have samples if you were having trouble deciding what you wanted. The name called to me… Creme Brulee; what’s not to like? You know Creme Brulee; a rich, custard base with a hard caramelized topping (or a flan, same thing with a soft or liquid caramel top).

The sample came in a shot glass, and I knew from the first sniff that this was going to be what I was ordering. It smelled, in fact, exactly like a Creme Brulee. And the taste? Well, it’s a stout; so the first taste is what you’d expect from a stout, malty, but sweet as it is a milk stout, and smoother than a lot of the dry stouts. There’s also a noticeable vanilla flavor and an aftertaste of… yup, Creme Brulee.

It’s a sweet stout, to be sure; and like any milk stout, it’s damn near a meal in itself. The sweetness may turn some away but, damn, that’s a tasty beer. It’s a summer seasonal, and only available in a pony keg or 22oz bottle; so either share it with a friend or prepare to stay in for the evening- 10% alcohol by volume.