Okay, first I turn up with banana bread beer, and now I’m confronted with a pumpkin ale.

Who came up with this? Linus van Pelt? After his 21^st birthday he goes to the pumpkin patch and calls out, “O Great Pumpkin, I need a beer!”

The ground shakes under his Vans. The creepy, dark trees sway, branches cracking, and an eerie grinding sound grows from the shadows. Linus takes a few steps back, realizing he may have made a mistake … realizing the Great Pumpkin may actually be evil.

From the shadows comes an explosion of dirt and grass, and out jumps the Great Pumpkin. “Dude!” it yells. “You order some brewski?”

“Oh my God!” Linus exclaims. “The acid, it’s working!”

[To the dear departed soul of Charles M. Schulz, I apologize. I blame the beer.]

So, what do we have here, anyway? Not from the Great Pumpkin (though it may be made out of the Great Pumpkin) this is the product of Buffalo Bill’s Brewery.

Pumpkin Ale.

What the heck? It’s October, let’s go with it.

I pop the top of this strange mutant brew and am hit with the strong scent of … what else? Pumpkin pie. Seriously. That’s the exact smell. Pumpkin pie, with beer poured over the top of it.

The first sip is seriously carbonated, drowning out all flavor until it calms down. What follows next, in quick succession, is an out of control hayride of pumpkin, spices, mild hops, light malt, and hops again, leaving you at the end with a pumpkin pie and beer aftertaste. Every sip is kind of like a Halloween-themed thrill ride.

I am surprised but … I like it. It’s pretty good. Not quite as good as the banana bread beer, but I have to say it’s mildly groovy. I can see it served at a party, or a themed dinner. Or a haunted house.

Or maybe a pumpkin patch.

At midnight.

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