What's Your preference in Pumpkin beer?

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ryan83

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So in the past couple days I've had the opportunity to try a few different Pumpkin ales. Southern Tier - Pumking / Schafly - Pumpkin Ale / Dogfish Head - Punkin Ale. This was the first time I've had had pumpkin ale so I basicaly had no idea what to expect. Heres my thoughts but I'd like to hear yours (I'm not giving a look/smell/taste/feel just an overall)

Southern Tier - Pumking (Tap)
I think this beer was fantastic, however in limited amounts. This beer was almost something you would have as a desert. The flavor was thick and powerful all the way through, strong pumpkin and spice. I couldn't drink this beer all night but the flavor was amazing.

Schafly - Pumpkin Ale (Bottle)
This was another great pumpkin beer. This beer was very sweet, apparent pumpkin aroma but the spices over powered the overall flavor. This was a little lighter in body to the Pumking but very different qualities. Another really good beer

Dog Fish Head - Punkin Ale (Bottle)
Slight pumpkin and spice aroma, more malty . The body was full and the pumpkin and spice was in the middle and end. In my opinion this was very different than the other two. The flavors were great but something you had to wait for. This was the most drinkable beer.


In my opinion all three beers were great and pumpkin ales leave room for creativity because it appears the guidelines are not set. If I were going the drink the southern tier i would prepare myself for the beer to take over, the Schafly almost the same, I could drink this at the end of the night but only in limited quantities. The Dogfish head will get you in trouble, the flavors are subtle but present. The Dog Fish head would compliment a good dinner and could be drank throughout the season.

Although all beers were very good and all have a place and time my vote is for Dog Fish Head because the other two take over and would have a good meal competing for your attention where as the Dog Fish head would compliment a seasonal meal. Pumpkin beer is all a matter of what you're looking for and I think it's more a matter of personal preferance than anything.The problem with the Punkin Ale is it's extremely drinkable and you could have many before you realize what you've done to yourself.

Anyway i know this isn't a beer review forum but my purpose was to find out - What's your preference in Pumpkin Beer? Strong upfront flavors that hit you in the face or a subtle complimentory flavor that leaves you wanting more?
 
Dogfish pumpkin ale is my go to pumpkin ale. I have had the southern tier pumking in bottle and didn't like it. I think it may be the biscuit malt, it seems a bit unbalanced. Buffalo bill's pumpkin ale is downright terrible, it tastes water and that is unacceptable in a commercial beer. I think New Holland Ichabod Ale is another decent one. Weyerbacher is another good one as is Saranac.
 
Rock Art Pumpkin Imperial Spruce Stout is my favorite. It is an 8% Stout and goes down oh so good. I pick it up from the brewery in 22 oz bombers and also in 5 gallon kegs for my home pub. The guy that came up with the recipe came over to my house and we made a Pumpkin Imperial Fur Stout, I still have a bit of it in bottles. Neither of the two has the pumpkin spice taste. Don't care for that.
 
I'm curious to try the Sixpoint Autumnation a friend of mine in Brooklyn told me about recently. It's apparently a pumpkin ale that clocks in at 68 IBUs. I had a Smuttynose Pumpkin ale the other day and was surprised at how hoppy it was for a pumpkin beer.
 
I'm a fan of the more subtle pumpkin beers. Brooklyn Brewery makes the Old Post Road Pumpkin Ale and I think it's pretty good. Just enough spice and pumpkin to make it interesting.

My fiance and I are currently going through all of the Pumpkin ales at our local liquor store. We'll let you know which one is voted "The Best".
 
Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale is hands down my favorite - tons of spice and flavor. Second is the Heartland Brewery's (here in New York only) Smiling Pumpkin ale.

Dogfish head has always been one of my favorites but this year the product tastes weaker than previous years. I'd thought it was just me then another guy at work that I talked to mentioned it to me. He also loved it and has drank it each year and said this year it tastes weaker in flavor. Was good to hear another person have the same finding without me having to even mention it.


Rev.
 
Funny - I was having this same conversation with a guy at work this morning. He recommended the Dogfish, so I'll probably give that a try.

Never been a Blue Moon fan, but saw they had a Pumpkin Harvest Ale so gave it a try last night. Zero pumpkin or spice taste. I was really disappointed. I guess that puts me in the crowd of liking the big up front taste.

