All hallows' boozing: A guide to autumnal alcohol
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Sampling the beers of fall can be a minefield of tricks and treats as brewers attempt to combine the crisp flavors of harvest-time with a hint of the heavy winter beers to follow. Well, some do, and others just figure that fall equals pumpkins, and therefore they should make a pumpkin beer to commemorate the one holiday when folks are willing to pay for it. The A.V. Club surveyed the fall- and Halloween-themed booze available around the Twin Cities to suss out the good stuff.
Pumpkinland
Outside of the darker, thicker Oktoberfest beers that seep into the market like the coming cold, the default October seasonal flavor is pumpkin—lots of disarmingly alcoholic pumpkin. Town Hall serves up its own Petunia’s Pumpkin Ale, which has a nice smoothness but unfortunately ends up tasting like pumpkin pie spice or the Thanksgiving section of a craft store. A litany of out-of-state pumpkin beers are also on shelves at local liquor stores, including New Holland’s Ichabod Pumpkin Ale (also on tap at The Happy Gnome, 498 Selby Ave., St. Paul, 651-287-2018; and Pracna On Main, 117 Main St., Minneapolis, 612-379-3200) and Shipyard’s mildly pumpkin-flavored Pumpkinhead Ale, which complements the equally pumpkin-lite pumpkin ale by Buffalo Bill’s Brewery (Zipp's Liquors, 2618 E Franklin Ave., Minneapolis, 612-333-8686).
For a more accessible taste, Coors is getting in on the action with Harvest Moon, a pumpkin variant on Blue Moon. There's also Jack’s Pumpkin Spice Ale, a seasonal malt ale from the Anheuser-Busch Michelob family that's heavy on nutmeg, cinnamon, and herbs.
Professional drinkers will likely reject those selections as mere juice, but a pint of either of these are sure to shake up the "safe" label often slapped on fruit beers: Tyranena’s heavily alcoholic yet understated Painted Ladies Pumpkin Spice Ale is a good seasonal pick (Big Top Liquors, 1574 University Ave., St. Paul, 651-644-4501), as is Southern Tier Brewing Co.’s Pumking, which is 9 percent alcohol and comes in a bottle featuring a menacing jack-o’-lantern and a rant about Púca, a sort of mischievous shape-shifting Celt spirit.
Oktoberfest
Though most of the Oktoberfest beer gardens have closed for the season, a few locally made brews can still be found on tap throughout the Twin Cities. Summit Brewing Company’s Oktoberfest is a malty, bitter ale with a bite that’ll have some asking to go back to their pale ale. Surly Brewing’s Surlyfest is brewed with a perfect rye smoothness and, unlike classic Oktoberfest beers, packs a distinct hoppy taste that's well balanced against the sweet barley flavors. And August Schell's Octoberfest, a solid beer with a strong malt flavor, gives the feeling of eating good bread. It knows not to overstay its welcome, finishing clean with almost no aftertaste.
Considered to be more ESB (extra special bitter) than Oktoberfest, Goose Island’s Harvest Ale tastes similar in hoppiness to Summit, but isn't as boring as other fall amber ales. Tyranena’s Gemuetlichkeit Oktober, out of Lake Mills, Wisconsin, was the most impressive: a medium-bodied amber lager with a deliciously smooth finish that kept us wanting more (both are on tap at The Happy Gnome).
From Wisconsin comes Sprecher’s Oktoberfest lager and Capital Brewery's Oktoberfest and potent Autumnal Fire Doppelbock (available at Big Top Liquors). And for those willing to cross the St. Croix, New Glarus brings back its always-welcome Staghorn Octoberfest, available just a short trip away, in Hudson, Wisconsin.
Other American brews currently found around town include Mendocino's Autumn Lager, Dundee's Oktoberfest, and Widmer's Okto. And German imports Köstritzer Oktoberfest and Spaten's Oktoberfest are both “Märzen”-inspired choices to ring in the season change (available at Zipp’s Liquors and Big Top Liquors).
A wildcard
The schnapps section tends to keep up with every holiday imaginable, as is the case with Hiram Walker’s Pumpkin Spice Liqueur, often found in the bargain bins and in tiny travel sizes. Given the price and questionable mixology (the site suggests mixing it with lime sherbet, vodka, and lemon-lime soda to make "Goblin Punch"), it might be best to leave the swampy liqueurs to an upcoming Christmas cocktail recipe you’d find on The View.
