These days, my street isn't the only thing covered with pumpkins; so is my kitchen. I've been using the gourds in everything from moist pumpkin bread to chicken pumpkin stew, and so I decided it was high time I enjoyed it in ale form, too. Although it's believed early American icons like George Washington and Ben Franklin enjoyed pumpkin ales, one Bay Area craft brewhouse, Buffalo Bill's, brought the beer back into vogue when it became known for its special blend in the 1980s.The whisky-colored amber ale ($7.99 for six), which is brewed with fresh roasted pumpkins and malted barley, possesses only a delicate squash flavor, but has lingering pumpkin pie spices like cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg that become more prominent as the beer warms. Because it doesn't have a malty flavor or the bitter taste of hops, Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin a great find for people who aren't that into traditional beer. What's your favorite Fall ale?






Birkenstock
So glad you wrote about Bill's! They are one of my favorite local restaurants. The pumpkin is good, but I LOVE the orange blossom in the summer time. It's a great one for beer wimps like me.
1I really like Shipyard's Pumpkinhead. It has a pretty strong nutmeg flavor.
2Oo, that sounds really yummy! I'll buy some if I ever see it!
3suziryder, I found it at Whole Foods!
4Buffalo Bill's is probably my favorite pumpkin ale, but the actual restaurant has one major flaw: THEY DON'T HAVE IT ON TAP! How a brewpub with such a widely-known signature ale does not keg it is beyond me. Instead, they sold bottles at the restaurant for $4 a pop. And then in the front of the store they sold 6-packs for about $8. How that makes any sense at all, I have no idea. Maybe they've changed since I lived there, though.
5Annoyed. I love pumpkin ale but the bevmos start moving out the fall beers even before Halloween ends! Now all I see are the "seasonal winter" brews. Boo!
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