Trick Or Treat, Thick Or Wheat, Pumpkin Season Is Complete!

Update the 6.66th: Steamworks Brewing Co. Pumpkin Ale

CRAPPY HALLOWEEN, BLAH!  In proud Northern Ontario tradition, we're getting a dump of snow - if it doesn't snow late enough to ruin the egg hunt and early enough to ruin trick-or-treating, the year just doesn't feel complete, y'know? Anyway, this isn't the terrifying 6.66th update just for scariness' sake - it's a true UNNECESSARY HORROR SEMI-SEQUEL! I meant to post this as the second half of a two-parter last night, but was preoccupied making my "90s kid" costume - complete with incredibly uncomfortable workboots and Beck concert t-shirt both legitimately from 1995. Really, it's just a me-in-highschool costume, only with a bunch of holes sanded into my jeans in a pattern that natural wear could never produce - at least I never got into that trend (also, I would have caught hell for ripping up my pants). It's just too bad I couldn't find my old Primus necklace to complete the effect. If the weather eases off even a little, I'm planning on heading downtown to make a valiant attempt to drain the pub's remaining supply of pumpkin beer and request some serious Candlebox.

Heading back in the approximate direction of the point, I believe we've seen the last of the pumpkin beers for this year - they generally don't show up after Halloween, and with good reason. There have been some unusually good ones, though, right up to the latest arrival: Steamworks Brewing Co.'s Pumpkin Ale. From the breakdown on the label, I was anticipating another mild, dessert-like beer in the style of Mash'n Pumpkins. The only hops used are the soft and subtle Magnum, and it's malted with Munich and Caramalt, known respectively for maltball and toffee notes. I began to question my superficial analysis as soon as I opened the bottle, though - a powerful waft of cinnamon was released, but it lacked the palpable air of sweetness that accompanies a sugar-rich brew and carried with it a classic "beery" aroma.

There seem to be two primary types of pumpkin beer this year - light, dry and fizzy pale ales with cinnamon as the dominant spice, and sweet, robust dark beers dosed heavily with allspice and vanilla. Belying the impression given by the ingredients list, this is definitely an example of the former, most comparable to Highballer. Poured into a tall mug it reveals an ochre tint (fancifully dubbed "Autumn Sunset" by the brewers) and creates a head of cinnamon-scented foam that threatens to overflow.

Surprisingly, this Pumpkin Ale does have a little bit of hop bite, sporting 25 IBUs where Magnum-and-Fuggles bittered Mash'n was restrained to only ten. Twenty-five is still a fraction of the average count on the IPAs I've been drinking in between sessions of the squashy stuff; HopBot (Hop City Brewing Co.), Mad Tom Twice as Mad (Muskoka Brewery) and Boneshaker (Mill Street Brewery) all deliver a palate-shocking blast of bitterness that's just about as opposite from pumpkin-spice as an ale can be. Or at least, it *should* be, as Jumpin' Jack unfortunately demonstrated.
Steamworks pushes the bitterness just far enough, resulting in a surprisingly crisp and brisk pumpkin-spice ale where the 'ale' half of the equation isn't neglected. Hops are the second-most dominant flavour, resulting in a somewhat aggressive but keenly harmonized bitter-spice body, light on the palate and neither overwhelmingly sweet nor cakelike in its spiciness. Anyone not interested in a cinnamon beer is best advised to avoid this one entirely, but it serves to demonstrate how well cinnamon can work with ale when deployed correctly. The spice flavour is natural and earthy, avoiding the "Red Hots stirred in" experience. It nobly fades behind the taste of the beer proper after breathing for a few minutes but still remains until the end of the glass, becoming a more subtle part of the whole.

Steamworks' Pumpkin Ale is also another winner in the labelling category (though with a thoroughly uninspired name). It presents not just Jack-O'-Lanterns, but exploding steampunk mecha Jack-O'-Lanterns. Additionally, it promises manufacture with "ghostly steam" which, we are reminded "has zero grave-ity". There are two things it's not like Halloween without - snow on the ground and spectacularly awful puns. I'm now more than covered for both over here. In terms of artwork, it's hard to pick a favourite between this and Last Bite, but they - by a good margin - comprise the upper tier between them.

All right! I love teamwork!

And so pumpkin beer season goes winding down, and I must admit I've never given it anywhere near as thought as I did this year. It's going to be a Normal-Beer November to recover (of course, by "normal", I still include incredibly dark, ludicrously overhopped or basically anything without fruit or spice added. I didn't call it "Boring-Beer Ber-de-Novem", after all), but what a ride it was. I mentioned at the outset I wasn't necessarily going to be choosing a "winner", but Last Bite, Highballer and Steamworks' Pumpkin Ale are all particular standouts. While I'm already looking forward to holiday-spiced beer come December, for the sake of my palate and sanity no mass review is pending.