My (until recently) Pumpkin Problem

The other day I found myself at Tangletown drinking pumpkin ales with a couple of old friends and thought to myself, "self, these pumpkin biers are becoming a pretty big deal." It seems like any brewery with the capacity to make seasonal biers has dabbled in the pumpkin.

As I am with many hot new popular trends, I was skeptical. Why add pumpkin? Is pumpkin ice cream really that good? Are pumpkin seeds really appetizing? I don't find myself craving the innards when I carve jack-o-lanterns, so why should we put this stuff in bier? I figured we were eating pumpkin ice cream because all other fruits had been exhausted by the ice cream industry. And pumpkin seeds were the result of sunflower seeds' success resulting in seed companies wanting to draw more people into their chew-and-spit eating department. Pumpkin bier, huh. Sounds about as good as some domestic "Michelada" style aberration of decent drink.

Here is a short discussion of what I had and what I thought. I'm trying out my skills at bier evaluation for the first time. I'm not very good at it, and if you find yourself in strong dissagreement, please educate me.


Elysian Dark O' the Moon Pumpkin Stout. Playful in the nose, both with roasty chocolate aroma and hints of cinnamon-like spices. My first taste was gentle, very smooth indeed. The stout's bitter nature is here complemented with the taste of pumpkin pie and something like carrot cake. It finished cleanly, credit due for a nicely brewed example of a stout, well balanced with the pumpkin presentation. Nice bier.

Elysian The Great Pumpkin Imperial Ale. Imperial ales are by nature strong in both bitterness and alcohol, so I was ready for a wild man. What I smelled was less of a pumpkin pie spice and more like actual gamey pumpkin innards like I mentioned before. This made me more nervous, so needless to say I was amazed by how nicely it tasted. The hop bitterness was there immediately, like it always is, but then the alcohol warming was followed side by side with a genuinely pleasant flavor of sweet pumpkin meat. This bier is what turned it all around for me. Elysian involved pumpkin in the mash, the kettle and the fermentation of this bier, and their labor worked with incredible success to present to the drinker mr. pumpkin in all his glory.


After these I also tasted a very rich scotch-style pumpkin ale, but was unable to remember its name or enough of the details to warrant a description. And that imperial ale knocked me about to Mars so my pallet was done working for the day.

If you found yourself disliking my criticism of the way pumpkin gets slathered all across this season, I hope you will see now how I've learned that there are gems out there amongst the slatherings. I probably need to stop doubting the hot new trends so quickly without first doing a little research. I don't know why I so mistrust the public opinion. Perhaps it is because the most popular bier in the country is But Light. Then again, the folks who encouraged me to try pumpkin ales aren't exactly Bud Light drinkers. PBR and Rainier are their go-to's, and I'm definitely not too cool for vitamin R. Prost!

The Wonder of Wheat/Wit/Weizen

Let's Talk Wheat Biers. There are a broad variety of wheat biers available to quench your thirst, but how can one tell them apart? Let's see if we can't break this down a little.

Wheat biers generally contain a larger proportion of malted wheat than other top-fermented ales (at least 50%). It is quite common to see wheat included in the recipes of several of the biers you drink, often placed there to add smoothness in mouthfeel while also helping with head retention (foam that lasts). The main difference is, then, that wheat biers have much more wheat in them, hence the name. They are typically golden to amber in color with a theme of tartness that is shared among German Weizens and Belgian Wits. I have found wheat biers to be easily drinkable, and thus accessible for those odd folks who claim that they don't like bier. Maybe they just haven't discovered the biers that like them. Besides lambic, I find all of these biers to be easy to get into and light on the palate. So if your friend doesn't know what to order, and they're new to bier, look no further.

I believe that the Bavarian region of Germany is responsible for most of the wheat biers we see nowadays. There are five basic styles: Kristall Weizen (filtered/clear wheat), Hefeweizen (Unfilitered/wheat with yeast), Dunkelweizen (Dark wheat), Weizenbock (Strong wheat) and Berliner Weisse (Berlin-style).

Kristall weizens are widely available summer refreshers in Bavaria. I believe that tartness is what makes wheat biers good for quenching thirst, and Kristall weizens in the past could commonly have been found with a lemon slice hugging the brims of their glasses. This is a custom that has made its way here to the US, but we break tradition in that we will put lemon in any wheat bier, not just filtered ones. Try: Weihenstephaner Kristall Weissbier

Hefeweizen is a very popular bier to have with breakfast in Bavaria alongside sausage and bread and it has definitely blossomed here in the northwest. Although breweries like Widmer Brothers and Pyramid label their wheat biers as hefeweizens, I find them to be considerably less tart and dry, with a much weightier body than examples from Bavaria. Traditional Bavarian hefeweizens will have obvious notes of clove and banana, and you may also find some apple, plum and bubblegum flavors too. These fruity flavors come from the interaction of the wheat with crazy Bavarian yeasts. The reason you do not find these flavors in such proportion in American wheat ales is because a more conventional ale yeast is typically being used. It should still be fruity, but maybe a bit less of a wild man. Try: Schneider Weisse, Franziskaner Weissbier, Hacker-Pshorr Weissbier, Ayinger Bräu-Weisse, Ayinger Ur-Weisse, Pyramid Hefeweizen (Oregon), Widmer Brothers Hefeweizen (Oregon)

I only mention weizenbock as a style because I want to talk about Erdinger Pikantus. This is one of the most mysterious biers in the world to me (alongside Duvel) because of the delicate balance between strength (7.3% alcohol by volume) and malt character. The fact that a powerful bier like this one could still bring forth amazing subtle dark fruit flavors is amazing to me. If you’ve never had this bier before, you aren’t living the full life you could be. You can find it typically at any Whole Foods. I think that God probably likes this bier.

