I had an opportunity recently to taste some beers with the Beer Mentor. It went even better than expected, with a truly amazing mix of beers, making for a spectacular tasting experience. We hit beers in three styles and from three countries.

The first offering was from my collection, another limited release beer from our friends at Night Shift. This time, another in their line of Berliner-Weisse style lineup, the Cape Codder Weisse. This is their Berliner-Weisse made with fresh cranberries. The Cape Codder comes in at 5.5% abv, and in the glass is a beautiful hazy reddish color. The carbonation was light, but the flavour was rich and intense, reminding me of nothing so much as a Belgian Kriek. In the Belgian tradition, this beer was delightfully tart, crisp and refreshing. The only downside is that they didn’t make more.

We then moved on to a beer that Steve pulled out of the back… a first time tasting this brewery, and what an experience. We opened a bottle of approximatley fifteen year old Westvleteren 12. I have to say, there is a lot of hype around Westy … and it sure stood up to it. The beer was redolent (I love using that word) of figs, dates, caramel, butterscotch, just a beautiful expression. It was still an amber/brown with a touch of red at the edge. Tasting it was a totally different experience. The base of the beer reminded me of brown bread, freshly baked, a range of flavours that also run with aged vintage Porto, the flavours of oxidation, like nuts, caramel and figs. Add to that a touch of white raisin and honey and this was a beautifully complex beer with power and subtlety reflecting the best of what can happen when a truly exquisite beer ages and matures.

To fully round out a tasting, we ended up moving on to another extremely rare/hard to get bottle… an unlabeled bottle of Unibroue Oak Aged La Fin du Monde. I should mention that one of the first big bottle beers I ever had was a 750 of La Fin du Monde. With the others in that opening arsenal, I fell in love with the Tripel style. This one started with a light citrus nose, delicate and complex. On drinking, the beer featured wood spice on the palate, a continuation of the citrus nose, though a more rounded and full body than the nose suggested. The yeast influence in the bottle was subtle, but added delicious complexity. La Fin du Monde on oak goes down just as smoothly as it does without the oak, if not more so, because the extra body and flavour just fills the mouth and is velvety on the finish.

All in all, this was an amazing afternoon of tasting, with three incredible beers.  I look forward to more tremendous beers in the future, but a set of three like this, so varied in style, flavour profile and origin…

It is fun to have a favorite beer bar. In my case, it has become the Cambridge Brewing Company. I don’t get there often enough, but whenever I do the lineup is impressive, with some pretty spectacular beers. The good news… as if that isn’t enough, frequently I get to go with The Official Drinking Partner. This time, we were there on a Sunday afternoon, despite our favorite bartender avoiding us (or somehow getting a day off).

We started off gentle, with the Tall Tale Pale Ale. This was an American style pale, delicious, but without the subtlety I love in the English Pales. Featuring Cascade and Centennial hops… I thought the Centennial really came through clear. The nose of the Tall Tale was pure Centennial… tart, lemony and aromatic. On the palate, the beer really came through with a delicious, palpable lingering bitterness, which reminded me of me on a bad day. The beer was straightforward, crisp, clean, elegant and true to style. I should point out that there is no fish story involved here …

We had a lot of fun with the next offering, the Rye Rye Rocco. According to the menu, this beer was aged in a 500L sherry oak barrel. The beer was made with wild rye and Brettanomyces. In fact, the entire fermentation is with Brett. The nose was sweet and fruity from the Brett, with a hint of the coming sourness. The head dissipated quickly. The beer was very citrusy tart, with some delicious rye spice on the mid palate. The fruity funkiness showed up by the mid palate and was just exquisite. There is just something about sour ales that is incredible… The floral character … the crisp sourness palate cleaning. I have had some truly exemplary sours, and this was one of them. Sadly, by the time I go back… it will probably be gone.

