Pumpkin beer season is upon us. Although it seems to begin earlier and earlier each year, there’s still much about this beer category to be desired beyond the autumn months. I wouldn’t complain if these ten pumpkin beers were available year-round.
The Gourdian
Epic Brewing (Denver, Colorado)
This year Epic Brewing debuted a brand-new pumpkin ale, The Gourdian, in cans. You can taste the raw pumpkin in this beer, says Epic’s Communications Director Matthew Allred. “Imagine taking a Marzen beer—caramel-like, sweet, toasty, nutty—and then layering in pumpkin flesh and spicy hints of star anise, cinnamon, and bitter and sweet orange peel,” he says. “It delivers the flesh of the pumpkin, that squash-gourd earthy character, and finishes very dry. This is an agrarian beer in which you can almost taste the soil.” (5.2% ABV)
Roadsmary’s Baby
Two Roads Brewing Company (Stratford, Connecticut)
Roadsmary’s Baby is brewed with real pumpkin, allspice, vanilla bean, and nutmeg. It’s aged in Caribbean-sourced rum barrels before hitting kegs and bottles, adding complexity with notes of vanilla and oak. (6.8% ABV)
Rumpkin
Avery Brewing (Boulder, Colorado)
Rumpkin is another pumpkin ale aged in rum barrels—only instead of Roadsmary’s modest gravity, the Rumpkin weighs in between 15 and 18 percent ABV. This beer, brewed with roasted pumpkins and spiced with nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger, was the first of Avery’s Annual Barrel-Aged Series. (15–18% ABV)
Night Owl Pumpkin Ale
Elysian Brewing (Seattle, Washington)
No pumpkin beer list would be complete without a selection from Elysian Brewing, a brewery known for its plethora of pumpkin beers and its annual pumpkin beer festival. Night Owl was Elysian’s original pumpkin beer that uses both roasted and raw pumpkin seeds in the mash, with pumpkin added to the mash, kettle, and fermentor. (6.7% ABV)
Upslope Pumpkin Ale
Upslope Brewing (Boulder, Colorado)
Ever heard of a baby bear pumpkin? Neither had the brewers at Upslope Brewing Company until a local farmer gave them a huge batch of his pumpkin harvest. “You would have no idea that there was this kind of variety of pumpkins anywhere,” says Upslope’s Director of Sales & Marketing Henry Wood, “White pumpkins, red pumpkins, French pumpkins, Cinderella pumpkins. . . . The little baby bear pumpkins had this great sweetness, and a custom blend of six spices rounds out the flavors in our Pumpkin Ale.” (7.7% ABV)
Good Gourd
Cigar City Brewing (Tampa, Florida)
Ceylon cinnamon, Jamaican allspice, Zanzibar cloves, and nutmeg make this imperial pumpkin ale a smashing success. Pair Good Gourd with costume parties. (9.4% ABV)
Punk’n Harvest Pumpkin Ale
Uinta Brewing Co. (Salt Lake City, Utah)
This autumn-spiced pumpkin ale comes in bottles in the brewery’s fall seasonal mixer alongside Wyld Extra Pale Ale and Baba Black Lager. With a hint of vanilla and honey, Punk’n is a wonderful complement to pumpkin ravioli or pumpkin cheesecake. (5% ABV)
Punkin Ale
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery (Milton, Delaware)
“I have distinct memories of drinking Dogfish Head’s Punk’n Ale throwing a bocce game with snow geese flying overhead on a crisp fall evening in Delaware,” Luke Dickinson, the head brewer at Wicked Weed Brewing, told _Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine® _in Issue 8 (August/September 2015). This popular pumpkin ale was first brewed for Delaware’s Punkin Chunkin extravaganza before it landed on Dogfish Head’s regular seasonal lineup. (7% ABV)
La Parcela
Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales (Dexter, Michigan)
Here’s a farmhouse-style take on pumpkin ale, brewed by legendary farmhouse ale brewer Jolly Pumpkin—name pun not intended. La Parcela is brewed with fresh pumpkin, spices, and cacao. (5.9% ABV)
Whole Hog Pumpkin Ale
Stevens Point Brewery (Stevens Point, Wisconsin)
Whole Hog is one of America’s favorite pumpkin ales, and it’s got the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) accolades to prove it. Cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger are added at three points during the creation of this beer (beginning of the mash, just before boil in the wort, and post-fermentation), which is hopped with Perle hops to balance the sweetness of the malt and pumpkin. (7.5% ABV)