I also brewed a pumpkin ale recently (kit from Midwest supplies) to which I added 2 cans of pumpkin puree. They've been in the bottle for about a month - tried one after 2 weeks and it didn't really have a pumpkin taste either. Oh well...
 
IMO a good pumpkin ale is going to have a lot of the pumpkin pie spice flavor. I brewed a pumpkin ale last year and used a few cans of Libby's pumpkin and wasn't convinced adding the pumpkin benefited the beer any. If I had to do it again, I'd probably start with a solid brown ale and add some pumpkin spice to that and omit the pumpkin all together.

That being said, that's probably why I love Schafly's pumpkin ale and could drink it all fall provided it wasn't so damn expensive.
 
I'm not a big pumpkin beer fan, but I've tried a number of them. 2011 ST Pumking was much better than the 2010 version, but I'd still have to say that my top pumpkin beers are Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin and New Holland Ichabod.
 
Pumking is very dessert-like...lots of vanilla for me. It's my favorite but I don't think I could drink a ton of them.

Weyerbacher's, Punkin, and Devious are next in line...more traditional pumpkin ales.
 
I brew up a modded Samhain pumpkin ale from HBT. It is my "bar" to judge against all the rest of the commercial beers I can find. I have been doing some traveling for work recently so I have been collecting up a BUNCH for the wife as this is one of her favy brew styles. She is convinced that my pumpkin is the best she has ever had and is looking for something that is comparible to.

Southern Teir - Pumking - NOT impressed at all. The hype adds to the disapointment. We split a 22oz. bomber and I wish I could have gotten my money back. There was something in it that numbed both my and the wife's tounge. (no, it was not ice cold :rolleyes: ) I will NEVER spend my money on this one again...

Bluemoon - Harvest moon - Holy clove! blech. Never again. Made by BMC and it shows. 1 drink and dumped.

SA - Harvest pumpkin - Tasted like every other SA product with a slight hint of pumpkin and spices. Not impressed but did not induce vomiting.

Fishermean's - Pumpkin stout - In a class of it's own. Just fantastic. I would buy a case if it was sold anywhere near me! nice balance all around but still a stout.

We have at least 4-5 more to try the 2 I can recall are the DFH - punkin and Elysian - Night owl pumpkin ale. As a rule if it reads"Pumpkin" or a variation of it I try to get a bottle.

IMO most of the commercial brews seem to focus on amplifing 1 aspect instead of focusing in on balance, to much of X spice, to sweet, ect. Give me my Samhain Homebrew any day...lol. I like it so much I am entering it into a halloween homebrew comp just to see how it does.
 
Dogfishhead Punkin has been my favorite. Drinkable, pumpkin with right spice. The guy at the beer store today said Terrapin is better. I comes in next week, so will have to give it a try.
 
2011 ST Pumking was much better than the 2010 version, but I'd still have to say that my top pumpkin beers are Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin and New Holland Ichabod.

This is good news for me, I loved the 2009 version but hated last years!! I was like liquid candy sweet, just couldn't take it. Originally I'd thought my tastes might've changed but now I've realized that since it's an organic/grown/man made product that it will never be exactly the same from year to year. I find this years Dogfish Punkin to be weaker in flavor than subsequent years and a co-worker said the same thing to me without me even mentioning it. Who knows... maybe they used a different brand of spices, or something else that attributed to this.

Anyhow, I haven't tried Pumking this year but may give it a shot now based on your post.


Rev.
 
1st - CBC Great Pumpkin Ale (bottled this year for the first time ever)
2nd - Fisherman's Pumpkin Stout
3rd - Schlafly Pumpkin Ale
 
I look forward to fall for lots of reasons, but a big one is the onset of fall (although NOT oktoberfest) & winter beer season. I think this is a fascinating thread, not least b/c I expected to see people fall into various camps but it hasn't really happened.

For me, there's a difference btwn beer-as-art and session beers.

In the former, my top beers are ST Pumking, Schlafly Pumpkin Ale, and my own version of DFH Punkin' Porter.

In the latter I go with Ichabod and Buffalo Bill's.

Hopefully more people will respond as well!
 
