Deep amber autumnal ale boasts vine-ripened pumpkin essence and traditional crystal malt sweetness. Musty pumpkin pie-crusted acridity lingers through buttery midst as cinnamon and nutmeg spice up callow dry-hopped metallic bittering. 2012 re-tasting: Sugared pumpkin sweetness and cinnamon-nutmeg-gingerbread spicing enhanced and invigorated for better results.

Bettering original Catamount Brewery recipe, Brooklyn’s festive version hoists dominant spicy pumpkin pie theme. Brown sugared honey malts and gingerbread-sweetened coriander-nutmeg-cinnamon illusions counter salty black-peppered hop bittering and alcohol-burned metallic shard for rounded mouthfeel. Auxiliary vegetal astringency promotes earthen carrot, beet, and cabbage nuances at rose-watered Graham cracker backend of gourd-flaunted full body. Fussier, creamier, and more robust than increasingly stiff autumnal competition.

Preeminent in its stylistic nobility (until macrobrewed by contract brewery ’round 2011), smoked salami-scented hop-fueled ale settles into delectable pumpkin pie permanence after cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice gleefully dance on malt-lacquered tongue. Ashy tobacco leaf and burnt wood chips linger in distance of perfect Halloween aperitif.

Gourd-styled “full-bodied brown ale” spices up-front pumpkin pie pungency with sharply-hopped cinnamon-allspice-nutmeg enhancement as pleasing buttery mouthfeel swells, staying richer than most autumnal ‘punkin’ competition.

On tap, tepid golden autumn ale gets metallic as shallow pumpkin pie spicing and soapy backend disrupt tingly-hopped brown-sugared cinnamon-nutmeg-allspice nicety. Astringent gourd likeness hampers cereal-grained finish, lowering appeal further. But bottled version displays better cinnamon-spiced pumpkin character overriding whiskey-malted pumpernickel-rye abatement.

Mildly spiced wheat-husked October brew segues lightly hopped bittersweet pumpkin pie opening to sweet nutmeg-coriander midst. Tangy citrus finish sours quickly.