Pumpkin Beer

Anyone drinking any good pumpkin beer this year. What does a good one taste like? I've only had a few and they had very little pumpkin flavor.

I picked up some O'Fallen but haven't tasted it yet. One of the beer blogs rated the Dogfishhead and the Sam Adams very high.

I would like to taste some good pumpkin beer if there is such a thing?

Anyone drinking any good pumpkin beer this year. What does a good one taste like? I've only had a few and they had very little pumpkin flavor.

I picked up some O'Fallen but haven't tasted it yet. One of the beer blogs rated the Dogfishhead and the Sam Adams very high.

I would like to taste some good pumpkin beer if there is such a thing?

Schlafly Pumpkin Ale is good as is Southern Tier Pumking

Brooklyn brewery has a pumpkin ale called "post road pumpkin" that is my favorite of the pumpkins I have tried. It has a more subtle pumpkin flavor than the others. It is really dependent upon what you are looking for. If you want a more pronounced pumpkin pie flavor try the southern tier.

I'm not really a fan of pumpkin beers or desert-like things in general, but I agree with David that the Pumpking is very solid.

It is sweet for sure, but is spicy and boozy enough to balance it out(for me anyway). I don't usually drink more than a glass, but it is something I can enjoy for dessert, when I typically dont do desserts at all

We have done a few pumpkin beers over the last few weeks here at the Exchange. Shipyard has done well for us, Schlafly was a fan favorite, and we did a pumpkin for Rivertown this past weekend that did well also.

I like pumpkin beer. My first experience was four or five years ago with Schlafly.
In my opinion, Schlafly is the best and Southern Tier is the absolutely worst. Sorry Dave; why don't you guys give it a try.

I like pumpkin beer. My first experience was four or five years ago with Schlafly.
In my opinion, Schlafly is the best and Southern Tier is the absolutely worst. Sorry Dave; why don't you guys give it a try.

I prefer my squash puréed with ginger and veggie stock into a nice soup. Most of the pumpkin beers are liquid squash extract and pie spice added to a generic beer base.

PM Carol's email address. I'd like to send her the new Naughty Claus label.

Caroline loves the pumpkins, so we try them out every year. She also prefers the Schlafly.

I don't know if it is a beer distribution thing or a regionalism thing, but there are many more pumpkins available in Central NY. The Dogfish Punkin is good, although more a spiced brown ale. The Smuttynose is also nice (a little more complex than the run-of-the-mill pumpkin), but I don't think Smuttynose is available in the Louisville area.

My favorite is the Brooklyn Post Road pumpkin, maybe already gone for the season. Good pumpkin flavor, really balanced overall as a beer.

I have liked the Southern Tier in years past a fair bit too, but this fall I didn't go crazy over it. I seem to recall last year had more clean, true roasted pumpkin flavor, this year;s is a touch higher gravitation than I like, plus it is pretty darn sweet with lots of vanilla notes - about a 1/3 of the way through the bomber and I felt like the Grimace after having one of those McDonald's pumpkin shakes.

The rest of them I do not favor too much, mostly because they are fairly heavy on the pumpkin pie spice, which is not my cup of tea (or beer, I guess). I like cinnamon and nutmeg and all that, just not in my beer.

If you like a lighter, less spiced pumpkin beer, Shipyard Pumpkinhead has been the clear winner for us over the past few years. Brooklyn's Post Road Pumpkin is right there with it, as well as Rivertown's Pumpkin Ale.

If you are looking for more of the pumpkin pie spice, there are a lot more options available. Southern Tier Pumking as mentioned before is a huge, very sweet beer that tastes like liquified pumpkin pie complete with the whipped cream. Very much a dessert beer. Heavy Seas has their Great Pumpkin, and we are waiting for the bourbon-barreled version of it, called the Great-er Pumpkin which hopefully will arrive in the next few weeks. New Holland reformulated their Ichabod Pumpkin to a spicier version of what they used to make. O'Fallon pumpkin is as close to Schlafly Pumpkin ale that I've found. I wish I could say we still had Schlafly's around, but that is always the first one to sell out each year.

What does a good one taste like?

No such thing as a good one. Keep my beer beer flavored!

Was given a tip and snagged some Schlafly Pumpkin ale on Friday just in time for a party on Saturday. Wow, those of you who said this was pumpkin pie in a bottle weren't exaggerating!

I think I might just about be able to drink one to satisfy a sweet craving once in a while but I can't imagine drinking more than one at a time.

We also had a nice Lindeman's kriek (cherry) lambic and a gueuze (say GER-ser). I've had kriek beer many times and (like the pumpkin ale) I think of it as a dessert beer but nicely balanced (sour component). The gueuze was the star I think. A "young lambic and a mature lambic" blended to paraphrase Garrett Oliver in the Brewmaster's Table. I've been reading this book since David and Shawn recommended it. It's a fascinating read. I could definitely drink several of these. If I could only afford to!

We didn't even get into the Thomas Family cider's. I had Gale's barrel-conditioned cider in both filtered and unfiltered versions. I was near Madison a couple of weeks ago and I stopped in to try these. On that trip I also discovered a new brew pub featuring Mobreki microbrews and I lost my sushi cherry. In the same place! This is a whole story in itself and I intend to tell it when I get a chance to do it properly.

Cheers and thanks for the recommendations!

Southern Tier Pumpking. Best pumpkin beer period, but not a beer you want to sit down everyday with.

My all-time favorite is Southern Tier's Pumpking, which others here have mentioned. I will also vouch for the pumpkin beer carried at Trader Joe's. A 6-pack is $7, not bad for a pumpkin beer, and it tastes great.