I Had Four For Review, So My Vote Counts Times Two

Update the Sixth: Lake of Bays Brewing Company Mash'n Pumpkins

First, I need to issue a quick clarification regarding my standards for being a "hipster". I contend the line is at taking pictures of your food - taking a few quick snaps of your beer at the pub (gastro- or otherwise) for review purposes is entirely okay (so I'm still fine). On that note, I've been making more frequent trips there than usual for pints of Lake of Bays Brewing Company's draft-exclusive Mash'n Pumpkins.
Mash'n is a medium-bodied, mildly spiced and vanilla-forward take on pumpkin ale. It sports a proud cap of solid, just-off-white foam - though being the only draft entry it's not entirely a fair comparison with the others here. Colour-wise it's most similar to Black Creek Pumpkin Ale, a lighter shade of copper leaning slightly toward pure orange (though my cell phone pictures don't quite do this justice).

Mash'n is also unquestionably sweet. The popular opinion around the bar staff seemed to be that Nightmare on Mill Street, the other pumpkin brew on tap, was the clear superior. I'd actually rank them very close to each other, with Nightmare a stronger standalone beer but Mash'n even edging ahead with the right pairings.
Mash'n Pumpkins' sweetness was most often cited as the primary flaw, and it is sweet enough to make most other pumpkin beers I've tried (already a sugary lot) seem dry by comparison. As a stout enthusiast I don't automatically count a high sugar level for points against, but it's understandable how this could skirt cloying for some.

That is not to say I didn't enjoy it. I've been back for at least four glasses of this potion, it's just that no two of them have been in a row. This is a dessert beer - prime beer float material, actually - ideal to accompany or follow a heavy meal but far from suitable for a Halloween bender. Beside a massive omelette breakfast, for example, a glass seemed much more in place than on its own.

The lack of even online-only thematic artwork seems to further emphasize this point. Mash'n is solidly in the "fall" category of pumpkin beers, as distinct from the "Halloween" one. It bears the Wild North Series logo, used for Lake of Bays' new line of short run keg exclusives, and an abstract "fallen leaves" card on its subpage, without even a Jack-o'-Lantern in sight. The flavour text suggests a Thanksgiving recipe more than anything else, a claim it's hard to argue with. This is a beer that demands rich, or at least sweet, accompaniment. The burst of vanilla scent hits first and hard, and the cream-soda body follows through on it.

Nightmare on Mill Street has a more powerful vanilla hit overall, especially on the nose, which is necessary for it to compete with the other flavours. In Mash'n Pumpkins, though, vanilla dominates from beginning to end, with none of the other tastes or aromas quite able to stand up to it. The incredibly mild hop profile (a mere 10 IBUs, and built from famously soft-edged Fuggle and Magnum hops) and barely-present spice flavour fade behind sugar and vanilla, leaving a beer that, for better or worse, punches above its weight. Despite not being particularly dense, Mash'n drinks like a stout - heady and robust, but somewhat less compelling after the first one (until the next day, when I've invariably wanted one more).