If you enjoy the mild spice of summertime Belgian ale, it's an easy seasonal transition to a fall pumpkin beer. Pumpkin beer was an American original, a colonial beverage invented out of necessity by beer-loving pilgrims, who had more access to Native American squash than English barley malt. 

When cooked at a low heat, enzymes in the pumpkin flesh convert starch to sugar, which the yeast can later ferment into alcohol. Pumpkin beer recipes improved over the years and the rustic style remained popular from the 17th to the 19th century, when it was swept into the dustbin of beer history by malt-based beers produced by increasingly large industrial breweries.

In the Napa Valley, crush doesn’t just mean the time of year when grapes are harvested. It often translates to heartbreak—the kind that comes from rolling to a complete stop on Highway 29 in bumper-to-bumper traffic—which, in the popular month of October, is par for the course. So much for your relaxing Wine Country getaway. But there is a solution: Sail by on a bike.

Moving quietly across the valley at a slower speed allows you to experience more of its sights, smells, and sounds. 
Whether you want to pedal all the way from SF to Napa, drive up with your bike on a rack, or rent a two-wheeler when you arrive in Wine Country, we’ve stitched together a mellow 27-mile cyclist’s loop of leisurely wine tasting. It can easily be trimmed to 20 miles, should you want to veer off and head back to the hotel for an early, guilt-free, and much-earned nap. After all, you’ve got to gear up for dinner.

Just as seasons vary from one part of the country to another, so do regional seasonal beers. In the east, the local brewpubs are all about pumpkin ales this time of year. On the west coast, we have the succulent orange squash as well, which is the subject of a future blog, but right now it’s the end of our hop harvest season and time to enjoy beer bittered with fresh or “wet” hops. We asked the experts for their tasty suggestions for autumn brews.

The Bay Area’s Oktoberfest season continues; this weekend you can enjoy beers from twenty five brewers for twenty five bucks. The Marin County Bicycle Coalition (MCBC) and Access4Bikes are hosting Biketoberfest, a combination Oktoberfest and bicycle expo at the Fair/Anselm Plaza in Fairfax. While many of the major west coast breweries will be pouring their wares, the real draw for locavore beer drinkers will be the inclusion of area nanobreweries such as Beltane Brewery, Pine Street Brewery, and Van Houten Brewing. Since the event is a benefit (all proceeds go to MCBC and Access4Bikes) you’ll be able to help yourself to samples from several breweries whose beer is not yet commercially available or is only sold at the brewpub where it’s made. In addition to the suds, there’s a variety of food available and live music.