Pumpkin: Weyerbacher or Schlafly?

IMO ST Pumpking is king, but who is #2? I've narrowed it to Weyerbacker Imp pumpkin and Schlafly Pumpkin. So by a nose, i give it to Schalfy b/c it's got something really really unique about it, but the weyerbacher keeps putting me on edge....with a little more harshness, it says "hey, damn it, i'm a beer too, not just a pumpkin pie." Thoughts, opinions, proxies?

I can't force myself to buy any other pumpkin style beer other then ST Pumking. I'm usually always about trying other / different beers but i stopped messing around with pumpkin ales after trying ST's!

BradleyBrew said:

I can't force myself to buy any other pumpkin style beer other then ST Pumking. I'm usually always about trying other / different beers but i stopped messing around with pumpkin ales after trying ST's!

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yes, i agree with you that ST is the best, but at $8/bomber, it's a bit of an ordeal (its worth it, but I can't just pop one open on a weekday). schlafly, you can get a sixer and weyerbacher a 4 pk. So it's about practicality, availability, and quality. Its not practical for me to drink a Pumpking every night, Pumpking is not available to me right now, and the other 2 brews are very very good. So, while i support your opinion, I also think that I'm wouldn't refuse a sirloin for the mere fact that it isn't a Filet ' . So the question remains, which pumpkin is #2?

Oh if someone gave me one of the others I would graciously pound it down lol...

Weyerbacher is definitely a contender, but I've got to go with the Williamsburg Alewerks Pumpkin Ale. Hard to find in most regions of the country, but I think I may like it even more than Pumking.

Have you had Elysian's pumpkin ales? Last year I tried a wide variety of pumpkin stuff (Southern Tier's, DFH's, Weyerbacher, etc), and the Elysian won out.

No contest. Schlafly is the winner of all three with the butternut squash inclusion and subtle spice. But as the previous posted mentioned, even those three are trumped by Elysian's many excellent versions.

Pumking tastes like a liquified Yankee pumpkin/pecan candle.

Weyerbacher is a Nutmeg and Ginger bomb.

How does Schafly get the butternut squash character in there? Anyone know?

Schlafly, it's fantastic.

We don't get Southern Tier, Schlafly, or Weyerbacher here. So I say none of the above. Out of all the pumpkin beers I've tried I only liked DFH and Shipyard's Smashed Pumpkin. Though there's a lot of pumpkin beers from the other side of the country I've never tried.

to bad shipping sucks or I would trade you a bottle of pumking for Pliny the Elder!

ktblunden said:

We don't get Southern Tier, Schlafly, or Weyerbacher here. So I say none of the above. Out of all the pumpkin beers I've tried I only liked DFH and Shipyard's Smashed Pumpkin. Though there's a lot of pumpkin beers from the other side of the country I've never tried.

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Dfh and smashed are barely even in the same conversation...IMEO, but I wish u luck in seeking out others

BradleyBrew said:

to bad shipping sucks or I would trade you a bottle of pumking for Pliny the Elder!

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How much is a bottle of pliney? It's def on my wish list

Cigar city's good gourd is pretty amazing. I had it side by side with Southern Tier last year and would put them both in a catagory of their own. I just tasted CCB's 2012 good gourd and it is quite different than last years. It has more vanilla and spice character this year while last years had alot more pumpkin and less spice and hardly noticable vanilla.

1. Fegleys Brewworks Devious Imperial Pumpkin Ale
http://www.thebrewworks.com/brews/seasonal-beers/devious-imperial-pumpkin/

2. Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin

3. DFH Punkin

4. Sam Adam's Fat Jack Double Pumpkin

If it is not 7% ABV or above it just does not balance out the spices.

ST Pumpking is good but the hops don't work for me. I need to try the Elysian Night Owl again to see where it ranks.

I tried williamsburg alewerks pumpkin ale today and put it up there near st pumpking and heavy seas (forgot the name of theirs).

I've never had Schlafly, but I like Weyerbacher and I think the
Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin is really good. Of these two and Southern Tier's, I think they are 3 completely different beers. The only thing they have in common is pumpkin pie spices.

As an aside on Southern Tier's Pumking, I had the opportunity to have the current year's batch and the prior years batch side by side on draft. It is amazing how it changes over the course of a year.

I recently had a glass of the Cigar City Good Gourd that was from the second batch. It was hands down better than the first batch. It had very different character as not being so spice forward and more rich in pumpkin flavor. I had this with Southern Tier's Pumking and Pegs Cantinas PumQueen. They were all really good beers. Cigar City also was at the Cajun Cafe beer festival where they ran the Good Gourd through rum soaked oak chips. Yum!