‘Tis the season for pumpkin-flavored everything, especially beer.

I’ve never found a pumpkin ale I really loved — until now. Shock Top’s Pumpkin Wheat Ale is brisk and flavorful — in all the right ways.

Shock Top is one of Anheuser Busch’s craft beer brands and it makes exclusively wheat-based beers. This limited-edition brew is on sale until January. Bottled at 5.2% alcohol, it wisely keeps the pumpkin in the background and lets the wheat do more of the talking. Results: A lightly malty, floral, and citrus-bodied beer, with just a hint of pumpkin spice on the finish. Unfiltered, it offers a thick and rich body, with a bracing punchiness: The finish hints at sweetness and nods toward dessert.

Pumpkin beers are always a tough sell — and not just to me — but this one is a seasonally friendly winner.

5.2% abv.

A- / $7.50 per six-pack / shocktopbeer.com

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