After the Rye Rye Rocco, it was time to kick it up a notch and tone it back down at the same time. We opted to move on to the Blunderbuss Barleywine. This was a good move … the rich malt of a barleywine to balance out the remaining funk from the Rocco. This was the 2012 version of the Blunderbuss. The interesting part of this is like we are seeing in some other beers, two expressions of the same base beer blended to make one more complex beer. In this case, one half of the batch spent time being heavily dry-hopped while being aged in stainless steel, while the other spent time in Bourbon barrels. I like to compare this idea with blending Chardonnay, some oaked, some not … giving a nice balance when blended, with the rich wood flavours but also the crispness of the fruit from the steel aging.

When I had my chance to try the Blunderbuss, I found the aim to be extraordinary, and the pull of the trigger gentle. The hops were there, straightforward and delicious. The malt was, as expected, rich, round and comforting, balancing the beer, despite the 13% abv. The one surprise was that more of the roasted flavours for the barrel came through on the palate than I expected. It blended with the malt and lingered on the finish. One of the things I love about barleywine is that while they will balance out rich, spicy foods, or veined (and otherwise ‘stinky’) cheeses, they also serve well, because of the richness and sweetness of the malt, as dessert, not just with dessert. True to the style, the Blunderbuss is beautiful now, but will just improve with age.

The last beer we had that particular day was called The Colonel. At 6.5% abv this is described as a “barrel aged wild porter.” It was black, with an interesting tinge of red at the edges. The Colonel spent 2 years in Buffalo Trace barrels with our friend Brettanomyces back for another visit. At the CBC they tell you that the Colonel is a reference to Colonel Blanton, founder of the Buffalo Trace distillery. To this day, Blanton’s is one of my favorite Bourbons.

One the nose of the Colonel , the sour notes were obvious, with the Brett funk that I love so much. The sour traveled throughout the length of the beer. I thought the rich malt carried the beer, giving structure around which the sour funkiness could express itself. The sour was right there up front, and was carried for a nice ride throughout the experience, lingering long after the beer had passed beyond the palate. The one thing I didn’t notice was much influence from the barrels. It was there in a gentle vanilla tone, but was subtle and integrated, showing, to me, a large, old barrel. Otherwise, two years in barrels would have left a much more significant impact.

This was a very fun visit, covering a wide range of beer styles, from the light, easy drinking pale, to a rich and malty barleywine. Add to that the sour funkiness of a sour rye and a sour porter and it was truly a day of fun exploration. The creative brewers at the CBC never fail to put forth an interesting selection of brews for the exploring. I am afraid I am going to have to go back to see the next spread of beers…

Tonight, I am starting writing on this page, for this first time on an experience that did not involve beer. I know, it can be considered heretical, but it was truly the next best thing to beer… well, after bacon, anyway. I recently had the opportunity to sacrifice myself for the cause, as only the truly courageous can manage. I started my day with a tour and samples at Taza Chocolate. It was truly an interesting experience. Having been raised in such a way that I found myself in love with the European style of chocolate, it was fascinating to taste stone ground chocolate from Central and South America. We started out getting the full background, getting to hold a dry cacao husk, and getting the full explanation of how the fruit is grown, picked, processed and treated, as well as the company history.

We then had the opportunity to taste the chocolate. At Taza, the specialty is dark chocolate, which is gluten, dairy and soy free. It is also vegan, organic and Kosher. The chocolate at Taza is stone ground, a fascinating process which was explained to us, but I couldn’t accurately render here, so I won’t. I think what really makes this chocolate special and interesting is that with no dairy added the chocolate is grittier than I am used to … but it also has much more texture and a different range of flavour. We tasted everything from nibs to chocolate covered nibs to finished chocolate at different levels of purity, up to 80% pure.

As someone who loves local businesses, it was incredible to experience a business as young as Taza Chocolate, which is, if memory serves, in its sixth year, and is already available in 48 states, Australia and several European countries. I don’t have the full list in front of me, but it is pretty impressive. The folks at Taza have also prepared information on which of their chocolates match best with different styles of beer, wine and cheese.

