Ya’ll really go hard for Pumpkin Season and ion like that. I kid, kinda… I really just don’t fully understand the hype. Now that we’re wrapping up pumpkin beer season I figured I’d chime in.
Ok so to be transparent this was the first season I tapped in. I haven’t been deep in the beer scene but I’ve seen the pumpkin hype. Now, I LOVE Halloween and Fall, so I was pretty interested, in theory, but I’ve never been one to jump on the cheesy trends. PSL season is a great example that actually might’ve ruined pumpkin beer’s potential. Pumpkin has been given the declaration of basic and I just can’t shake it.
Well anyway… I tapped into my basic bitch side and set out to explore the world of pumpkin. I wanted to see what the hype was about. I got with my co-host of The Swig, Kramer aka @thebeerdedbrotha, about doing a pumpkin beer tasting on the show. He’s a pumpkin beer fan so he was down. We invited a few of our beer drinking counterparts to join in on the fun. You can check out the episode here but a quick summary… we were split on the beers. Some like the maltier beers, I preferred the balanced. Spencer Monkster Mash was a standout. I enjoyed the Monkster cause of the bitterness that followed and balanced the caramel sweetness the light pie spice added an essence, nothing overwhelming and the fizz made it refreshing.
What I realized during the research prep for the recording, was that sweet potato beers actually intrigued me and I wanted it to be a thing like pumpkin. Maybe because I think sweet potato pie? Whatever it is, I wondered why this craze never caught on. But I had a theory.
Craft beer is white centered… and so are pumpkins.
Did a little research and found that grown in the northern part of the U.S., pumpkins were plentiful and quickly incorporated into cuisine. Sweet potatoes were grown in the south and were just as plentiful, but didn’t venture out the south until Blacks later migrated. Enslaved Black people were forced to cook pies for massa and eventually became adopted as a popular dessert by African Americans. Pumpkins became associated with fall and Thanksgiving, while sweet potatoes became a (Black) southern delicacy. Pumpkin eventually became “king” overall because… I mean… it represented Murica.
This probably made me more of a sweet potato fan. I wanted to delve deeper. I knew where the Black community stood with sweet potatoes but I wanted to get an idea of the disparity so, I asked a Black Facebook group I’m in to take a poll.
Sweet potato won hands down. I can imagine a sweet potato pie beer and I’m salivating. I know what you’re saying, “they already make sweet potato (pie) beers!” And I know this but can I get my hands on them is the question. Can I have a tasting of local sweet potato beers? Can I see the SPB picture takeover in craft beer groups? Did you catch that SPB means sweet potato beer? Think I’m going to start using it. Take that PSL! But ultimately, I don’t see the craze and I want the craze… ok not craze but I want some #respeck put on SP’s name!
I have to admit, through my journey of trying pumpkin beers, I have had a few that were on point. Prairie Ales has the Pumpkin Kerfuffle, a sour, and they also have the Basic Bitch Pumpkin stout. I had to get it strictly off the name. Radius Brewing’s Pumpkin beer, that we tried before they released it, was really good. They asked us to name it, but they didn’t go with our choice. It was a good name too! I’m sure there’s more and I definitely intend to continue my tastings in search of what it is that people go nuts over.
To end, as a Black beer drinker, I’d like to see the sweet potato trend take off. Black brewers should totally start it… it could be our “PSL”! I’ll always seek sweet potato beers too so drop suggestions for both. Where do you stand on the pie and the beer?