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Pumpkin beers can be polarizing…people tend to either love them or hate them. But a well-crafted pumpkin ale in early fall, can make all the sense in the world – and here five pumpkin ales that might change, what you think about the style.
Avery Rumpkin
A core fall seasonal offering at Boulder, Colorado’s Avery Brewing since 2011, this pumpkin beer is as aggressive as it is elegant but it’s not for the faint of heart.
Part of the brewery’s annual Barrel Series, 2017’s Avery Rumpkin is a HUGE 17.5% ABV rum barrel-aged Pumpkin Ale, pumped with rum, vanilla and rich molasses tones.
This is THE pumpkin ale for rum lovers.
Hi-Wire Sour Pumpkin Ale
Some pumpkin beer deniers decry traditional pumpkin ales as being too sweet. Well, Asheville North Carolina’s brilliant Hi-Wire Brewing’s got an answer for that…
The brewery’s first beer with all it’s ingredients sourced from a single regional farm, Hi-Wire Sour Pumpkin is an 8.6% ABV American Wild Ale that was brewed with roasted pumpkins, cinnamon basil, and blue ginger.
The base beer was then divided and aged for six months in separate rum, whiskey, and red wine barrels and the blended back together again. Magnificent!
Meadowlark Squashtoberfest
Sidney, Montana’s Meadowlark Brewing offers a gourdian ale that celebrates Oktoberfest beer and America’s colonial times.
Brewed with rich German Munich malt, Bavarian Lager yeast and more than 100 pounds of Butternut squash, Meadowlark Squashtoberfest is a welcome fall hybrid that combines seasonal directions to create something authentically new. Prost!
Roadsmary’s Baby
We might have picked Stratford Connecticut–based Two Roads Brewing’s fall seasonal for its clever name alone, but their pumpkin beer’s awesome taste more than validates our enthusiasm.
Like Avery’s Rumpkin, Roadsmary’s Baby is aged in seasoned rum barrels. But Unlike Avery’s pumpkin beer, Two Roads’ traditional pumpkin ale is a relatively low octane offering (6.8% ABV) that delivers buckets of flavor without that high alcohol heat.
Cold Press Coffee Pumking
Southern Tier brewed a great variation to their famed Pumking Ale this year. And it’s a far better beer than the original as far as we’re concerned.
Crafted in two separate steps, Southern Tier Cold Press Coffee Pumking goes through the fermentation process and then is cold crashed to 32 degrees and 150 pounds of cold pressed brew from Lakewood, New York’s Stedman Corners Coffee added. Eye-opening!
