So, about a month ago my daughter went to Macon, and all I got was a T-Shirt. Well, OK, that’s not true. I can’t support that. I didn’t get a T-Shirt at all. I got beer! Yep, she stopped by the Macon Beer Company and picked me up some bombers to go and a logo pint glass. Wasn’t that nice? I sure thought so. She got me three beers in fact, and the second one I'm trying is called Macon Bears, a pumpkin ale and their fall seasonal.
Macon Beer Company has been around since 2011, but I’ve yet to come across their beer. Macon is about an hour south of Atlanta and their beer is not distributed in North Georgia as far as I can tell. I certainly appreciate the punny names they give their brews, like Macon Love, Macon Progress, Macon Out, and Macon Music. Macon Bears does not really fit into that mold, but what the heck. With names like most of those, we can only hope they’re selling a lot of beer-and Macon Money.
Of Macon Bears they say:
We created Macon Bears to celebrate tailgating season and college sports in Macon. In the spirit of fall tailgating, we decided to release this harvest-season brew during Macon Octoberfest. Macon Bears will have an alternating style, but this first release is perfectly fall: a pumpkin ale that is lightly spiced with subtle orange hues.
Macon Bears has an alcohol content of 6% by volume according to the brewery website. The bomber bottle was unlabeled and apparently they have no logo for this one. My daughter paid $7.50 for it at the brewery. I enjoyed the beer about a month after it was bottled at the brewery. Fresh! I would have enjoyed it sooner, but Jess loves pumpkin beers and we had to wait until we could split it.
Macon Bears Pumpkin Ale pours to a pale golden orange color with a medium head formation and a spicy clove nose. Taking a sip, the beer has a medium maltiness up front followed by solid squashy, stringy pumpkin notes dried nicely in the finish with a bold nutmeg and clove spiciness. I just love the pumpkin notes here, a very pumpkiny brew indeed. Some pumpkin beers lose that in their spiciness, but this one does not.
I very much enjoyed my bottle of Macon Bears pumpkin ale. It’s worth Macon a trip to the brewery for more, and it’s Macon me thirsty just thinking about it.
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