Really  Pat? Another pumpkin shandy?

Picked up this Strange Brew as we prepared for our seasonal and highly ceremonial Redecorating of the Beer Tree, where we invite friends over to drink seasonal brews, purely for the purpose of adorning the tree accordingly – we have a selfless, giving group of friends. I thought if nothing else that this colorful label would be a great “ornament”.

The Beer Bottle Tree, freshly refrocked in fall foliage.

It’s that and more.

After a sip – alright, after the first couple of bottles – this brew intrigued me enough to actually pour it into a glass and check it out. A modest head (which I like – too much foam and I have to wait to drink it, and you can imagine that doesn’t sit well with me) that becomes rather lacy and lingers delicately on top of the brew. Pours a nice orange-amber, not quite clear but certainly not cloudy, with an almost champagne-like bubbliness out of the bottle.

This fellow is made with actual pumpkin, and you can tell. That natural taste rings through, carried quite nicely by the wheat ale base, almost elegant spicing, and the unique addition of lemon peel, which picks up the finish in what would be a moderately full-bodied beer – making it a heavy shandy.

Yeah, so, it’s a martini glass. Shoot me. It’s pretty.

I love everything about the taste: the honest pumpkin, the distinct but not overpowering pumpkin-pie-inspired spicing, subtle hopping on the sturdy wheat ale that delivers the goods – good enough that I’d love to try the wheat ale all on its own.

This is the first brew from The Traveler Beer Co. out of not-so-nearby Burlington, VT that I’ve tried, although I’ve seen their appealingly-packaged strange brews in the coolers of some of the finer package stores in the area. After trying their Jack-O Pumpkin Shandy, I’m now eager to try their other offerings — and not wait for a beer tree refrocking as the occasion.