ITT: Pumpkin Beers!

[Steve2]

Hi, I'm Scott, I love pumpkin beers and am not afraid to admit it.

No, srs, I really do.

Seriously.

Hey, we all have our quirks.

I have a huge soft spot for chocolate stout-pumpkin beer Black and Tans personally. I'm not ashamed.

 

[TheDice]

BOW TO THE KING

 

[mtalley999]

I look forward to pumpkin beers every year. Schlafly Pumpkin and Heavy Seas The Greater Pumpkin are my all time favorites.

Longtrail Imperial Pumpkin is my sleeper hit this year. I can't believe I almost passed on that one. Greatest smelling pumpkin ale that I have ever had, and mighty tasty.

 

[maximthegreat]

BOW TO THE KING

Beautiful. Now send me some.

 

[Michigan1]

I'm old school. The only pumpkin beer I drink is Dogfish Head Punkin Ale.

I'm really loving their new-ish 12 bottles with the logo on them. classy

 

[ilovermont]

Love pumpkin...just not in my beer.

 

[beerindex]

The roster for today's beer tasting:

Shipyard - Smashed Pumpkin
Shipyard - Pumpkin Head
Samuel Adams - Fat Jack Double Pumpkin
Samuel Adams - Harvest Pumpkin
Southern Tier - Pumpking
Rogue - First Growth Pumpkin Patch
Urban Chestnut - Count Orlok
Schlafly - Pumpkin Ale
Crown Valley - Imperial Pumpkin Smash
Charleville - Witch’s Brew’mmm
O’Fallon - Pumpkin Beer
New Holland - Ichabod Pumpkin Ale
Big Muddy - Pumpkin Smasher
Wild Onion - Pumpkin Ale
Blue Moon - Harvest Pumpkin
New Belgium - Pumpkick

Group consensus:

Pumpking and Count Orlok were best.

Smashed Pumpkin was the worst.

And Schlafly Pumpkin was not as good as previous years.

 

[yeahnatenelson]

My new favorite pumpkin beer is Lakefront's Brandy BA Imperial Pumpkin Lager. Lakefront is usually disappointing, but this one is great.

Pumpking is usually my go-to. I loved the 2011 CCB Good Gourd, was underwhelmed with the 2012 batch and I'm not looking for it this year.

 

[Envelopes]

The roster for today's beer tasting:
Shipyard - Pumpkin Head

I'm sorry.

 

[preacher1]

My new favorite pumpkin beer is Lakefront's Brandy BA Imperial Pumpkin Lager. Lakefront is usually disappointing, but this one is great.

Pumpking is usually my go-to. I loved the 2011 CCB Good Gourd, was underwhelmed with the 2012 batch and I'm not looking for it this year.

That sounds great! I am liking the BA treatment that pumpkin beers have been getting latel.

As an experiment, I tossed a bunch of pumpkin beers in the closet last year to see how they hold up for opening this season. I opened my first pumpkin of the year last night Good Gourd... It was very sweet and under carbed but spice held up. I have a few more (treat, ba oaked jack,) that I will be opening soon, and will leave my worthless response here.

 

[eyesonsaison]

Stopped at CBC for a quick beer last night and they had a barrel aged sour version of their pumpkin ale on tap, tasty stuff. Also the first pumpkin beer I could actually stomach a full glass of.

 

[preacher1]

Stopped at CBC for a quick beer last night and they had a barrel aged sour version of their pumpkin ale on tap, tasty stuff. Also the first pumpkin beer I could actually stomach a full glass of.

Your location isn't showing up, but safe to say you are talmbout Cascade? If so, do you know if this is getting bottled?

 

[eyesonsaison]

Your location isn't showing up, but safe to say you are talmbout Cascade? If so, do you know if this is getting bottled?

Sorry, Cambridge Brewing. All of their barrel aged stuff is draft-only for the time being, so no bottles unfortunately.

 

[Dicers]

BOW TO THE KING

Got any 11' left

 

[buzzword]

I need to try this. Anyone know if it's still available?

it is.

Also, I grabbed a couple bottles of Shipyard BA ssmashed pum,pkin. GOnna wait til Thanksgiving. oR maybvle not

 

[BCBrewandCue]

Is it me or is the Cambridge Brewing Great Pumpkin Ale (which has been my go-to pumpkin beer for years) weak and pretty taste-less this year? This is surprising coming from CBC, one of the premier breweries in our state.

