A pumpkin beer drinking guide, from boozy lattes to sippable pie

Once we cross into the 10th month of the year, it’s officially spooky season. That means it’s also pumpkin beer season.

The dawn of October means dimming the lights on Oktoberfests across the globe and preparing for a deluge of beers that taste like jack-o-lanterns, pies and (deep sigh) that one thing Starbucks makes a billion dollars from each fall. Pumpkin spiced beers have long been a staple of the seasonal calendar, devised by multi-national macro brewers and your local microbrewers as well.

There’s no way to talk about all of them here. But I can talk about the ones I like. And don’t like, but you might. Let’s run through this year’s array of pumpkin beers (or other gourd-based intoxicants) and break them down by who might like them most.