As noted, I am a big fan of local businesses. Though I may not explain it perfectly, Taza Chocolate is very focused on their Direct Trade relationships. They buy the cacao from farmers they know personally, face to face. They visit these farms and farmers frequently, and work with the farmers to maintain quality standards, also paying a premium for the cacao, controlling as much of the process as they can to ensure consistent quality.

As those who know me know, chocolate is for eating, drinking and cooking. With Taza, the touch of bitterness and the different (from what I am used to) texture raises an entirely different range of options for food and beverage matching from the more common milk chocolate. Unfortunately, I haven’t had much chance to experiment, so perhaps a little further down the line when I have a chance to get creative, I will have inspiration and material to write again on this topic. For now, suffice it to say that Taza Chocolate, for me, was a fun tour, a fun and tasty experience, and I am looking forward to experimenting more. As a high quality local product, we have the perfect opportunity to explore and experiment right in our own backyard.

This is a monumental and exciting time in the beer loving world. For the first time in many years there is a Trappist Monastery added to the list of those making and selling beer. We all know at least some of the first seven, Chimay, Westmalle, Westvleteren, Trappiste Rochefort, Orval, and Achel are in Belgium while La Trappe is made just over the border in Holland. In May of 2012 the International Trappist Association gave permission to the monks at Stift Engelszell Abbey to make and sell beer, thus making them only the eighth monastery to be granted that privilege.

Founded in 1293 the Engelszell is the only Trappist monastery in Austria making beer, though that is by default, as it is the only Trappist monastery in Austria. The abbey fell into serious disrepair and was in need of significant restoration, leading the monks to search for a way to make some money. One of their neighbors introduced them to the concept of Trappist ale and helped them set up a brewery on the Abbey grounds. Their first beer release is called Gregorius, and goes with their stated goal of making a high quality beer that will meet the quality standards of the International Trappist Association, but will also be unique and different from all of the other Trappist Ales on the market.

Gregorius is named for a former Abbot, Gregorius Eisvogel, who led the Abbey during some difficult times. The Abbey actually has a very colorful history. It was shut down by the German Emperor in the late 1700s. Then, in 1925 a group of monks under Eisvogel, who had been expelled during WWI from their home in Alsace, reopened it as a Trappist monastery. The Abbey was retaken just 14 years later by the Gestapo in 1939. Sad to say, of the 74 monks evicted at that time, four were sent to Dachau, while most of the others were forced into the German Army. At the end of WWII only 25 monks returned to the Abbey. Currently the monastery is occupied by only 7 monks, who have supported themselves primarily by growing produce and making cheese. There is a lot more information and detail, but there is no need to burden you with it all now.

Gregorius, their first beer, is a Belgian style strong dark ale made using honey from the Abbey’s hives and a wine yeast from Alsace, harkening back to earlier days and the founding of the Abbey. My understanding is that supplies will currently be very limited, but hopefully that situation won’t last.

Last week I had the opportunity to try the beer. Gregorius is a medium brown beer, similar to a Belgian style dubbel in appearance but a shade or two darker. The head was tan and lingered. The nose was subtle, complex and reminiscent of dates, with a nutty character. It certainly did not follow onto the palate. The nose is elegant, the beer is also elegant but it is vibrant and the flavour just explodes onto the palate. It is not overwhelming, just … not what I expected from the aroma. There is subtle honey on the palate, and a mild lingering hop bitterness. The Beer Mentor also detected notes of banana, rope and a dry, grassy, straw-like character on the palate.

Overall, the beer was unique, delicious and a tremendous experience. I can only hope to get another chance to drink this before long. It is 9.7% alcohol … and you would never know it tasting it. Gregorius is exquisite, or to be more specific, Greglorious … I am looking forward, also, to their next release, called Benno.

Recently I had occasion to open a bottle of Kappy’s Barrel Series #2, the Night Shift Trifecta. This was first released in early August, Barreling Along. This tasting the beer was just sublime. The nose, as before, was still gorgeous, rich, complex and creamy. The big difference was that instead of the citrus notes last summer, the profile had gotten “darker,” leaning more toward caramel and butterscotch.

