The first time I had a pumpkin beer, I wasn’t a big fan. It was syrupy sweet, and loaded more with pumpkin spice flavor than actual pumpkin. Without even explicitly making up my mind to do so, I started dismissing these beers as a complete gimmick.
If it wasn’t for a close friend of mine in Asheville, North Carolina encouraging me to try New Belgium’s Atomic Pumpkin Ale, I might have kept that opinion for the rest of my life. But let me tell you: This is one heck of a beer, with a walloping amount of real pumpkin flavor that’s backed up by heat and spice from habaneros and cinnamon sticks.
So what does it drink like? Like a hayrack ride of fall flavors marching their way through your mouth, before being burned down in a Samhain ritual to end the season. Love it or hate it, this is a beer that you absolutely need to try while it’s around.
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