Pumpkin Beers

TOO EARLY or RIGHT TIME?

Pumpkin Season? 

It is the beginning of August and we are already seeing many breweries release their pumpkin brews. I am a huge fan for pumpkin beers, but some beer drinkers do not want to have a pumpkin beer. I have noticed that recently the breweries have been releasing pumpkin beers earlier and earlier to grab a hold of the seasonal market. I do think the beginning of August is a little too early to release pumpkin brews, personally because I am a fan of this style of beer. In terms of beer season this is the season I look forward to the most. There is nothing like a great pumpkin beer in the fall to get you in the mood for Halloween and Thanksgiving.  In my opinion there are two different styles of pumpkin brews out there. I will describe the two of these styles and talk about some of the my favorite pumpkin brews out there. 

In my mind, Pumpkin Beers are trying to target pumpkin fans and people that enjoy a nice Pumpkin Pie. When I think of a Pumpkin Pie, I notice two distinct flavors the sweetness/fruitiness and the spice aspect to the Pumpkin Pie, such as: Ginger, Cinnamon, Clover. I think in most Pumpkin Beers I have had they have targeted one or the other. Only some have been able to combine both aspects to make the beer truly enjoyable in my mind. I have tried many pumpkin beers and you can tell a difference between the ones that went for the fruity aspect and the spiced centric ones. An example on too sweet is by Penn Brewery, their Pumpkin Roll Ale. For too spiced centric brew. to me that has to be PumKing by Souther Tier. 

Here is a list of my favorite Pumpkin Brews out there: 

Elysian Night Owl by Elysian Brewing Company  ABV:5.9%  Pumpkin Ale

Fat Jack by Samuel Adams Brewing Company ABV: 8.5% Double Pumpkin 

Warlock by Southern Tier Brewing Company  ABV:10% Imperial Pumpkin Stout  

Hipp-O-Lantern by River Horse Brewing Company  ABV: 8.5% Imperial Pumpkin Ale

Brews I look forward to trying: 

Rouge Pumpkin Savior and Pumpkin Patch Ale  by Rogue Brewing Company 

Pump[KY]n and Rumpkin by Avery Brewing Company 

Troegs Master of Pumpkins  by Troegs Brewing Company 

Pumpkick by New Belgium Brewing Company 

If you have any suggestion on Pumpkin Ales I should try, make sure you leave a comment down below.  If I am able to obtain it, I will do a review on it since we are in the midst of Pumpkin Season for brewing companies and breweries. I have had a lot of Pumpkin beers and I will say this is my favorite brew style. There are so many different ways to pull out the flavor and style of a Pumpkin brew.  I hope that because breweries release the Pumpkin styles earlier that they do not go away earlier and hopefully stay around until early November.