Beer Spotlight!

Caboose Pumpkin Cream Ale

$17.99 for the four-pack 16oz can
Cream Ale with Pumpkin and Spices

We continue to shine a spotlight onto our proud pumpkin beer selection. Every year we try to find a pumpkin ale that we’ve never tried before, and this year it comes in the form of a cream ale from Caboose Brewing Company in Vienna, Va.

A cream ale? What?

We know!

So, Cream Ales are an American invention. In order to compete with German descended light lagers, brewers came up with an alternative — a mild, super light-bodied, golden ale, frequently made with corn to keep the body and malt profile low. Even though they’re ales (though you can make them with lager yeast and still, improperly, call them ales — Boo!!), they can be lagered in cold temperatures, like lagers.

The Caboose Pumpkin Cream Ale starts with a cream ale made with flaked corn. To this beer they add pumpkin and a bevy of spices — cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, vanilla, and cloves. Though that sounds like a lot, these extra ingredients are subtly applied. The key is that Caboose allows only a wisp of sweetness into the beer allowing you to focus on the squashy side of the pumpkin flavor. (This is not a pumpkin pie beer!) The vegetable side of the pumpkin offers a nice twist to the cream ale by shaving off some of acrid notes that the corn can provide. True to form, it is unabashedly light-bodied — a seasonal alternative treat for Kölsch lovers.

Remember!

You can see our entire beer inventory on Untappd.com!