My first gourd beer was the king of them all: the infamous Buffalo Bill’s Pumpkin Ale. Not only does Buffalo Bill’s in Hayward, California, get credit for being the first modern brewpub in the United States—opened in 1983—but it also has a claim to brewing the first commercially available pumpkin ale a few years later. If you’re not familiar with the beer, it’s worth tracking down—or, for those in the know, well worth getting reacquainted.
Unfortunately, these days, we live in a world with pumpkin-spice fatigue. There are so many flavored or scented products out there now, especially once fall rolls around, that merely seeing the words “pumpkin spice” can lead to eye rolls and groans from pie-holes (see what I did there?). So much vitriol over two words! Poor pumpkins.
Thankfully, for those of us who still love them, pumpkin beers remain an annual tradition. What’s curious, though, is how many taste only of pumpkin-pie spices, often added with a heavy hand. Some remind me of potpourri, fall-scented candles, or air fresheners. Do those brewers even like pumpkin beer, or is it just an obligatory seasonal offering? (A brewer friend of mine actually named his Obligatory Pumpkin Ale. An Untappd search reveals that a few others had the same idea.)