On the palate the beer followed through. One person I tasted with said, “There is a Werthers in here.” The flavours of vanilla and wood come through on the mid palate with a subtle touch of whiskey coming through on the finish. The texture was creamy and rich. Sadly I do not believe I have any more, so … we are just going to have to sacrifice sometime and hope the guys at Night Shift Brewing will make another barrel of the Trifecta with me.

We all have drinking histories … but how often do you actually get the chance to drink history?  One thing I love about my job is that we have the opportunity these days to taste history in new, fun and exciting ways.  The craft beer industry is young, vibrant, rich and exploratory.  We have recently had access to beers from Dogfish Head like Midas Touch, Etrusca, Ta Henket, and others in their “Ancient Ale series.”  We have seen breweries like the Cambridge Brewing Company releasing Gruit, a style predating the use of hops in beer.  Pretty Things has been making their “Once Upon A Time” series, making beers to the brewers specifications from the actual notes from specific batches going back to the early 1800s, recreating beers made in earlier times.  To me, as a certified history geek, these opportunities are priceless.  The world of adult beverages is, in some ways a walk through the hallways of history, and these producers are bringing back to life beverages that have not been seen or tasted in, sometimes, centuries.

In fact, that is one of the great things about the beverage industry, in general… It is, in some ways, all about history. I have believed for years that the history of beverages is the history of people and culture. Mead is thought to be the worlds oldest alcoholic beverage, and estimates are that is was first discovered by humans about 30-40,000 years ago. Beer and wine have been made going back to early civilization. The Roman soldiers spread wine making across Europe. Arab alchemists perfected distillation centuries ago. I maintain that the progression and history of beverage making is the story of the evolution of culture. Ingredients, types and styles of beverage are reflective of geography, weather, raw materials and culture. It is not accidental that the wines of an area go well with the foods common to the area.

This brings us back to the topic of the day… For those who know me, you know I cannot resist a good story. Today, the topic is related to history and beverages. We go back to a time before Prohibition, when most American beer was dark and came from small, local breweries.  Anheuser-Busch got its start making lighter Bohemian style lagers.  When Prohibition hit, most breweries went out of business.  Anheuser-Busch, however, stayed in business making soft drinks, and was well positioned to grow, expand and work toward market domination when Prohibition ended. In the 1870s there were over 4,000 breweries in the United States. Starting after Prohibition, the beer business started to grow again. By 1940 the number of breweries in business had grown from essentially zero to 498. Then things turned around.

The Dark Ages of Beer fell upon us.  A few big breweries, in an attempt to corner and dominate the market, began buying out smaller breweries. By 1950 the number of active breweries had dropped to 407. By 1970 it was down to 142. The low water mark came in 1979; 44 breweries were in business in the United States, and predictions suggested that the total would be 7 by the end of the 80s due to consolidation. Light, bubbly adjunct lagers became the beer America was known for, to the amusement of the world. For beer drinkers, choices were few, and the outlook dismal and bleak. By the mid to late 1970s six companies controlled 92% of the American market.

Into this challenging time, through the darkness, came the Saviour of Beer, the Don Quixote of Malt and Hops, Jack McAuliffe. Mr. McAuliffe opened the New Albion Brewery in Sonoma California in 1976, named after a portion of the Pacific Northwest, founded by Sir Francis Drake. New Albion is recognized as the first microbrewery in the modern era, featuring a flagship American Pale Ale. Soon, McAulliffe was selling beer as fast as he could make it, but he was way ahead of his time, and the funding was not there for needed expansions and growth. Sadly, New Albion closed its doors in 1982.

