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.

Athletic started in Stratford, CT where owners Bill and John started homebrewing NA beers. Once they discovered they could make a good craft NA, they opened their brewery. Shortly after, they moved their operation to Milford, CT and built the (believed) largest NA brewery in the world. They've since expanded across the US to San Diego, CA where they've built a west coast Athletic arm.

Dark & Gourdy is Athletic's pumpkin beer. The porter-style NA ale is brewed with real pumpkin and seasonal spices (I'm guessing nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, allspice--you know, the works). All this clocks in at less than 0.5% ABV. Athletic says "...it’s a delicious ode to fall that pairs with any shade of flannel." Wouldn't you know? Despite the sudden heat (which I don't want--it's October!), I'm wearing a flannel shirt right now. 

The bouquet on my can's hoppier than I expected. There's a hint of pumpkin here, and some porter roastiness. But those hops are the main attraction here, which is weird to me because it's not something Athletic pushed in their marketing of the ale. Purrl has her hop nose on today: She gave my can a whopping fourteen whiffs before snuggling back down and returning to her nap.

Those same hops are here in the flavor, both in the fore and the long finish. But between is something wonderful: pumpkin and spices. The spices hit first and linger a little longer than the gourd. There's cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and more that I can't quite pick out. The pumpkin tastes like oven-baked pie filling, with a little lactose sweetness. It's great. The porter character from the dark malt comes through nicely, mingling with the residual spices and the hops into the finish, which is warm and dry.

Dark & Gourdy's mouthfeel is just about what I'd want from a porter. It's a little too thin to call it truly full and robust, but it's nearly there and is a close enough facsimile for me to really ding it any points here.

Carving pumpkins is one of my all-time favorite Halloween activities. As a kid, I'd pile into the kitchen with my folks and brother and get to work on my creation on our table. When Michelle and I were younger, we'd throw on a horror flick as we made our Jack-o'-lanterns. Our toddler's old enough to carve his own this year, meaning I'm looking forward to starting to make some new, fun Halloween memories with him. Dark & Gourdy is a perfect beer for pumpkin carving (especially for me--I can never finish up the task with completely unscathed hands).

I think Athletic's done something pretty neat with Dark & Gourdy. My only issues with the ale come down to its marketing. It's too hoppy for how their billing it. Call it an "Imperial Pumpkin & Spice Non-Alcoholic Brew" and I'd know to expect the hops. Regardless, it's still worth the $10 bucks I nabbed it for. It's an 8.0/10.