to kick off the third week of pumpktoberfest 2011, today we've got an interview with brooklyn's sixpoint brewery, who've brewed one of this year's new & most unique pumpkin beers. their autumnation, the first pumpktoberfest beer to come in a can, bucks the normal trend of loading up pumpkin beers with pumpkin pie spices & instead relies on a flavor dominated by pumpkin, wet hops, ginger & pepper. i reached out to sixpoint via email & jeff gorlechen, sixpoint's promotion director, sat around with the whole brewery to answer a few pumpktoberfest questions.
eat!drink!snack!: what makes the sixpoint autumnation unique amongst pumpkin beers?
sixpoint: most pumpkin beers are a hint towards pumpkin pie with a use of cinnamon, nutmeg or other sweet spices. the autumnation is based more on the use of pumpkin in savory dishes which bring out the flavors such as ginger and pepper; think along the lines of a german kurbiskremesuppe (pumpkin cream soup) instead of a pumpkin pie. we also used 800 pounds of wet hops delivered direct from the pacific northwest.
E: why did you decide to change the style of this year's pumpkin beer (from last year's pumpkin brewster)?
S: we actually didn't change it TOO much. the wet hops were really the biggest difference.
E: where (around the country) can people buy the autumnation nano-kegs?
S: the beer can be found in pennsylvania, new york, massachusetts, rhode island, new jersey, maryland and washington DC.
E: other than the autumnation, do you have a favorite pumpkin beer?
S: actually no, most of the other pumpkin beers i have tried tend to be overdone with such a sweet taste that you tend to lose the other ingredients and they become clingy on the tongue. a residual sweetness of pumpkin or other spices should not block out the malts and hops as much as some do.
E: what's your (or sixpoint's) favorite horror film?
S: stigmata, the others, and the exorcist.