Brew Spotlight: Hana Koa Brewing Co's Basic Witch

If you love pumpkin spice lattes, you will surely love the Basic Witch!

Today's featured beer is the "Basic Witch"coming to us from Hawaii's own local brewery Hana Koa Brewing Co. This seasonal golden ale beer boasts bold flavors of chai and pumpkin spices, pumpkin puree, and lactose (AKA cream). You'll find hints of cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, star anise, and nutmeg. With a 7% ABV, this smooth, spice infused ale will definitely get you into the holiday spirit.

Pumpkin beer dates back to the early 1700's, and has had a long standing history in the U.S. Starting with physicians including pumpkin beer as an ingredient in prescriptions for healthy tonics, to including it in cocktails mixed with rum and sugar, pumpkin beer has definitely run the test of time. In early colonial days malts and grains were scarce, so breweries turned to pumpkin as a replacement for malt entirely.

"If you love pumpkin spice lattes, you will surely love the Basic Witch".

Nowadays most pumpkin beers lean towards pumpkin spices like nutmeg and clove to mimic the pumpkin flavor, but there are a few beers brewed, like Hana Koa's Basic Witch Chai Golden Ale, that include actual pumpkin and it truly makes a difference flavor wise. I can't guarantee a 16oz glass of Basic Witch will have less calories than a slice of pumpkin pie, but with the addition of chai, pumpkin spice, pumpkin puree, and lactose, this beer is the embodiment of pumpkin pie in a glass!

​Beer	Brewery	ABV	IBU
Basic Witch	Hana Koa Brewing Company	7%	No IBU