Little did I know, fall’s favorite pumpkin beers have a history in America, long before our current craft beer renaissance. In fact, in a book published in 1801 by Samuel Stearns, pumpkin beer is listed right after ‘porter’ and ‘ale.’

Pumpkin beer has a history even longer than the 19th century, however. While most Europeans had never even seen a pumpkin, both pumpkins and brown sugar were easily accessible in early uncolonized America, while proper malt was not. Colonists brewed pumpkin beer for health and sustenance, replacing malt entirely with pumpkin meat. Even America’s first folk song, written around 1643, sings of pumpkin beer:

Instead of pottage and puddings and custards and pies,
Our pumpkins and parsnips are common supplies;
We have pumpkin at morning and pumpkin at noon;
If it was not for pumpkins we should be undone
… Hey down, down, hey down derry down….
If barley be wanting to make into malt
We must be contented and think it no fault
For we can make liquor, to sweeten our lips,
Of pumpkins and parsnips and walnut-tree chips.

Join me in celebrating American history with your favorite pumpkin beer today. Cheers!

TAGS [ PUMPKIN BEER | AMERICAN HISTORY ]

The failblog posted this lovely sign from a place called Cajun Mikes. Although it’s quite clever, I don’t think these 9 reasons are very good reasons for drinking there, or anywhere.

Here are my top 9 reasons for drinking at the bars I like best:

1. Good Beer Selection
I’m a beer geek and there’s nothing more disappointing than walking into a place and realizing the only "craft beer" option they have is Shocktop.

2. Clean Glassware
I know that glass washing machines don’t always perform at 100% but it’s seriously gross to get a beautifully poured beer in a pint glass with someone else’s lipstick on it.

3. Friendly & Attentive Staff
Ever notice how places seem more fun when you’re friends with the bartender? When people pay attention to you, joke around and are generally pleasant it’s hard not to have a good time.

4. Free Food
I know this sounds silly (and possibly cheap) but my two favorite dive bars here in Buffalo both use free food to lure people in. One offers free popcorn and the other always has free nachos (with all of the toppings!) After a night out, free nachos are more than enough someone to choose that establishment for a nightcap.

5. A Good Crowd
No one likes drinking alone. Bars that have a crowd of the kind of people you like being around are always more enjoyable than bars that are empty or filled with d-bags and divas in their best prissy pants.

6. Good/Proper Acoustics & Lighting
When I go out, I go out to socialize and there’s nothing worse than being in a bar that is so ungodly loud I can’t hear myself think, let alone catch what my buddy next to me is saying. Similarly, it’s not always good to feel like you’re in a cave but if the light pours in and blinds you before the sun goes down, that can be obnoxious too.

7. Decent Music Selection
Whether it’s a jukebox, someone’s iPod plugged into the speakers system or a live band, the music makes a difference. I know everyone has different preferences but there’s plenty of music that pleases almost everyone (or at least refrains from annoying them) – classic rock, party hits, that kind of thing…

8. Fun & Games
There is a bar that I go to strictly because I love playing shuffleboard there. There’s another bar I like because of their photo booth. Darts are fun but I guess I kind of expect a dart board at most places. People like pool… you get the point.

9. Adult Atmosphere
When I was in college I went to college bars and now that I’m 5 years out, I find myself annoyed when there are bunches of underage kids binge drinking around me. I like places that can pull off classy without being pretentious. Basically, I’d rather see art on the walls than chewing gum.

There you have it folks. Anything I missed?

TAGS [ BARS | PUBS ]

Our friends Don and Jim over at Beer & Whiskey Brothers came up with this amusing outline to explain the evolution of the beer geek. There’s so much truth in here it had to be shared.

If I had to identify myself with one of these "stages" I’d say I’m still safely in the "Craftus Erectus" and I’d kind of like to stay there. Think that’s possible? Either way I hope you’ll enjoy this lighthearted and entertaining infographic. Feel free to share it with all types of fellow beer geeks.

TAGS [ BEER GEEK | EVOLUTION | INFOGRAPHIC ]