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                                    37versions of pumpkin beer: America%u2019s Original Pumpkin Ale, Black Pumpkin Oatmeal Stout, and Imperial Pumpkin Ale (9.8% alcohol by volume (ABV) compared to the original%u2019s 6%). Due to demand among consumers, what once was a Halloween special was released in September, then August, and now July. This %u201cseasonal drift%u201d affects other seasonal beers with it. Cold weather, spiced Christmas ales are released in October; marzens (named after the German word for March, when they are traditional available) come out in January; light, refreshing summer ales are now released in rainy April.111 But, as Bart Watson, chief economist for the Brewers Association, noted, interest in pumpkin ales wanes by Halloween yet Christmas beers%u2019 popularity begins at Thanksgiving. So, seasonal drift has created an opportunity to release special beers in November between the two seasonal beer juggernauts.112 Owens%u2019 experiment in brewing a historical recreation altered the brewing landscape. To increase his publicity, Owens advertised in beer publications and mentioned in every interview that he sold seeds for giant pumpkin and the famous recipe through the mail. Owens admitted that only two or three people ever took him up on the offer, and he mailed them a few seeds from the home garden store, but selling the seeds drew attention to the beer. %u201cMy entrepreneurial spirit was quite strong,%u201d he laughed.113 Owens placed all spent grain in buckets in the alley for a local farmer to collect weekly and feed to his pigs. The farmer noted that the pigs especially enjoyed the roast pumpkin. Owens continued to grow the pumpkins in his yard in Hayward, California, for the annual batch of Pumpkin Ale. (See in Figure 20.)In 1985, after Owens%u2019 CPA went through a divorce, Bill sought to create the bitterest beer in America and named it Alimony Ale. To achieve the high bitterness, Owens tripled the amount of hops he used in Buffalo Amber from three ounces of Cascade hop pellets to nine ounces per five barrels. This created a beer that was 50 IBUs (International Bitterness Units) compared to 
                                
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