Pour the pumpkin
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Greg Prentice, a certified beer judge who helps at Washington Brewery, taps a batch of freshly brewed pumpkin beer. This is the first year the brewery is offering a pumpkin beer and owners Angela and John Burgess expect the seasonal suds will be a big hit.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Washington Brewing Co.鈥檚 fall drink menu is sure to be a crowd pleaser. Along with its popular Oktoberfest, pictured here, the brewery is debuting pumpkin beer this month.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
John Burgess, who co-owns Washington Brewery with his wife, Angela, enjoys an Oktoberfest during a brew day recently. Burgess said he isn鈥檛 a fan of fruity beers but, at Angela鈥檚 insistence, he鈥檚 brewing pumpkin beer for patrons to enjoy on crisp fall days or chilly autumn evenings.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Scotty鈥檚 Ice Cream along Park Avenue in Washington serves hand-dipped apple and pumpkin ice creams all fall long. For those who prefer to drink their pies, the seasonal favorites can be turned into creamy milkshakes.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Regulars of Scotty鈥檚 in Washington ask for pumpkin ice cream as early as mid-summer, laughed Kenzie Maltony, whose parents own the shop. The cold, pumpkin pie-inspired dessert is refreshing on unseasonably warm fall afternoons.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
This fall, the Spring House in Washington is bottling pumpkin pie. Grandma鈥檚 Pumpkin Pie and caramel apple milks hit shelves at the family-owned and operated farm in October and can be enjoyed any time of day all autumn long.
Image courtesy Mabel Jetten
Pumpkin bowls are a healthy alternative to pumpkin cheesecake, and Fruition Bowls and Brews in Waynesburg is serving its delicious twist on the classic treat all October.
Pumpkin pie just leveled up.
Local businesses are liquifying the favorite fall dessert and adding creative takes on tradition to their menus.
This month the Spring House in Washington is debuting Grandma鈥檚 Pumpkin Pie milk, a bottle of silky sweetness with just enough spice that you feel like you鈥檙e drinking the seasonal staple.
The pumpkin pie milk was dreamed up during conversation.
鈥淢y mom said, 鈥榃hat about this?鈥� and I said, 鈥極K, great, let鈥檚 do it,'鈥� laughed Marcia Opp, who helps run the family-owned and operated farm. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the great thing about having a family working together: There鈥檚 lots of good ideas coming at you all the time. We were like over the moon, so excited.鈥�
In addition to its locally revered chocolate milk, the Spring House this summer began offering funky flavors like County Fair Cotton Candy, Orange Day Dream and Strawberry Fields For You.
鈥淲e like to enjoy one season at a time,鈥� said Opp. 鈥淥nce the fair is over, it鈥檚 time to think about fall. We have people calling every day, 鈥楧o you have any pumpkin pies left?鈥� We鈥檙e like, we should do a pumpkin kind of milk.鈥�
While baking caramel apple pies recently, Opp decided the fall dessert would make a good milk flavor and added it, too, to the Spring House鈥檚 new milk menu.
Now, caramel apple pie and Grandma鈥檚 Pumpkin Pie milks are being bottled just in time for sipping around a campfire.
Also good for fireside sipping: For the first time in its four years of serving local favorites, The Washington Brewing Co. is pouring a pumpkin beer that鈥檚 sweet with a little spice, just like mom baked it.
鈥淭he people want it,鈥� said John Burgess, who co-owns the brewery and the adjacent A&M Wine & Beer Supplies with his wife, Angela. 鈥淚鈥檝e brewed it for myself before. It鈥檚 the first year I鈥檝e done it for the brewery.鈥�
Angela said the brewery鈥檚 Oktoberfest 鈥� an 鈥渆asy-drinking marzen鈥� that鈥檚 crisp and flavorful 鈥� is a fan favorite and she鈥檚 excited to add pumpkin to the menu.
鈥淲e鈥檙e releasing it in October because everyone else will probably be sold out,鈥� said Angela, referring to larger breweries like Southern Tier, whose Pumpking beer sells out by the beginning of autumn. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 when you want a pumpkin beer, when it鈥檚 a little bit cooler, on a fall night.鈥�
On unseasonably warm autumn afternoons, Scotty鈥檚 Ice Cream in Washington serves pumpkin ice cream milkshakes that give the traditional dessert a run for its money.
鈥淲e actually have people that will come in at the end of July and ask, 鈥楧o you have your fall flavors yet?'鈥� said Kenzie Maltony, whose parents, Marcy and Ron Ranko, opened Scotty鈥檚 more than a decade ago. 鈥淧eople go crazy over these.鈥�
Maltony said all Scotty鈥檚 ice cream is hand-dipped, and every flavor can be turned into a rich, creamy milkshake.
Other local ice cream shops, including 5 Kidz Kandy in Waynesburg and Sarris Candies in Canonsburg, scoop fall into a cone or cup all autumn long, and you can slurp pumpkin starting mid-October at Fresh From the Farm in McMurray.
鈥淥ne of the unique things that we do is a pumpkin juice,鈥� said Ankit Golay, who opened the health food store near Canonsburg Lake seven years ago. 鈥淚 think people are intrigued by the fact that you can cold press pumpkin. You don鈥檛 really find cold pressed pumpkin juice.鈥�
A pumpkin smoothie is available all fall long, and Golay鈥檚 homemade pumpkin soup will be available mid-month.
鈥淚t鈥檚 novelty,鈥� said Golay.
For those done sipping, pair a pumpkin spice latte with a healthy fall-inspired lunch at Fruition Bowls and Brews in Waynesburg.
Along with its classic PSL, this month the eatery along West High Street is serving a pumpkin bowl starring organic pumpkin puree, homemade peanut butter and pumpkin granola, among other ingredients.
鈥淗onestly, the base tastes like pumpkin cheesecake,鈥� said Mabel Jetten, who co-owns the store with her brother, Leandro Culp, and Sara Bates. 鈥淚t鈥檚 delightful.鈥