Photo by Jon Grant.
Drink/dish of the week: Pumpkin ale
Where: The Black Squirrel, Meridian Pint, Pizzeria Paradiso, your kitchen
‘Tis the season for some autumnal beverages—gourd-based or otherwise. While apple cider is lovely, and mulled wine a treat, pumpkin beer is often an unfortunate victim of the fall flavor season. In the same way that a perfectly good latte doesn’t need pumpkin, some might wonder why you would ruin a perfectly good beer with an overdose of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. To the haters, I must concede: There are a lot of really disgusting pumpkin beers out there, from the overly spiced to the cloyingly sweet. Still, like the stinky ginkgo jizz berries slowing rotting on D.C.’s sidewalks, pumpkin beer seems like a fall inevitability. To that end, here are some tips for enjoying the ale of the season.
Believe or not, there are some half-way decent examples of the pumpkin beer style. If you don’t want to be disappointed, I recommend going with a bar or restaurant that is known for having a well-curated beer list. I myself have found the caramel-kissed Weyerbacher’s Imperial Pumpkin Ale to be flavorful without feeling like I just drank a scented candle. You can find it on tap at the Black Squirrel (2427 18th Street NW), or try D’Vines or Whole Foods for some at-home imbibing. You can also snag some quality pumpkin ales at Meridian Pint (3400 11th St NW) and Pizzeria Paradiso as part of their Autumn Fest, featuring pumpkin, harvest, and Oktoberfest ales, as well a tasty pumpkin and bacon pizza.
However, if you’re like me, you’ve probably encountered some not-so-delicious pumpkin beer. It’s a popular hostess gift at parties and potlucks this time of year, and I challenge you not to happen upon a few bottles at your next Halloween party. So what to do with the sub-par leftovers? Here are some ideas for how to transform a middling pumpkin ale into something more palatable. If you have more ideas, please feel free to get creative in the comments.
- Make like Harry Potter with some butter beer, or, in this case, brown butter spiced ale.
- Whip up a batch of pumpkin beer and pretzel caramels.
- Bake a loaf of pumpkin beer bread.
- Toss it in your chili for an extra special somethin’.
- Who needs pumpkin pie when there’s pumpkin ale cheesecake?
- Accept defeat: There is no way you are eating or drinking any more of this stuff. Start taking a bath or washing your hair with it.
Small Bites
Restaurant reboots are the new cupcakes donuts cronuts
The Heights (3115 14th St NW) will close its doors on Sunday and reopen next Friday, November 1st, with a revamped food and drink menu and renovated interior. In an effort to clean out inventory, the restaurant will have a “closing” sale on Sunday with half-priced food and drinks all day. The Heights will then celebrate their reopening the following weekend with all-night happy hour on Friday and a garden party on the patio featuring half-priced beer and wine on Saturday and Sunday.
Gin + aquavit = ginavit
New Columbia Distillers, the folks who brought you Green Hat Gin, will be releasing a new libation. Ginavit is exactly what it sounds like—a mash-up of aquavit and gin—which is then aged in apple brandy barrels. Think caraway and juniper meets apple and vanilla. New Columbia will release just 90 cases starting next Saturday.
Celebrate the Day of the Dead
Stop by Oyamel (401 7th Street NW) to toast the Day of the Dead now through next Saturday. Special menu items include poached oysters, stuffed crab with sea urchin butter, and crispy duck confit with Chihuatl chile salsa. Wash it down with an Atole Rico cocktail—based on a Mexican cinnamon and vanilla-laced corn beverage—or a Las Calacas, made with coconut and chia seeds.
