Thanksgiving in August? All right. (Photo via MK Heisler)

Saint Louis Brewery in St. Louis, MO

Holy hell there are some terrible pumpkin beers on the market. I’ve always known pumpkin was a perfect compliment for a great beer, with the hints of nutmeg, cinnamon, and other fall spices. For me, those could translate over to so many different beer styles–IPA, pale ale, strong ale, whatever. But little did I know a whole genre of pumpkin ales was brewing on its own. I thought a few breweries probably dabbled in this realm, and when I first started my craft beer life, I remember finding something called Jack’s Pumpkin Spice Ale and knowing it would be fantastic. Wrong. Terrible. But not completely unsurprising considering it was one of the dreadful Anheuser-Busch macros in a micros clothing. I was betrayed! I tried a few other pumpkin beers and was always disappointed. Maybe a brewery couldn’t pull off a good pumpkin ale, or maybe what I was imagining just didn’t exist. With the recent influx of fall beers into the D.C. area (which, seriously, college football hasn’t even started yet and we’re already seeing Oktoberfests and pumpkins? I’m still not sure how I feel about that), pumpkins are everywhere. I took one final stab in the dark at the Schlafly Pumpkin Ale and hoped for the best.

I’d never had any Schlafly beers before, and I almost had a feeling that they were a brewing company that sold knock-off micros. However, I saw that Meridian Pint was having a beer dinner event with Schlafly for D.C. Beer Week, so I knew they couldn’t be terrible.

The pumpkin poured a good-looking (surprise!) orange pumpkin color and immediately smelled quite strongly of ground nutmeg and cinnamon. A burst of sweetness was also present in the nose, and I was immediately transferred to Thanksgiving day dessert. The taste didn’t disappoint in this regard, either, with a heavy blast of pumpkin flavor complimented by a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg that really felt like fall in a glass. The pumpkin spice was quite balanced and the sweetness really blew through underneath the fall flavors. The only real knock I have against the beer is that maybe a better blast of bitter hops throughout could really make this a dynamic brew. As is, it’s a little too sweet for mass consumption and for anything other than a drink of every few weeks, but maybe this sentiment will change when it still isn’t 95 degrees outside.

Overall, I don’t have too many complaints about Schlafly Pumpkin. If you’ve been thrown astray on a search for good pumpkin beers, Schlafly is worth a try. A little bit less sweetness and maybe an increase in ABV could really translate this into a stunning beer but for now, just quietly enjoy the first real taste of succulent pumpkin pie you can get before November.