Have you embraced all things pumpkin yet? Pumpkin lattes, air fresheners, breads and shakes all scream, “Fall is here!” When it comes to craft beer, there are plenty of pumpkin beers out there, BUT do they actually contain this wonderful fall fruit? Yes, pumpkin is actually a fruit — so much that New Hampshire named it their state fruit in 2006.
Pumpkins are very mild in flavor on their own, but when you add a few spices, the flavor is greatly enhanced. There are pumpkin beers that contain only spices — wait, no pumpkin in a pumpkin beer? I am an advocate that if a beer is labeled or marketed as a pumpkin beer, then it needs to include pumpkin as an ingredient. Spices can do the heavy lifting for flavor, but pumpkin should still play a major part.
Big Boss Brewing offers Harvest Time Pumpkin Ale to welcome you to the fall season. Brewed with real pumpkin and their proprietary blend of spices, this beer offers a nice balance between actual pumpkin flavor and spices. There’s a nice dose of cinnamon and nutmeg that stand out among the other spices. It’s not liquid pumpkin pie, and it really shouldn’t be, because then it would be labeled as a “dessert beer.” The malt flavor is still present to remind you that it is a beer, and it finishes crisp and clean. This is an easy drinking beer to enjoy as you relax in the backyard while a fire crackles in a fire pit, and the leaves gently descend all around you.
Big Boss Brewing is located at 1249 Wicker Drive in Raleigh. The brewery started in 2006 and shipped its first beer to the Triangle in 2007. As they say at Big Boss, their beers are “designed to be appreciated, but crafted to be enjoyed.”
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