For six years, New Albion was open and in business, inspiring what we know now as the Craft Beer Revolution.  It wasn’t fought with muzzle loading muskets, like our forebears did 200 years before, but with barley, yeast, hops, water, and a dream.  Jack McAuliffe is named by many of the early craft brewers as their inspiration.  Ken Grossman, of Sierra Nevada, is one of those.  Think about that … without Jack McAuliffe’s courage, foresight and entrepreneurship, we might not have Sierra Nevada or Sam Adams.  Although his brewery went out of business in 1982, New Albion is a giant in American beer lore, to the degree that one historian described it as “the most important failed brewery in the industry’s history.  

This week, though not going back centuries, I had a chance to taste a bit of beer history that is so important to all of us now. Jim Koch, of Sam Adams, is another innovator and someone who understands the evolution of the beer industry in the United States, having played a huge part in it, himself.  Koch arranged to brew the New Albion pale ale this year, with the original recipe and ingredients, right down to reconstituting the original yeast strain used to make the beer.  It is on the market again for the first time since 1982!  I had a chance to drink some the other day, and it was delicious. The beer is easy drinking, a classic pale ale, friendly and absolutely worth trying.  More important, though, this is the beer that kicked off the Craft Beer Revolution we are all experiencing today.  New Albion is gone, but the beer is alive.

For those of us who are history geeks, we know that history is alive. It is wonderful seeing all of the centuries old retro styles being researched and made again. It is a tremendous story for those beer lovers out there to know that the original micro-brewed beer is back on the shelves and available. Adult beverages are the story of people, of culture and tell the stories of history. We have a chance now to taste that history, for some of us for the first time.  

A week ago (at the time of this writing) I was able to taste my first bottle of the newly released Kappy’s Barrel Series #4. For those who have not been following, the folks at Kappy’s are teaming up with, so far, some very good, very new micro breweries to create some special release beers, with some very impressive results, in my eternally humble opinion. The latest in this series is from Everett’s own Night Shift Brewing. We took the barrel that held KBS#2 and reused it, this time with their Viva Habanera. Talking to the guys at Night Shift, they say that KBS#4 falls between batches 5 and 6 stylistically. The Viva Habanera, without the oak barrel, is a pretty stunning brew. This, of course, from someone with a background in Italian restaurants who still argues that basil is a spice.

I have had opportunity to taste the Viva Habanera twice recently, both of which deserve special mention. The first was a few weeks ago at a Night Shift Brewery event. I got to try the future Night Shift Viva Habanera Kappy’s Barrel Series #4 direct from the barrel. I hate to admit it, but I always get a thrill out of this… it is like the thrill of working in a kitchen and tasting the sauce to see when it is right, see how it is thickening or just to sneak a taste… a little bit naughty, but with the thrill and excitement of experimenting, trying to see what they creation will be like when done.

At the event, when I got to try the beer, it was straight from the barrel, so had no carbonation. The pepper spice came through clear on the nose, On the palate the oak, whiskey, chili and the rye come through distinctly. In this way it very much reminds me of the barrel sample of KBS#2 … all of the components there, but disjointed, separate and easily distinguished. Then, when #2 was ready it all came together, blending perfectly. So, a few weeks ago, tasting the barrel sample, I saw the comparisons, and felt great, this was coming along like the last one. I also caught a touch of sweetness on the finish, that I didn’t expect, perhaps from the agave nectar. I was told that evening, as well, that we were anticipating another week in the oak, then some more time on habanero and then carbonation and bottling.

Last week my mentor and I drank a sample bottle of KBS#4, Night Shift Viva Habanera. It poured in the glass a dark amber color with a light brown head. The nose was a bit muted, but showed a touch of the whiskey vanilla and a touch of the spice. I decided, given the spicy nature of the beer, to get my first taste with a little mouthful of the head, while it was settling. It has been years since I tasted pepper like that! The best explanation seems to be that the oils from the peppers were released in the head and oh my … There was a hint of the oak in the head, as well, lending complexity and balancing out some of the kick.

