Like it or not, pumpkin spice season is back.
As much as folks have labelled the famous PSL as "basic", it is a drink that has helped propel the pumpkin spice blend into everything from baked goods to Kraft Dinner (yuck) and, of course, alcoholic drinks as well. Warm autumn flavours like cinnamon and cloves don't always find themselves in things that are, well, warm, and yet they still taste like fall.
Calgary brewer Kevin Learning has created an especially refreshing take on the pumpkin spice theme with a cool, crisp Pumpkin Ale at Ol' Beautiful Brewing. The seasonal beer is brewed with a combination of real pumpkin, vanilla, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg and Willamette hops.
Using an amber ale base with lactose makes for a well-balanced, slightly (and pleasantly) sweet sip that makes one feel like watching trees turn to golden and red isn't such a bad thing after all.
If you're in Calgary and want to cheers to autumn with Learning's Pumpkin Ale, Ol' Beautiful Brewing is open seven days a week from 11 a.m. until late.
