Mid and late October offers some great time for beer lovers since it brings a larger collection of seasonal beers to local taps than any other time of the year. See, first there are the wheat and harvest ales that make their way to mugs starting in late September and early October.



Those brews generally have large production runs, so they last well into November for many taverns. 

 

Then around mid October or so, the shorter-run pumpkin beers enter the scene, but those just last a few weeks before they disappear from the taps. Also during this time is the blitz on Halloween-themed beers.

So if there is any time to jump out of your beer rut and dive headlong into something flavorful and out of the ordinary, now is that time. This column outlines a bit of what you will find on your beer travels.

The big hit this year is Rogue Brewery’s Dead Guy offerings, not only are they solid beers that can be readily found in beer shops from 99 Bottles, Tacoma Boys, and MSN to Steilacoom Pub and Deli, but this year the brewer has added something special. All the 22-ounce bottles and growlers are available in glow-in-the-dark versions. Nothing says creepy Halloween brew tossing like glow-in-the-dark bottles. 

What makes these beers the perfect mid bodied October brew is that they offer a thick, off-white head that gives off whiffs of citric and a crisp bite.

The brews’ cousin, Double Dead Guy Ale, is a bit harder to track down but flows in and out of beer joints fairly regularly.

This doublebock packs a 9 percent punch and warms the heart as well as the mind fairly quickly. This is a sipping beer that needs to be savored not just because of the flavor but because of the punch it delivers. 

Other beers for the season include Moorhouse’s Black Cat and Pendle Witches Brew, which are both ales. Witches Brew offers a full mouth of malt with a crisp fruit finish. Black Cat offers dark chocolate malt that ends with a hop explosion at the end.

There are also some solid lines of pumpkin beers that really should be tried. Standouts include Dogfish Head Punkin Ale and Shipyard’s Pumpkin Ale, both of which tend to last on beer store shelves for only a few weeks.

“They tend to go pretty quickly,” 99 Bottles owner Craig Adamowski said. “They are really different and only last a short while and then they are gone.”

Another beer to note is Pete’s Wicked Ale, which is not only easy to find but offers a good balance of bite and flavor.

On tap, beer drinkers can find things like Elysian Night Owl Pumpkin Ale at The Red Hot and The Parkway Tavern, both of which are known for having a row of solid beers on tap year round.

“I’ve tried the fancy ones, the esoteric ones, the ungodly expensive ones, and really ... don’t bother with all that stuff,” says brewmaster Chris Miller. “The Night Owl is the hands-down winner across the board. It’s the only pumpkin beer I’ll carry this year. Some people are all about Dogfish Head’s Punkin’ Ale, but it’s too thin for me. Elysian Night Owl all the way, I’m telling ya, and I’m not even on their payroll.”