in search of pumpkin beer

Reading through some of the blogs out there during the past month or two, I’ve noticed posts evaluating various brands of pumpkin beer. Sounds tasty I thought. I’ve never had pumpkin beer. And now I think I know why. A quick trip to the liquor store confirmed what I had suspected: pumpkin beer does not exist here. Discouraging. However, all was not lost. During my recent trip to the U.S., pumpkin beer was everywhere . . . and with great names like Pumpkinhead Ale, Red October, Sea Dog Pumpkin Ale. It was a difficult decision indeed, but I finally settled on a few bottles of Jack’s Pumpkin Spice Ale and excitedly brought them home. Finally, I thought, I get to discover what everyone’s been writing about. And I must admit . . . I was a little underwhelmed. The only pumpkin spice I could detect was a barely-noticeable cinnamon aftertaste. Disappointing. So much pumpkin beer to choose from and I chose badly . . . lured by the grinning jack-o-lantern on the bottle. Oh well, I thought, maybe next year. And then . . . I saw an ad. It seems that a local microbrewery is offering pumpkin beer during the last two weeks of October this year! Better late than never. And not just any beer. No, this beer is reportedly made using local award-winning pumpkins. It just doesn’t get any more promising than that! So it wasn’t too late after all! I was being given a second chance at pumpkin beer. I immediately dashed to the nearest liquor store and tried to locate the beer. I looked . . . and looked . . . and finally asked for assistance . . . only to be told that no, this beer is being sold in select liquor stores only. Hmmm . . . seems we have an elitist microbrewery at work here. But okay, I’ll play along. So my next stop was one of the “select” liquor stores in the city, where I was promptly told: “Sorry. We had a shipment last week but it sold out in four days.” Seems I’m not the only person in town desperately seeking pumpkin beer. But there’s more. Apparently, the brewery will not commit to a delivery date for the next batch, simply stating that it will be there when it’s ready. Not only elitist, but power-crazed. This is pumpkin beer insanity! The nice liquor store guy suggested I check back next Thursday or Friday. So tomorrow, I’ll be giving the Propeller Brewery one more chance. By this weekend, I’ll either be enjoying the local pumpkin beer that I struggled so hard to obtain, or I’ll be sitting at home dejectedly, finishing off the rest of my mediocre Jack’s Pumpkin Ale.