With the first chill of fall comes a reminder to beer drinkers that Oktoberfest is not too far away. In my beer cooler of choice there is a deluge of Oktoberfest beers from Germany, along with some American versions and other offering of Fall-themed beers.

Call me a "Linusphile" but I always look for something else when the weather indicates that the nightly chill will remain constant in days to come. This year as I await the Great Pumpkin with the 51-year old security blanket waving grade schooler, I will taking along a six pack of Smuttynose Brewing Company’s Pumpkin Ale for us to share. [Linus was introduced on 9/19/1952 according to the official Peanuts Web site (www.unitedmedia.com/comics/peanuts/ ].

Smuttynose (www.smuttynose.com) based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire has been making a wide range of quality ales since 1994, and with their version of Pumpkin Ale now available in six packs ($7.99) I'm anticipating some great pumpkin sightings of my own. The brewery makes a number of other ales available year-round and 8 "Big Beer" seasonal offerings in bottle only. The Big Beer series is a limited edition of specialty beers, packaged in 22 ounce bottles. Smuttynose only produces about 400 cases of each Big Beer each year so they are highly sought after in the New England area.

Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale pours to a golden orange/amber color with a fragrant full head that immediately announces itself with strong scents of nutmeg, cinnamon and clove.

Smuttynose makes their version of pumpkin ale by adding some pumpkin puree and spices to the "mash" (a porridge like liquid found in the beginning stage of the brewing process when the ground malt mixes with hot water and later becomes the "wort," or the basis of the beer). [See The Good Beer Book by Timothy Harper and Garret Oliver, Berkley Books, 1997 for more info on the brewing process.]

Smuttynose Puumpkin Ale is highly drinkable; a rather nice concoction of sweet extremes of spice and pumpkin flavor in a full bodied ale. This is an ale that will tempt the taste buds but also satisfy the ale drinker with body and malt flavor. Smuttynose uses 3 different malts and 3 different hops to produce their Pumpkin Ale. There are enough hops to balance out the sweet, spicy extremes with a balancing shot of dryness at the finish. It’s a very tasty ale, one of the better Pumpkin Ales I’ve tried.

This could be a session beer for the Fall if you are really in need of a pumpkin fix. I prefer to drink it without any food accompaniment as the spicy profile can be off-putting when pairing with food. Perhaps some whip cream is called for instead. I would rate Snuttynose Pumpkin Ale as a four star effort and recommend it for ale drinkers with a taste for some Fall adventure outside of the usual Oktoberfest offerings.

Recommended: Yes