 

[OlavZipser]

Hmmmm.....

 

[ncaudle]

have you had it yet? I think it's one of their better ba offerings. not much pumpkin though.

Hmmmm.....

 

[OlavZipser]

have you had it yet? I think it's one of their better ba offerings. not much pumpkin though.

Missed my chance to taste it last Saturday, thanks to a six-hour childbirth class with my wife. I heard from my friends that it was pretty good and I decided to stock up on it. I'll see later this week if I made a wise purchase or not. If you think it's one of their better ba offerings, I'll be more than happy!

 

[Billy Brux]

I want to like pumpkin beers, but most of them suck and all have fallen short of what I think a pumpkin beer should be. Also, if you like Pumking, sorry we can't be friends.

 

[Boilerfood]

After trying ~30ish last night, a few stood out:

St. Arnold Pumpkinator was awesome, and quite honesty put Warlock to shame.

Williamsburg Alewerks was a pleasant surprise. Tasted the most like pumpkin out of the bunch.

Devil's Backbone Ichabod Grandal was impressive. A lot of things going on in that beer beyond spice, spice and more spice.

As terrible as the reviews were, I really enjoyed Fantome Boo for what it was. I was alone in the group with my thoughts on this though.

Jolly Pumpkin La Parcela #1 was a nice change of pace. A big funky taste, with slight pumpkin-y spice on the backend.

A few also stood out for being bad:

The bottle of Rivertown we had was off. Tart, Green Apples, bad.

Blue Mountain Spooky was really high on my list of things to try. No barrel character, just a lot of heat from the booze. Absolutely no hints of the Cocoa nibs.

Almanac Heirloom was probably a victim of the hype train. Had high expectations. Got a lot of Brandy character, but also a lot of alcohol heat. Kind of a let down.

All in all, I will probably never drink a pumpkin beer again after this tasting.

 

[KWilk]

Schlafly, point wholehog, and SA fat jack are the best I've had, but I just ain't got the feels for pumpkin beer.

 

[stakem1]

After trying ~30ish last night, a few stood out

As terrible as the reviews were, I really enjoyed Fantome Boo for what it was. I was alone in the group with my thoughts on this though.
.

We are as 1...

 

[stakem1]

Sometimes I kinda wish Selinsgrove would make their pumpkin ale available outside the brew pub. I think you folks who enjoy pumpkin ales would **** your pants over how good it is. Then I realize if they packaged it, I would never get any because it would be a crazy pandemonium everywhere kinda release.

It should be statesd in this thread that Duclaw Pumpkin Retribution is not only terrible but its priced retardedly expensive for being nothing more than Retribution with spices added.

Troegs Master of pumpkins should be out in 750ml corked and caged bottles anytime now. Cant wait to see if its a legit pumpkin beer or a sad excuse of a spiced beer thats blended with Troegenator in order to "save it."

 

[stakem1]

Troegs Master of pumpkins should be out in 750ml corked and caged bottles anytime now.

Draft and growler options available starting today at the brewery. Bottles are coming near term.

 

[Ispeakforthetrees]

I drink those yes,
Dome them? no.

 

[JulianB1]

A few also stood out for being bad:

...

Blue Mountain Spooky was really high on my list of things to try. No barrel character, just a lot of heat from the booze. Absolutely no hints of the Cocoa nibs.

That's disappointing to hear, I have a bottle of this at home. Any opinion on if it might be a better one to age to let the booziness subside a bit?

 

[OlavZipser]

That's disappointing to hear, I have a bottle of this at home. Any opinion on if it might be a better one to age to let the booziness subside a bit?

I had two of these. Honestly, I don't know if age will improve that beer. I didn't think it was that boozy but definitely agree about the lack of cocoa nibs. Somewhat a strange beer where it was okay to drink but nothing really stood out. I've never been a fan of Blue Mountain's barrel program.

 

[Boilerfood]

That's disappointing to hear, I have a bottle of this at home. Any opinion on if it might be a better one to age to let the booziness subside a bit?

If it was darker I would consider it. Its really light for being a pumpkin beer. I think it would probably just end up being weird.

 

[henrythehippo]

What's the feeling been since 2013? I personally love pumpkin beers but feel the last couple of years have been awful. Seems like most guys are just phoning it in...last GABF, Pumpkin was the only category to not award a Gold. That said, I tried a 2014 Caution! Contains Real Pumpkin and that was delicious