The pumpkin beer rollout started early this year, said Chris Furnari in a Brewbound article, when “New York’s Southern Tier Brewing bottled its popular Pumking offering on May 28 and the first cases of it appeared at a Pennsylvania retail store on June 30.” Shortly thereafter, Portland Maine’s Shipyard Brewing and Seattle, Washington’s Elysian Brewing sent their beers off for distribution, the same Brewbound article said.
Most recently, Grand Canyon Brewing Company, a brewery in Williams, Arizona, that produces only twelve specialty beers each year, released its Pumpkin Springs Porter on August 4. “Pumpkin Springs is a huge pumpkin shaped pond along the Colorado River, overflowing with murky hot springs water stained orange from trace minerals and arsenic,” said a press release about the beer. Pumpkin Springs Porter is a smooth ale brewed with dark malts, pumpkin, squash, sweet potatoes, and spices.
A few days after Pumpkin Springs’ release, the Roadsmary’s Baby Pumpkin Ale went on tap at Two Roads Brewing Company in Stratford, Connecticut. This beer, which is also available in six-packs, is brewed with pumpkin, with added vanilla beans and spices, and then aged in Caribbean rum barrels. According to Two Roads, this pumpkin ale “has become a cult classic amongst its fans.”
Soon hitting the shelves is another pumpkin porter from Terrapin Beer Company in Athens, Georgia. The Imperial Pumpkin Pie Porter is brewed with deep, rich malts: 2-row pale, wheat, chocolate wheat, crystal 85, crystal 120, chocolate malt, and black malt. It is hopped with Columbus and U.S. Golding hops and spiced with cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and cloves.
For Boulder, Colorado’s Upslope Brewing Company, the release of the Pumpkin Ale is dependent upon the availability of the variety of pumpkins with which it is brewed. This beer, brewed with locally sourced baby bear pumpkins, took home a gold medal in the Field and Pumpkin Beer category from the 2011 Great American Beer Festival. It’s available in very limited four-packs of 16-ounce cans on or around October 1.
What pumpkin beers are you most looking forward to drinking and/or brewing this year?