I have to agree with you. I generally don't appreciate Oktoberfest beer and I think a good Pumpkin Ale is more appropriate for the season. I also think that a winter warmer ale is, by far, the best of the seasonal brews.

I appreciate fall/winter for the barleywine selection. Generally speaking I like a flavorful and hoppy pale ale, but come winter there's nothing I love more than a sweet and thick barley wine. I'm salivating just to that thought.

Brooklyn's Monster Ale and Sierra Nevada's Bigfoot are my favorites thus far.

I look forward to fall for lots of reasons, but a big one is the onset of fall (although NOT oktoberfest) & winter beer season. I think this is a fascinating thread, not least b/c I expected to see people fall into various camps but it hasn't really happened.

For me, there's a difference btwn beer-as-art and session beers.

In the former, my top beers are ST Pumking, Schlafly Pumpkin Ale, and my own version of DFH Punkin' Porter.

In the latter I go with Ichabod and Buffalo Bill's.

Hopefully more people will respond as well!
 
My favorite Pumpkin beer is made by Tommy Knocker (I can't remember the exact name right now), I did also enjoy the SA one, but our pumpkin beer choices are pretty limited around here.
 
I've only tried 3 but I think the Blue Moon pumpkin harvest was the better. I really want to like all of DFH's beer but I thnik it's all to high alcohol and over hopped JMHO.Their pumpkin had no real taste except high ABV (7%) just not for me.
 
The one w/ no pumpkin. Oh and no spices either. Not a big fan of spiced beers. And as long as I'm on my soapbox, that DFH Raison d'Etre is some of the foulest swill I've ever had. Ugh.

my $.02

-d
 
Schlafly Pumpkin will always be my favorite (support your local brewery, right?).

That being said, I like my homebrewed pumpkin the best. It's a tweaked Sahamin Pumpkin. I've tried the Ichabod, the DFH, the ST, the O'Fallon, etc, etc. Either they're too sweet/syrupy or doesn't have the right amount of spices for my liking. But, that's the great part about home brewing, you can make exactly what you want! :mug:
 
But, that's the great part about home brewing, you can make exactly what you want! :mug:

Yes! this is a fact! I love all the opinions on this thread. Soon we will brew a pumpkin beer, but I have two scheduled before it and we're doing a build on a fermentation chiller this weekend. And I agree that Pumpkin and winter ales are the better seasonal brews but i may not have tasted the right Octoberfest yet either.
 
I've always read that Schlafly's pumpkin is a good one, and it's one of the top rated on BA. The other week while I was travelling I managed to track down a sixer of it and was very disappointed. Just way, way too sweet for my taste. I drank one bottle alongside a bottle of Weyerbacher's pumpkin and the Schlafly tasted like melted candy in comparison, although the spices and pumpkin taste were still pretty good.

My favorite is, hands down, Southern Tier Pumking. It has a unique flavor that no other pumpkin beer has ever come close to; every other one usually seems like a variation on the same "Brown ale plus spices" recipe. Can't get enough of that one.

Sixpoint also just released a really unique one. It's more of a "fall beer" than a pumpkin ale, since the focus is mostly on the wet-hops. Which is nice. Sort of a pumpkin IPA, really interesting and unusual. Wrote a full review of it on my blog ( http://www.bear-flavored.com/2011/09/sixpoint-autumnation-review.html ), definitely worth checking out.
 
And I agree that Pumpkin and winter ales are the better seasonal brews but i may not have tasted the right Octoberfest yet either.

IMO, Ayinger Oktoberfest-Marzen is the best example of the style. Try that one out if you're looking to find a good one.

Oh, and I'm going to have to say that I had O'Fallon's 2011 Pumpkin Ale... and this one is SO MUCH BETTER than their previous years attempts. I'd hate to say it, but it's better than Schlafly.
 
I do like the Marzen. Picked up one of their tap handles for our fest party.

Picture 4.jpg
 
I had ST Pumpking on tap after a huge meal of schnitzle and thuringer, and it was an awesome dessert. The aroma stayed with it the whole time, and the rich mouth feel really have it weight. I really liked.
So I raved about it to my friends and bought a 22oz. bomber. We drank it early, and not after dinner, and it was a different beer. Didn't smell, taste, or feel the same. They thought I was crazy. Really a disappointment.

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