If you’ve been to an LCBO this Fall, you might have noticed the exactly 8000 different pumpkin spice ales available. Pumpkin is pretty good, so why not I guess.
Well, honestly, I’m not a huge fan of pumpkin spice beer. Not so much because it overpowers the beer (which it often does), but mainly I just find that without the right balance, it doesn’t taste that good. So perhaps not the best person to review.
However, in an effort to discern amongst the many options, I decided to pick up three OCB offerings to give them a try: Great Lakes Pumpkin Ale, Highballer Pumpkin Ale and Black Creek Pumpkin Ale.
Here’s some brief notes.
Black Creek Pumpkin Ale
Brewer: Black Creek Historic Brewery, Toronto
Price/Volume: $3.95/ 500 ml
Alcohol: 5.0%
Pretty nicely spiced and sweet, a little flat. Goes down easy if your into that sort of thing.
Highballer Pumpkin Ale
Brewer: Grand River Brewing, Cambridge Ontario
Price/Volume: $3.95/500 ml
Alcohol: 5.2%
More crisp with a pretty serious kick of pumpkin. A little hard to drink the full quantity for a pumpkin-hater like me.
Great Lakes Pumpkin Ale
Brewer: Great Lakes Brewing, Toronto
Price/Volume: $4.95/650 ml
Alcohol: 5.5%
The winner of the bunch. You get the pumpkin, but it comes through as a beer made to drink. Well done.
The season is nearing an end but there still seems to be plenty of interesting pumpkin beers showing up at LCBO’s, worth a shot if only for the novelty.
Note: The Southern Tier Pumpking is a good option if you’re looking for a beer that tastes like liquid pumpkin pie.