Falling for Beer

I am totally looking forward to this autumn season. I had a fulfilling summer with multiple visits to the beach (yes, the beautiful Jersey shore!), a 2,200 mile road trip, and plenty of hot summer sun. So yes, I am enjoying the first cool breezes that fall brings – and especially anticipating the beer season that goes along with it.

I like almost anything with pumpkin in its name. I am a sucker for that manipulative advertising: Pumpkin Spice Coffee, Pumpkin Muffins, Pumpkin Patches. (Not sure why, but Pumpkin pie doesn’t really make the list).  So, I am thrilled at the vast bottles of pumpkin beer that fill the shelves this month. Call it an Oktober Pumpkin Autumn brew, and I’m in. Ok sure, I realize that I may be a little naive and that I’m being brainwashed in the marketing of these autumn flavors – and I totally get point made in the blog post by Thank Heaven for Beer on fall token beers – but I am still a newbie and getting a hold of true craft beers in this experiment of being the wife of a beer geek (not experimenting the wife part, just the beer part).

So, although the case that my beer geek brought home tonight doesn’t include my key noted ingredient above, I am still looking forward to the celebratory seasonal name: Stoudts Oktoberfest, also a brewing company in PA. Although my BG called it mild (he prefers a kick of something), I am really enjoying it and find it very drinkable with a good flavor. I’ll leave it to the experts on Beer Advocate for a real review. But I’d order this again, even if it wasn’t autumn.

So, I hope this season I will taste many a microbrew with pumpkin or not and expand the horizons of my brewsky knowledge (and hopefully not so much my waist). I anticipate a few fall brew fests in the future for my beer geek and I, and would happily take any recommendations that will be happening in the Philly area.

Cheers!