Once I got past the head, the beer was much milder (though I will not say “mild” ) on the palate, I believe because of the malt and greater influence from the wood balancing the spice of the peppers. The flavours of the whiskey and wood were there balancing a crisp spice with a slowly increasing burn. The balance between all of the components, the rye, peppers, alcohol, wood and whiskey flavours was beautiful. Steve commented that KBS#4 was “really remarkable, beautifully balanced and had a malty richness that started things off in the mouth.”

I know this is a delicious, unique beer. I would caution you, however, to be careful if you are not addicted to spice. Remember what I said, “basil is a spice.” For me, this definitely needs a friend to help and food to pair with it, but it is an amazing beer. For food, I would look for something with body, but not a lot of spice, the beer has enough. I would love to try this with a good, rich stew, although I am also thinking of a pasta dish with a hearty meat sauce, perhaps with some sweet Italian sausage.

This was a fun and exciting evening. I was up at the Night Shift Brewery, and while I will write more, later, about my visit there, this piece is focused on one beer, Kappy’s Barrel Series #4. For those who have been following along at home, Kappy’s Barrel Series #2 was made by Night Shift, and featured their Trifecta Belgian Style Pale Ale in a bourbon cask supplied to them by Kappy’s. The resulting beer was amazing, in my personal, biased opinion. We felt, however, that there was more life to be had from the barrel, so on to chapter 2.

One of the beers the gentlemen from Night Shift are very proud of is their innovative Viva Habanera. (Please note that the link… lists every batch of the beer and variations in heat and style for comparative purposes. One of the great things about these innovative micro breweries around here is how they are able to experiment and vary recipes from batch to batch, tweaking to make each one a little different.) This rye ale is made with agave nectar and Habanero peppers. When I tasted the straight Viva Habanera tonight, it was soft on the nose, with only a touch of noticeable spice. The beer was delicious with the peppers really coming through most on the finish, but not too hot. My only concern with this is how the spice might build over the course of a 750ml bottle. The Viva Habanera is a delicious beer with food, though I would recommend something rich to balance the bite, perhaps a stew or roasted meats.

All of this, however, is a prelude, because tonight I got a sneak “peek” at the beer that will be Kappy’s Barrel Series #4. The Bourbon barrel used to make KBS#2 was quickly reused (use #3, overall, bourbon and then two beers), filled with the Night Shift Viva Habanera. So tonight… it was barrel sample time.

Obviously, since this was a barrel sample, the beer was not carbonated, which leaves the flavours hanging out there, unhidden. The aromas of bourbon and wood spice were evident on the nose; smooth, rich and oaken. The wood and whiskey flavours show up on the palate, as suggested by the nose, with the chili spice really making an appearance on the finish and lingering long after the beer moves on. Right now, the beer is impressive, the flavours coming together and finding a beautiful balance. Before it is bottled for release, the beer will see more time in oak, more time aging on peppers and carbonation. This has a long way to go before it is ready for release, but suffice to say that I think Kappy’s Barrel Series #4 is going to be a winner, like the first three, yet very unique in style and presentation. I am very much looking forward to the final form of this tasty libation.

As I sit and write tonight, I am reflecting back on a couple of beers I tasted today, each for the first time. As has become a fun habit of late, I touched base with my Beer Mentor for some special beer. The first in line was the Mystic Brewery Vinland One. This is a very limited release from our Mystical friends, and is inaugural to the series. Mystic has been focused from the beginning on making beer with local ingredients with a Belgian style and that local touch. The one thing they had not yet done was a beer made with local yeast… until now.

Vinland One is made with a Massachusetts yeast and is the first in a series of beers which will feature yeast from each of the New England states. The yeast for this first release is from Massachusetts plums. The beer is 7.25% abv and you would never know it. The color was darker than I expected, with a light tan head that left Belgian style lacing around our Chimay chalices. The aroma was startling, with soft fruity aromas and a pleasant nuttiness.

One aspect that struck me, and really made me stop and think was the tartness. Vinland One had a very minor touch of funkiness, almost imperceptible, and a very minor touch of sour, similarly just barely there. What came through was a crisp tartness, which when combined with the light carbonation made the beer very refreshing.

