Besides, it's pumpkin time. That's right, everything pumpkin is now in season, so it's okay to rave about things like pumpkin iced coffee and pumpkin pie and pumpkin donuts and pumpkin cookies and pumpkin shakes.
Those who read the blog with some regularity know that I have been down but not quite out post-cancer surgery on my face. Still looking like Edward Scossorhand's twin sister, I opt out of my usual wine circuit lest I scare people and send them running for the dump buckets.
I am planning on trying to hit Boston later because in the city no one notices strange shit like gauze adhered to the side of one's face. In the city, it's all normal. Besides, I ruined my daughter's thirtieth birthday by making her sit with me for five hours so I could have surgery then cry all over her car. We still managed to have a birthday cupcake when all was said and done, and she is my hero for keeping my spirits up.Anyway, today a friend and co-worker gets to see The Big Gash on my face. She handles it well, but, then again, she is a science geek. Best of all, she brings me pumpkin. That's right: Pumpkin. Not A pumpkin, not SOME pumpkin. She brings THE PUMPKIN.
She brings me ... hold me back ... deep breath ... SHIPYARD PUMPKINHEAD ALE.
Shipyard is a local brewery, and by "local" I mean Portland, Maine. If it's drive-able, it's local. If you look at online "professional" reviews, this beer is hated on big time, but read the personal postings and comments and you'll know why people like me salivate every September when the beer finally starts to trickle into the packies. (If you don't know what a packie is, you've never truly lived a full and meaningful life.) People love this beer. I love this beer. Anyone with a pumpkin brain adores and drinks Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale.
Today we sip (slug) it with crackers and cheese -- more cheese than crackers. I highly suggest Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar to balance to semi-sweet pumpkin flavor of the ale. This is a beer drinker's beer, not one of those overly indulgent craft beers that pretentiously sits on the palate. As a matter of fact, Pumpkinhead is one of the few beers that tastes as good when it starts to warm up on the table (if it lasts that long) as it does fresh out of the fridge.
Sip of the Week goes to: Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale (and good luck to you beer snobs trying to find it at the store because we true connoisseurs probably already bought out the Massachusetts packies and/or New Hampshire/Maine markets).
