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.

Hi-Wire's headquartered in Asheville, NC. They opened their first location in the city's South Slope district (I've been to this one! It's really cool!) in 2013. Then, two years later, they opened a location at the Biltmore, retaining their original spot as a place to experiment with their creations. Hi-Wire's beers range from easy-drinking standards to hoppy or sour crowd-pleasers. They focus on people and the environment, paying all employees a living wage and participating in recycling initiatives. Head over to their "Our Story" page for more. 

Pumpkin Spicewalla doesn't have a spot on the brewery's website, so we'll find what we can about it over on Untappd. It's profile here lists the imperial stout (whose base is the regular 10W-40) as being made with adjuncts of Spicewalla's pumpkin pie spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and clove, according to my can), High Noon Honduran coffee, and (again, according to the can) lactose. At 8% ABV, the beer "tastes like a perfect PSL with notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, coffee, and chocolate."

My can's nose is big coffee aromatics, roasty and dark, with a healthy dose of spices. These are cinnamon, ginger, and clove, with a pinch of the promised nutmeg. No overt pumpkin here. There's a bit of lactose sweetness under the spicy coffee bouquet, but I really have to dig to find it. Booze? I can't find any alcohol burn. Háma, whose helping me today, gave Pumpkin Spicewalla seven measured whiffs; I'm not sure if he likes it.

The pumpkin's the fore of the stout's palate, coupled pretty immediately with the lactose sweetness. This gives way quickly to spices which, in turn, give way to the coffee. The coffee's really the star of the show here, big and bold. It lingers through the long finish, picking up a second wave of spice and pumpkin, along with some dark chocolate as it swells and grows before I eventually give in and take another pull. No boozy burn here!

Pumpkin Spicewalla is exactly what I want an imperial stout to drink like: robust, full, and an immense amount of heft. This aspect of the beer is perfect.

My little family went apple-picking today. The orchard was new to us. After driving about forty minutes there, we all spilled out of our car into the brisk, overcast morning. We wandered the rows of trees for an hour or so, filling the bag we'd purchased from the just-as-cold-as-outside indoor store. It was wonderful.

On the way home, after we'd loaded our trunk with apples, cider, and pumpkins, it started sprinkling. We took the scenic route (which Google said was just as long as the direct route). I'm cold, exhausted, and enjoying this beer that pairs perfectly with my great day.

Hi-Wire's Pumpkin Spicewalla Latte 10W-40's a great beer. I was actually a little worried that it'd be a too-much pastry stout. Thankfully, its flavors are all expertly combined and tempered. This is a 9.5/10 beer from me. It's a buy-on-sight kind of affair, lest you miss out.