It was also interesting that the beer tasted light, crisp, smooth and mellow enough to be sessionable. It was not until we got a little deeper into it and were discussing it that we checked the label and realized the 7.25% took it out of session range.

I very much suggest taking advantage of the opportunity to try some of the Vinland One. How often have you had a chance to try a unique beer made with 100% local ingredients, including a Massachusetts yeast strain? Take the Belgian style saison with a Massachusetts twist and you have a delicious, unique beer that is absolutely worth tasting.

Beer number two on the agenda for the day was a rare treat. In fact, it is a rare enough treat that this was the first time I had ever tasted it. I finally had an opportunity to taste Cantillon Gueuze. I didn’t know what to expect, except that I was drinking one of the most difficult to get beers on the planet, and one of the great sours.

The color was beautiful, more golden than I expected. The aroma struck me as redolent of sour apricots and an undercurrent of vinegar. The traditional gueuze funk was there, but subtle, buried, though I expect that will come out more with age, and fortunately, I have just the bottle to experiment with, somewhere down the line.

On tasting the beer, I was a little surprised, and yet not. The Cantillon Gueuze 100% Bio was cleaner in flavor than I had expected, subtler than I expected, however it had the beautiful sour fruit I was anticipating, which just lingered on the palate for a long time. The carbonation was micro bubbles which generated a light colored, delicate head. The beer had a honeyed, resiny texture I didn’t expect, either.

Ultimately, my first Cantillon experience was amazing. The beer was different than expected, but the best word to describe it is “elegant. I would suggest a read of the Cantillon website to learn more about their approach to organic beers and their page on Gueuze to learn more about what it takes to make these special beers.

Birth

Yes, here we are, the weather is getting cool, the days are getting shorter and we are inundated with pumpkin beers. Love them or hate them, they are here to stay. What is interesting, however, is that they date back to the first settlers landing in the northeast. While beer was a staple in Europe, settlers in the New World didn’t have access to fields of barley, or other grains, nor did they have access to malted grains. Pumpkins and other gourds, however, were plentiful. These were used for their fermentable sugars, providing a key ingredient in many early American beers.

Interestingly enough, as malted barley became more readily available, the use of pumpkins to make beer declined and eventually disappeared, until the advent of Buffalo Bill’s Brewery, from California. They make the claim of making the first modern pumpkin beer in the late 1980s. While their initial test batches used real pumpkin, when it came to commercial production they focused on pumpkin pie spices for flavour, starting both the “pumpkin in the beer” and “pumpkin pie spices in the beer” trends that are the talk of the category today.

Evolution

For those who have tasted the real thing, it should be noted that pumpkin has very little native flavour. As such, the development of the category in beer has focused largely on using pumpkin pie spices to justify the name. While we are dispelling pumpkin myths, I should mention that most pumpkin beers do not actually use real pumpkin in the making of the beer, and of those that do, few to none use fresh pumpkin. The time needed to harvest and process fresh pumpkin from field to brewery would preclude the brewing of pumpkin beer much before January. To maximize the pumpkin-fall season pairing, most breweries choose to use canned pumpkin instead.

Where does this leave us with pumpkin beer? It is really quite a mixed bag. We have beers that are light in style and fuller bodied, darker and lighter in color, heavily spiced and lightly spiced, with and without pumpkin, as well as those that venture off in unexplored directions, like pumpkin porters, stouts and doppelbocks. In short, the pumpkin beer phenomenon, like everything else in the craft beer world, is focused on creativity, exploring boundaries and producing a wide range of styles with some common characteristics (in this case the pumpkin spices) tying the concept together.

This whole trend, led by the folks at Shipyard, has taken on a life of its own, with the style growing exponentially year after year, not just in amount produced and consumed, but in variations, styles and producers. To touch briefly on a topic from a previous post, one of the troubles is that pumpkin beers, like seemingly all seasonal styles, seem to be coming out earlier and earlier every year. This year, a brewery which shall remain nameless, offered me delivery of pumpkin beer the Monday after July 4. I simply refused.

