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Mark your calendars! This month we’re going to be riding out to Iron Hill in West Chester for their Gathering of the Gourds festival on October 24th. As much as I don’t like pumpkin beer, I do love the autumn, and this will be the perfect way to celebrate it. It will be a long ride, and it will go later than usual, so I would suggest figuring out your return plans ahead of time. I will do my best to arrange some motorized transportation for the way home, but I can’t guarantee it. If you’re planning on riding home, bring some lights, as the sun sets early and the suburbs are dark at night. The fest starts at 2pm, so we’ll plan on leaving from the Art Museum around 10am. The route will be very similar to the one we took to Victory Brewing. See you all soon!
Since I’ve gotten many comments on the pumpkin beer post, I’ll post a little follow up.
Of course there are some “good” pumpkin beers out there. Somewhere. Of course people might like them because they are seasonal and interesting. Of course if a brewer brewed a beer dry pie’d with 5 lbs of freshly baked pumpkin pie some people would drink it. I mean, a brewer used whole pizzas in a brew, so why not pie.
My point is that pumpkin is relatively tasteless. Its the spices in the beer that evoke the taste of pumpkins. And autumn. And Jack-o’-lanterns. And candy corn. And vomit.
And, the main point, and the most important one, is that I don’t like them. So there. This is my blog, and here, my opinions are the right ones. So don’t try to change them. Like Lois did with Southern Tier’s Creme Brulee Stout, which she made me try. And I didn’t like, just like I decided that I wouldn’t. And I certainly didn’t enjoy the pairing with cheesecake. And I hated the subtle bitterness that was contrasted by the sweetness in the pie. And I cringed as I slowly sipped and carefully finished the entire silky, full bodied bottle. Nope, not me. I don’t change my opinions.
Anyone want to buy me some pumpkin beers and try to convince me?
On the topic of fall beers, the pumpkin beer craze has already began. Pretty soon everyone is going to be talking about pumpkin beer, all the bars will have on on draft, the leaves will change and the big debate will be which pumpkin beer is the best.
Well I have the answer to that debate: None of them. Pumpkin beers are terrible. I’m willing to go out on a limb and say it. All pumpkin beers suck. End of story.
Think about it, what does a pumpkin taste like? Mildly nutty at best. What does a pumpkin taste like really? Butter, cinnamon, clove, brown sugar. In other words, the “pumpkin” taste is really nothing more than what is added. So really you’re not drinking a pumpkin beer, you’re drinking a pumpkin pie beer. A real “pumpkin” beer, I would venture to guess, would mean nothing other than maybe a little added body, maybe a vague nuttiness. But really, its more like having a tofu beer. As far as I know, a “pumpkin” beer doesn’t exist. The only thing you’ll find is pie flavored beer.
No thanks. Give me a porter, a stout, an oktoberfest, hell, give me even a cider. I’ll leave the pumpkin beers to the fruit wheat beer crowd.
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