I told you pumpkin beers keep coming out earlier each year! But did you listen to me? Noooooo……Take, for example, Pumpkin Beast from the Aviator Brewing Company of Fuquay Varina, North Carolina. According to the brewery, this beer is available July 15th to November 15th. July 15th? Seriously? I’ve just finished up with fireworks and hamburgers from the 4th, folks. As much as I love pumpkin ales (and I do), I don’t even want to think about them until September.
Anyway, it was October when I popped a can of Aviator Pumpkin Beast, and I’ll be drinking pumpkin beers until the end of December now. Aviator takes its name from the fact they first brewed in an airplane hangar. That was back in 2008, and their beers are only reaching Georgia as of 2015. Pumpkin Beast is a sort of hybrid, or so they say, though I don’t agree. As we’ll soon see.
From the can label:
FALL BRINGS US THE HARVEST OF PUMPKINS…AND THEY TASTE GREAT IN BEER. Our pumpkin beer is an Oktoberfest or Marzen style beer fused with real pumpkin and fall spices. PumpkinBeast has a malty backbone with the addition of subtle pumpkin flavor.
So, an Oktoberfest-pumpkin beer hybrid? Not quite. From the website:
Our pumpkin beer! Made with real pumpkins. A fine ale made with dark malts and blended with fall spices.
You see? It’s an ale. Oktoberfest Marzen can’t be an ale, it has to be a lager. There’s no reason why a pumpkin beer can’t be a lager, but it doesn’t work the other way around. I understand what they’re doing here, I’m sure that they’ve included some Munich and Vienna malts to emulate the Oktoberfest style, though if they did, I didn’t really get that. The spices crowded those flavors out for me.
Aviator Pumpkin Beast has an alcohol content of 6.2% by volume with 17 IBUs. It runs $11.99 a six-pack at Total Wine where I bought it, rather high.
Aviator Pumpkin Beast pours to a bright orange color with a light to medium head of creamy foam and a subtly spicy nose of dry nutmeg. Taking a sip I get a bit of caramel malt up front followed by squashy pumpkin and hot ball cinnamon candy flavors. The beer finishes very dry with nutmeg and perhaps vanilla and ginger.
I like this beer, it’s a solid pumpkin ale by any reckoning. The spices work well with the malts and pumpkin, and I’d stay this is about average for the style. I’d give it 4 stars (a B), with a half star off for the price. Even at the price, I’d likely buy it again, especially if it shows up on tap at Taco Mac.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft
(G)=Growler