Life

Last week I was discussing this topic with someone in the store, and was asked an interesting question: “Is pumpkin beer the new IPA?” I don’t remember how I answered at the time, but will endeavor to do so here. First of all, I should define what I mean by “the new IPA.” We know what an IPA is, stylistically, and the differences between an English style and the East Coast and West Coast American variations of the IPA style. What I am referring to, however, is the influence, the place and position of the IPA in the market. Namely, IPA has become, on a regular basis, almost a cliché. Practically every brewery “has to have” at least one. A typical store, in the craft section, will have more IPAs on a regular, year round basis than any other craft style. It is an industry driving monster of which people cannot, it seems, get enough. It has a broad range of styles, from malty to hoppy, to balanced and the most recent additions, the Black IPA and the White IPA. It has delicate, subtle versions like Fuller’s IPA or the Berkshire Lost Sailor IPA, it has over the top monsters like the Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA, beautifully balanced versions, like the Avery Maharaja. From light to extreme, and everything in between.

So, is pumpkin beer the new IPA? To start with, “Is pumpkin beer the new IPA based on popularity?” I would have to say that a case can certainly be made for this. How about versatility within the style? Again, I would have to argue yes, and then some, because it can comfortably be done with a brown/amber/copper, a stout, porter, lager and numerous other styles. Add to that list the mix and blend of spices, such as allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves, with some or all in each beer and the similarities between those spices and the versatility of various hop combinations and intensities in IPA, and one can see further parallels.

One take on the question which will not make a lot of people happy is: “Is pumpkin beer the new IPA because it is becoming cliché?” As noted, it is almost a prerequisite for a brewery to have an IPA, but while there are some exceptional ones, many IPAs do not impress me. They leave me with the feeling that they exist so the brewery can claim an IPA in its portfolio. I could, quite literally, have hundreds of IPAs in the store.

Each year more breweries are releasing yet another pumpkin beer. On this, too, I feel that pumpkin beers are becoming the new IPA. There are now pumpkin ciders, even. Every year I hear that a brewery is planning their first release for “next year.” It is sometimes all I can do to not say, “please … don’t.” Every year the style is growing. I have all the pumpkin beers I can fit on my shelves, yet more and more breweries want to get in the game. Every year the consumers are wanting more and more and more. It is, I think, fair to say that pumpkin beers have replaced the original fall beer, Oktoberfest, in terms of consumer demand, possibly making it one of the most popular styles of the year.

Times

The only thing I really see as differentiating pumpkin beers from “the next IPA,” is that pumpkin beers are still seasonal, so they don’t have the year round demand or pull of IPAs. They are extremely versatile when pairing with a wide variety of foods. This is largely due to the wide range of styles of pumpkin beer and the seemingly endless combination of spice in various amounts. Pumpkin beers, being seasonal in nature, do not have the nationwide appeal, at this point, of IPAs, however a quick search showed me pumpkin beers from over 20 US states plus British Columbia in Canada.

No matter where you stand on the pumpkin beer question, they are here to stay. In the business we talk about how the market has to cap off at some point, but that point hasn’t happened and does not appear to be in the immediate future. In the meantime, perhaps partly driven by the limited release and seasonal nature of pumpkin beer, demand keeps growing, supply keeps growing.

From modest beginnings as a substitute fermentable, pumpkin beers have become one of the biggest seasonal styles going. The pumpkin beers are trending like IPA in terms of growth, popularity, versatility and viability. The weakness with them is the seasonal aspect. Some fruited beers have overcome seasonal limitations and this year it is interesting to watch a fall shandy take off. One must ask if pumpkin beers would retain their viability as a year round offering or if they would suffer due to large scale availability. Is a key component in their sales strength and popularity the short term and limited nature of the offering? We will have to watch the development of this style and see what answers present themselves.