Dearest reader,

Are you well prepared for all that is now to come? Have you made what peace you may with your kin, your circumstance, your very self? For you know as well as I that tomorrow is Allhallow's Eve. You know as well as I what horrors await the setting of tomorrow's sun. Time grows ever short, my friend.

Yet,  some meager joys yet exist for those with the constitution to search for them. Take, for instance, this beverage I have found: Fat Orange Cat's Cautionary Tail. I will take what pleasure I might in it and draw what fortitude from it I can ere the long dark of the night of horrors falls upon the hills of my home.

Has it really been three years since I did a Southern Tier Spooky Season post? I thought I tackled Maple Warlock last year, but I guess that was some kind of fever dream (which means I need to it ASAP).

The brewery's pumpkin beers (Pumking, Warlock, and all their variants) are a staple of many folks' Octobers and, although they aren't my favorites on the fall market, I do generally enjoy them. This year, I saw something new, something that fits into Southern Tier's pumpkin umbrella but is distinct from their other brews. This evening, I'll be drinking Pumqeen, an imperial pumpkin cider.

Remember last year when I did up Wolf's Ridge's Pumpkin Spice Daybreak? You do? Good. What if I were to tell you that that was the second Wolf's Ridge pumpkin beer of which I'd become aware? Because that's the truth--it was. The first was a beer called Slice. I'd first spotted it a year before and thought: "That looks fun. If I happen to see it priced as a standalone can, I'll pick it up for the blog."

The kicker is I never saw it as a standalone can. The sixers at my bottleshop were never broken up for the beer to be priced individually. Until now. At the end of September when I grabbed all the beers I'd do for this month, it was there, alone, a single can. So, into my growing sixer it went. Was it worth the wait? Will I be kicking myself for not nabbing it earlier? Let's find out.

And, just like that, we're in the full throes of Spooky Finger Puppet Ghost Month! I have a handful of beers slated to discuss before October leaves us and I think I've found a way to balance everything needed to get to them all in a timely manner!

Today, we'll wade into the thick of if with Land-Grant's Patch. Is this a good ale for the inaugural Halloween Month 2026 post? Well, let's find out together.