Well-balanced gourd-spiced autumn ale (known to French Canadians as Citrouille Ale) brings darker spicing and creamier resolve to the usual pumpkin-pied seasonal. Myriad pumpkin tannins enrich cinnamon-nutmeg-clove spicing to molasses-sapped rye wheat spine. Earthen vegetal flutter wards off tinny void that suffocates lesser pumpkin ales. Aggressive enough for dark ale thirsts yet not too intimidating for dabblers.

Wondrous orange-hazed Imperial Pumpkin Ale (with lusty 8% alcohol) maintains rich pumpkin-spiced theme above brisk citric backdrop and lively hop-spiced continuance. Brown-sugared cinnamon-baked nutmeg-clove-allspice-daubed sweetness receives honeyed maple sapping and candied apple lacquering as full-on gourd-squash essence reaches crisp-watered gin-soaked easement. Perfect autumnal offering also blends tertiary cider notes into pumpkin-pied crust.

Another fine ale and interesting label (an evil gourd) from stalwart brewer, ’05. Dense pumpkin sweetness dominates heady 8% alcohol rush, sugary malt lacquered stickiness, and vegetal bottom of mildly creamy seasonal. Cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom spices tingle lingering pumpkin pie resonation as rippling red cherry, berry, and apricot offing enhances pleasant brandied aftertaste.

Up-front pumpkin pie essence thwarted by diacetyl nature, as soapy vanilla malts and weak spiced hops beget fey metallic finish. Narrow clove-allspice-cinnamon-nutmeg passage and muted banana quip too unassuming for watery light-bodied fizzle.

Lamentable limited ’06 release finds astringent Fuggle-hopped bittering and woody alcohol burn overwhelming expectant autumnal pumpkin theme of clear coppery dry body. Spicy pumpkin pie gloss fades considerably as moldy cooked vegetable funk weakens peppered clove and herbal tea illusions obscuring brown sugared cinnamon-nutmeg-ginger whir. Biscuit-y wheat backbone and squash-like finish need better profundity.

Honeyed pumpkin-spiced ale lifts orange-fruited cinnamon-allspice-ginger confluence above red apple whim, sour lemony backslide and earthy vegetal whimper. Fleeting maple passage consumes late-coming herbal eucalyptus-tealeaf blossom.

Dry lemon-hopped souring disguises peppery pumpkin-spiced ambiance of ‘certified organic’ vegetable beer. Peculiar spoiled lemon frontage overwhelms sweet sugar-spiced cinnamon-nutmeg remnant and earthen fennel-carrot digression to metallic raw-grained finish.

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.