Good Gourds

At a great little pizza joint a few weeks ago, I ordered a pint of Dogfish Head Punkin. One of my favs, this beer offers a brown ale base with pumpkin flavors and brown sugar on top. Quite nice. However, my buddy gave me some stick for the selection, saying that he was adamantly waiting for October until he would drink any sip of pumpkin beer. I’ve been there, but what’s the use in fighting,;the beer was super tasty.
Of course, its October and pumpkin season is now in full swing. Not only those bulbous orange squash that may or may not be part of your fall feasts, but also the favorite autumn seasonal beer of North America! What follows is a quick guide to picking the best pumpkin, and not ending up with a rotten beer.
A few pointers: the key to any good fruit, vegetable, spiced or herbed beer is balance. No flavor should be overwhelming or out of place, and any addition should complement the base beer (brown ale, amber, stout, etc.), while allowing it to also peak through the mix. Also, I have noticed that the better, deeper, richer the color, typically the better the pumpkin. And, for me, the best pumpkin beers tend to be the ones made with real pumpkins, not just taking an existent beer and throwing baking spices into the brew kettle.
Of the pumpkin beers you should avoid, few stand out like Shipyard Pumpkinhead. The label states that this beer is a “malt beverage with pumpkin spice added”. To me, it’s a thin, weak, off yellow pale ale or amber with some spice thrown in-avoid! Similar is Buffalo Bill’s Pumpkin Ale. Very fizzy, very spiced, very bad. Although slightly better than this pair, I find Blue Moon/Coors Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale to be a bit too thin.
Of the good gang of options, several come to mind. Post Road Pumpkin Ale, brewed by Brooklyn Brewery, is a decent if not slightly underwhelming choice. All the flavors are there, nothing stands out, easy-going. In addition, Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale is fine. Some pumpkins can be overly sweet, but Pumpkin Ale has a decent hop presence, which keeps the beer from becoming cloying.
Oddly enough, the vast majority of pumpkin ales I rate highly happen to be either bigger (in ABV), or distinctly brewed. The one exception is Uinta Brewing Company’s Punk’n Harvest Pumpkin Ale. Totally sessionable at 4.0% ABV, a myriad of balanced autumn flavors; Punk’n has been my go to fall beer this year.
Uinta also makes a big boy, Oak Jacked Imperial Pumpkin, aged in oak barrels, this 10.31 (hah) % ABV bruiser of a beer is fantastic and over the top. Less wild, but just as good is Weyerbacher’s Imperial Pumpkin Ale, a beer with a powerful pumpkin pie taste, but not sticky sweet, more spicy and zesty. Much of this flavor comes from the addition of cardamom, and it stands out with the pumpkin and cinnamon.
A recent, and timely addition to the list is Funky Pumpkin from Boulevard Brewing Co. A pumpkin beer almost in name only, Brett brings the funk, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and ginger supply the flavor, and pumpkin is only just barely noticeable. Still a refreshing and unique pumpkin ale.
As I said above, the standard bearer and best overall pumpkin beer is still Dogfish Head’s Punkin Ale. This is everything a vegetable/fruit/spice/herb beer should be. The label tells it all: “A full-bodied brown ale brewed with real pumpkin, all spice, cinnamon and nutmeg.” Whichever pumpkin you pick, pick a good one. Enjoy the brews. … Cheers.
Gene’s Haufbrau has at more than 200 beers in bottles or on tap. While they don’t have every beer the Beer Snob writes about, they probably have most. Gene’s is located at 817 Savannah Hwy. 225-GENE. E-mail the Beer Snob at publisher@westof.net.