Berliner wiesse is one of those strange styles of bier that undergoes not only a yeast fermentation, but also is treated with bacteria, giving it mouth-puckering sour bite. This bier isn’t even consumed by itself- Berliners typically add raspberry or woodruff syrup to it to add sweetness. Definitely not typical for what you see around here, but worth a try if you can find it. Try: Berliner Kindl Weisse, Schultheiss Berliner Weisse

While Germany imposes its Reinheitsgebot, or purity law on all biers made inside the country, Belgium is quite the opposite. The purity law declares that bier must only have four ingredients: water, malt, hops, and yeast. In Belgium, it seems like they will throw anything into bier including (but not limited to) spices like coriander seeds, herbs like chamomile, and fruit like orange/lemon zests, cherries, pears and raspberries. So in the context of how “pure” Germans like their bier, it is fitting that Charlie Papazian refers to Belgium as the Disneyland of bier.

One style of wheat bier from Belgium that you absolutely cannot miss is the “white” or wit (say vit). These biers take the fruity flavors and spiciness and simply kick it up a notch. Or ten. They use Curaçao orange peels and coriander seeds in fermentation which adds extra tartness, as well as some minty, peppery flavors from the seeds. Instead of lemon, you may sometimes find these biers with an orange slice on the glass. If you're not sure whether or not you want fruit, take my advice: JUST GO WITH IT IT'S DELICIOUS. Don't listen to those commercials that try to tell you bier can't be consumed with fruit. That's like trying to tell David Bowie and Prince not to wear makeup. Seriously if this bier style doesn’t set your mouth into a salivating frenzy then I think you ruined your mouth. Try: Hoegaarden, Blue Moon Belgian White (Colorado), New Belgium Mothership Wit (Colorado)

Lastly, there is Belgian lambic, which is probably one of the wildest (literally) things I’ve ever tasted. Imagine this: after preparing the wort for fermentation, they simply spray it on the floor, open up the windows and allow the wild yeasts to come in and have at it! There is only a small area in Belgium where they can do this- outside the town of Lembeek, near Brussels where there are orchards all over the place. Typically lambics are “pungently sour, low in bitterness, very effervescent, peculiarly aromatic, aged for years and wonderfully and strangely addictive.” (Papazian) If you’re into Belgian biers then this is worth a try. Take mental notes when you try these biers, then come educate me. They’re a little bit intimidating. Try: Cantillon Gueze-Lambic

I'm once again not confident that any of this has been helpful, but I hope there is at least one bier here that you haven’t had before that you’ll now feel emboldened enough to go out and try. I love talking about this stuff and have tried not to bury you in details. Mostly I’m hoping that this could be a launchpad for some folks into the rest of the bier world. If you find yourself really enthralled with wheat biers, then I think you're not far off from seriously delving into some good, life-changing ales and lagers. Until then, Prost!

A Bier for all Seasons

I am a huge fan of seasonal biers. The industry is rich with special biers for every season, and even for the transitions between seasons.

Currently we are just at the end of Oktoberfest season where Germans drink a bier they call "wiesn" or "festbier" (they don't refer to is as oktoberfest). Oktoberfest began as a celebration of a wedding between King Ludwig I and Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen on October 12th, 1810 in Munich. All of the citizens were invited to come help celebrate, and the place that the celebration took place was named Theresienwiese (Theresa's Fields). That word, Theresienwiese, has been shortened over time to the German word wiesn (pronounced "veesun") to refer to the bier which is consumed out of the tradition started in Munich in 1810. The oktoberfest celebration is still running today- it typically goes from the third weekend in September until the first Sunday in October. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oktoberfest)

So there's your history, all for a great purpose. Oktoberfest biers (wiesns) are traditionally a little higher in alcohol than a simple light lager and are also of a color that is quite magnificent. Think of the bright red-oranges of autumn and you're well on the way. Being lagers of high quality, wiesns are also vividly clear, smooth, and rich with the flavors of fall. Not to mention easy to drink. Many folks who come to the Stube for the first time ask what bier they should start with. If they like bier, then I will recommend a wiesn. If they don't have much experience with bier, I may go for something lighter like a hefeweizen or a light lager (but I secretly want them to drink something with some color in it).

The point of all of this is to say that I think seasonal biers are incredibly valuable because they help us to enjoy each season for the great things about it, instead of so often waiting life away until winter (if it is the fall) or until summer (if it is the spring). I feel that of all seasons, fall gets slighted the most for its cooler weather, increased precipitation and the beginning of classes for young scholars.

I find fall as an excellent time to wind down from the near-explosive amount of activity found in summertime. We're all trying to get every last drop that we can out of summer and somehow we still feel slighted when it's gone.

It is also a time to break out some of the cool weather gear for afternoon and evening walks through the neighborhood. I love that- getting to wear clothes you haven't worn in months. Something about that feels fresh and new and exciting to me, which is quite contrary to the language of decay and murk that gets attached to fall by weathermen and cynical Seattleites.

So cheer up student and warm weather enthusiast! Carve a pumpkin, eat hot pie with ice cream and drink some wiesn. Go to a state fair and look at livestock and eat crazy fried foods. Go hike in the rain and snuggle up around the fireplace afterward. Go to a football game and cheer with all you've got, then go get a celebratory bier afterward and try to carry on a conversation with your ridiculous hoarse voice. You have been given the opportunity to enjoy life today. I'm sure tomorrow could also be great, but please don't slight today because it carries in it as much potential for fun as yesterday did, and look at how great that was. So it can be today.

Prost!