Of pilgrims and progress

A new sort of seasonal seems to be taking root around these parts: the Thanksgiving ale.

First it was No-Li’s Krumpkin, a fairly dry, tart beer brewed with cranberries and pumpkin. Now comes Budge Brothers’ Dirty Pilgrim, billed as an imperial brown made with fresh cranberry sauce.

The brothers whipped up a 15-gallon pot of sweetened sauce, tossed in zest from a box of oranges along with cinnamon, nutmeg and other spices, then pureed it before adding it to the fermenting beer, explained Brad Budge.

“It fits into the sweet holiday beer category,” he said. “There are people out there who really like their sweet beers.”

While the Dirty Pilgrim (which sounds even naughtier than Krumpkin) has sweeter high notes, it’s off-dry through the middle, with relatively subtle flavors from the cranberry and particularly the spices. And though honey and dark Munich malts, along with oats, provide plenty of body, it drinks easier than its 8.5 percent alcohol by volume might suggest.

So now we’re waiting to see what some intrepid brewer can do with stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy – not to mention Tom Turkey himself.