This evening's beer (a surprise! I was saving the for later but the sudden chill in the area bumped it up) was a gift from my dad. He and my mom came down to visit last month so they could spend some time with their favorite (i.e. only) grandkid. 

While doing so, we all swung by a local bottleshop. I somehow (that's sarcastic, by the way. It doesn't come through great over text) convinced Dad to grab a couple of beers for himself. One of those was Hi-Wire's Pumpkin Spicewalla Latte 10W-40 (Pumpkin Spicewalla henceforth). Before he left, he broke the four-pack in half, taking two cans with him and leaving two with me. Thanks, Dad! Let's see how this stout drinks.

Here's one that I hadn't accounted for at the beginning of the month. Hell, I hadn't accounted for it three days ago. A quick search of the blog will show that Athletic's a frequent NA flyer around these parts. Yet, I've never had a crack at their pumpkin beer.

Why? Well, it's price-related. See, for whatever reason, the brewery only drops the ale online. That's fine, I get that. It's a niche beer in a niche market. But, the price is $14.99/sixer and shipping is $5. Suddenly, we're looking at $20 for a single sixer of the stuff. That's not a chance I'm willing to take.

But two days ago, I got an ad on Instagram from Athletic touting a 10% off code. That was the push I needed to finally try Dark & Gourdy. Now I'm sitting here with the beer, which says something about the brewery's shipping. Let's see how it is at $10.

Wait--the last time I did an Urban Artifact was in 2020? Seriously? Nearly four years ago? Wow. That's something. Well, let me make amends for that today. 

Yes, here in October I'm doing an Urban Artifact beer. Because, believe it or not, the brewery's put out a pumpkin beer called Jack. Let's see how Jack's drinking on this fine, autumnal day.

So comes October, and so comes the blog's Halloween season. I have a slate of beers ready to go, all of which are new to me. I hope we're in for more treats than tricks. I love pumpkin beers but at times they can be a gamble.

Let's hope today's brew isn't a gamble. We have Abomination's Lil' Pumpky as our Spooky Finger Puppet Ghost Month starter. Let's roll the dice and keep our fingers crossed for treats (which, for this odd analogy, are sixes). Really, though, how could we go wrong with a name like Lil' Pumpky?