The zombie apocalypse is not an if it’s a when. Perhaps even the bleeding thumbed hipsters hunched over cell phones in line at Starbucks are the beginning of the end as we know it.

The good folks at Category 12 Brewing (@c12beer) have a completely different take. According to C12 the zombie hoard has taken the form of  pumpkin beer lovers.

Pumpkin beer lovers? Seriously? A bit far fetched to think that pumpkin ale would have anything to do with zombie-ism. After all, we know full well it will be caused by a virus, wiping out the world as we know it. Where this virus will come from we don’t know yet, but that is the plain Walking Dead truth.

The Pour

Like most beers I’m attracted by the graphics first, and zombie imagery during the Halloween season was enough for me to grab a bomber of C12’s Zombie Repellent Ale 2  – a Belgiun-inspired red ale made proudly without any form of pumpkin.

This was a nice beer to pour, with a crisp healthy head that stuck around for the duration. Being an unfiltered ale there was a bit of fog and debris – a good fog adds to the zombie repellent persona.

Having no heavy dominant fragrance, it had a mild sweet fruitiness, with a hint of spice. Overall, very pleasing to the ole’ snozzola.

The mild malty sweetness was the first thing I noticed, which balanced well with the light hop tones. Similar to the fragrance, the hop and yeasts provided subtle spicy and fruity characteristics.

Don’t let the darkness from the CaraRed malt or 5.8% ABV fool you, it went down super smooth, making it a real nice anytime of day sort of beverage. Sometimes beers like this are a bit alcohol forward but that wasn’t the case here.

Would I buy this again? I think so. Although it’s not going to crush the zombie hoards I’m thinking it would go real nice with a Thanksgiving turkey dinner where the pumpkin was left to a slice of pie with whipping cream.

“Anti-Pumpkin Beer”

For the record, I’m not a pumpkin-head, however, there has been the odd seasonal October beverage that has proven itself worthy – Fernie Brewing for one.

To say C12 ZRA 2 is the cure for pumpkin ale may be a bit of an overstatement. However, when it comes to combating zombies, once you’ve finished off this pleasant red ale you’ll be able to whack-a-mole zombies with the perfectly molded bomber bottle.

Well, that’s it for now, gonna go quench that panda sized thirst… cheers eh!