Punkin Ale from Dogfish Head Brewery

By Don

Well, we do love the stories behind the beer on The Beer Buzz.  And this one is certainly more about the story than about the beer, although I did thoroughly enjoy this brew.

Back in the fall of last year, my wife and kids and I went to visit the family back in Cleveland.  We wanted to get together with friends in addition to visiting with my in-laws so planned a lunch out on Saturday afternoon and invited our friends Mike & Colette to join us.

Our friend Tom had suggested a restaurant named "Melt Bar & Grilled" in Lakewood.  Let me digress right here and spend a little time talking about Melt.  It's a Tavern/Pub style joint and the story behind the name is that their specialty is grilled cheese sandwiches.  Now, this ain't your average, everyday white bread and American cheese grilled cheese sandwich.  These are gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches.

Tom had suggested that I try the "Parmageddon" and also gave me a beer suggestion with it.  I'm sorry that I don't remember what beer he suggested, but I'll get to the beer portion of the story later.  The Parmageddon contains 2 potato & cheese pierogi, fresh napa vodka kraut, grilled onions and sharp cheddar.  My mouth was already watering just looking at the menu.

But this is a beer blog, so let me get to that.  See, that's what is so wonderful about Melt.  Their beer list is BIGGER THAN MOST RESTAURANT'S REGULAR MENU!!!  I'm not joking.  This beer list was about 6 pages long!!!  Of course, I asked what they had on tap.  Since it was fall, I was interested to see what seasonal brews might be an option.  As soon as the waitress said it, I knew what I wanted ... "Punkin Ale" from one of my favorite brewers, Dogfish Head.  The thought of a Punkin Ale and a Perogi grilled cheese sandwich almost made me pass out from excitement.  Once the beer arrived, I quickly took a picture of my new treat with my cell phone camera and sent it to Rick so he could share in my excitement.

The only review I'll give about the sandwich is "Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm" in my best Homer Simpson voice.  Incredible!

Now, on to the Punkin Ale.  What a great fall treat!  And from the tap, it was even better.  Great orange/amber color.  Decent foamy head, but dissipated quickly.  Only 7% ABV on this one and only 28 IBU.  Not too bitter.  Nice taste and nice pairing with the pierogi sandwich.  The Dogfish website says that good food pairings would be turkey, roasted duck, lamb, stuffing and dessert dumplings.  I think my pierogies were a nice pairing too!

I enjoyed two pint glasses of Punkin Ale that day.  This is another one of those brews where only one or two every once in awhile would suffice.  This isn't an every day beer.  Of course, you can only get this one in the fall anyway.

So, if you're around Cleveland, Ohio, check out Melt and check out their beer list.  Just don't overdo it!

Cheers!