BOULEVARD BREWING FUNKIER PUMPKIN

LCBO 521302, 750 mL, $16.95

With their Funkier Pumpkin, the brewers at Boulevard Brewing Company in Kansas City, Missouri, take a strong spiced ale and ferment it with a mix of traditional brewer’s yeast and Brettanomyces yeast, the latter known for producing musty, funky flavours and aromas— or what the brewery refers to as “forest floor notes.” The result is a beer quite unlike your typical pumpkin ale— it’s part earthy gourd, part cinnamon, allspice and gingery spice and part off-dry, warming malt.

What the impact of the Brettanomyces does is create a beer with a spiciness that won’t overwhelm the herbs, garlic and paprika used to season the bird (as would an ale with more overt spiciness), while also creating a dryness that serves as a platform for the moist succulence of the chicken. Arguably, this will be a superior pairing with dark meat than it will be with white but, providing the crisp skin is added to the plate, it should produce palate pleasure with every bite.