This series of posts is dedicated to the many, many six packs, pony kegs and pints that have sauntered into my life at one point or another.

Last year, our household undertook the important task of determining the finest pumpkin beer available. Though not as complete as we would like, nor particularly scientific, we felt good about our conclusion of anointing Stevens Point Brewery Whole Hog Pumpkin Ale as the best of the crop. For a variety of reasons, we didn’t repeated the exercise this year, but we did expect that we’d be securing several bottles of the defending champion thanks to a visit to the city and state where it’s brewed. It was with great dismay that we discovered that we weren’t the only ones who thought the brew was superior. It evidently sold out almost immediately, leaving nary a drop. Instead, we had to settle for a pumpkin offering from the state’s most acclaimed craft brewer, one that chooses not to distribute beyond their home borders. No surprise: the New Glarus Brewing Company take on a pumpkin beer is a fine consolation prize. After a consultation with the house’s true pumpkin expert, I can report that it “passes the beer test,” a surprising stumbling block for many other offerings that tend to default to overwhelming pumpkin flavoring. For that reason, the name of the beer is actually off a bit. The pumpkin pie allusion hints at a drink that’s going to be overly sweet or syrupy. Instead, it’s smooth, refreshing and unfussy. Maybe we don’t need a whole row of pumpkin beers, after all. This one will do just fine on its own.

Previously…
—Point Special
—21st Amendment Bitter American
—Abita Restoration Pale Ale
—Rolling Rock
—Skull Splitter
—Foster’s
—Highland Thunderstruck Coffee Porter
—Red Stripe
—Rhinelander Bock
—Samuel Adams Boston Lager
—New Glarus Brewing Company Wisconsin Belgian Red
—ABA Hoppy Saison
—Hamm’s
—Abita Strawberry Harvest Lager
—Three Floyds Apocalypse Cow
—French Broad Brewing Gateway Kolsch
—Big Boss Brewing “High Monkey”
—Stevens Point Brewery Whole Hog Pumpkin Ale
—The Native Brewing Company The Eleven Brown Ale
—Labatt Blue
—Smuttynose Winter Ale
—Point Beyond the Pale IPA
—Guinness
—Capital Brewery Supper Club
—Highland Brewing 20th Anniversary Scotch Ale
—Mickey’s
—Central Waters Brewing Company Sixteen
—Blatz
—Pisgah Pale Ale