If it’s late August, then it means we’re going through our annual “too soons.” Summer is ending – too soon. Vacations are over – too soon. Pumpkin beers hit the shelves – too soon. This last one, though, is a perfect reminder that while it may be too soon to honk down an autumn seasonal beer it is the right time to brew one!
The 2015 BJCP Style Guidelines even give us a proper home for our spice-and-gourd concoctions: category 30B, Autumn Seasonal Beer. While many variations exist (the guidelines are almost comically subjective and vague on the overall gist of them – “suggest cool weather” and “evocative of Thanksgiving”), the recipe that follows takes a solid amber-brown ale and adds in both the real (pumpkin) and “evocative” (pumpkin pie spice) ingredients necessary to call to mind falling leaves and football (European or American).
STYLE
The guidelines provide some broad strokes. The two most common features are found in the color and spices. These are overwhelmingly amber or brown in color, though darker and paler versions are possible – the coppery hues, though, are just so darned seasonally appropriate. Second, they usually feature the kinds of spices we associate with Fall holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving) – cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, ginger, and vanilla usually make an appearance.