(Boulder, CO) – As the trees around us shed their prismatic plumage, beer drinkers don their winter wear and shop great shelves swollen with pumpkin ales. The esteemed seasonal style has ridden a meteoric surge in popularity this last decade, and proved a perfect fit for Twisted Pine Brewing Company’s Artisan Ale Project. On November 3rd, the brewery will release an India Pumpkin Ale named Modern Day Pine-eer, the eleventh offering in this year’s series. The project recently garnered nationwide attention when April’s West Bound Braggot bested 32 other beers to secure gold in the Specialty Honey Beer category at the 2012 Great American Beer Festival.
For November’s edition, the brewers added over 500 pounds of pumpkin into the mash as well as the kettle, where a mixture of fresh-milled spices joined Pilgrim and Columbus hops in the boil. The ale colors the glass like fossilized amber topped with a silky, persistent head of eggnog hue. Aromatic sprays of allspice, clove and baked pumpkin mingle with sharp, earthy bitter notes from the Columbus hops and stimulate the nostrils while the mouth salivates, awaiting the first sip. Once through the lips, Modern Day Pine-eer hugs the palate, embraced in turn by each set of taste buds. In keeping with the India-style way, the beer is drier than most of its peers, though the mouthfeel is remarkably firm and the finish crisp, but lingering. Pine-eer weighs in at 6.4% ABV and 45 IBU.
Like its Artisan Ale predecessors, Modern Day Pine-eer’s release party at the brewery on Saturday, November 3rd will double as an exhibit for Colorado Springs-based photographer Shannon Ripley. The party runs from noon to 9pm and the artist will be on hand throughout the afternoon to sign wax-dipped 750ml bottles for collectors. Ripley’s artwork will adorn the walls of Twisted Pine’s Ale House for the remainder of the month. In addition to bottles, the beer will be available on tap at a handful of local accounts.
