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Pumpkin Beer


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Had my first pumpkin beer as a little jumpstart on the fall season, given the chill in the weather today. A current special of $7.99 at Rodman's this week, the New Holland Ichabod Pumpkin Ale wasn't bad. It's not a full-bodied beer, but it's smooth, with a warming texture and feel to it, with hints of cinnamon and pumpkin.

What other pumpkin brews do you all recommend, other than those mentioned before?

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Had my first pumpkin beer as a little jumpstart on the fall season, given the chill in the weather today. A current special of $7.99 at Rodman's this week, the New Holland Ichabod Pumpkin Ale wasn't bad. It's not a full-bodied beer, but it's smooth, with a warming texture and feel to it, with hints of cinnamon and pumpkin.

What other pumpkin brews do you all recommend, other than those mentioned before?

I am a huge fan of the Shipyard Pumpkin head. I find that there are quite a few pumpkin labelled beers that overwhelm me with cinnamon without as much pumpkin as I'd like. I feel that the Pumpkin Head, there is definitely more of a pumpkin note which I really like (and I would put it more on the "smooth" scale). You can get it at D'Vines in Columbia Heights.

I do like Dogfish Heads Punkin but it's got a much stronger flavor profile.

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Dogfish Head's Punkin' is usually the best of the lot for me. I find I can only handle pumpkin beers in small doses, though.

I have to say, as much as I enjoy sampling different types of beers and seeing what brewers out there are experimenting with I am stumped about the popularity of pumpkin beer. I haven't counted but my guess is that you could easily find over a dozen different breweries with pumpkin beers on the shelves of any decently stocked store. With a few exceptions (DFH's in particular) I find them to be almost indistinguishable in that whatever flavorings they dump in overpower any quality of the underlying base beer. In fact I would be shocked to discover that most of these aren't simply the brewery's normal amber or brown ale with the addition of flavoring agents. And pretty much every one isn't a "pumpkin" beer, it's a "pumpkin pie spice" beer.

It would be interesting to go back and find out who had the first commercially marketed pumpkin beer (anybody know?). These days it's as if any larger micro feels the need the offer one as a seasonal: "Well we have our spring bock, the summer wheat, a winter warmer. Ooh, let's not forget the pumpkin beer!". I would be more interested in seeing a proliferation of domestic Oktoberfests.

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It's e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e already. I felt overwhelmed by the pumpkiness at the local WF this weekend.

It is...and I'll admit that I couldn't resist (damn lack of self control) dipping into them. So far the Schlafly Pumpkin has been my favorite on draft (Churchkey and Big Hunt).

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Honestly, I find I only enjoy the Dogfish Head Punkin Ale about once every 2 or 3 years. They "tweak" that recipe every year - sometimes when it really doesn't need it. (Although I should be glad they keep tweaking it so that they re-tweak after the years they tweak it in a bad way.) This year is one of the better examples, but not, in my opinion, the best (which would have been perhaps three or four years ago? I dunno, there was beer involved....)

The only two others that have stood out to me in the big pumpkin beer mosh pit are the Schlafly (mentioned above) and the Southern Tier Pumking Ale.

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I'm generally not a huge fan of the pumpkin ales myself - it's sort of like wine made from blackberries to me (maybe that's a tad harsh), but I do enjoy the Dogfish Head, or at least I did last year. I was happy to find it actually, because I do love fall, pumpkins, and anything related to them so I really do want to like the pumpkin ales. :( I like a lot of the beers that Southern Tier makes, maybe I'll try that one this year.

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Honestly, I find I only enjoy the Dogfish Head Punkin Ale about once every 2 or 3 years. They "tweak" that recipe every year - sometimes when it really doesn't need it. (Although I should be glad they keep tweaking it so that they re-tweak after the years they tweak it in a bad way.) This year is one of the better examples, but not, in my opinion, the best (which would have been perhaps three or four years ago? I dunno, there was beer involved....)

The only two others that have stood out to me in the big pumpkin beer mosh pit are the Schlafly (mentioned above) and the Southern Tier Pumking Ale.

So sad. Last year's was amazing. This year's is merely ok. I emailed them to tell them to switch back to perfection!

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I like fruit beers, or in this case vegetable beers, from time to time. I usually try at least one pumpkin beer every autumn. I never have gotten a pumpkin flavor. I get the pumpkin pie flavor of cloves, allspice, nutmeg and cinnamon, but no pumpkin. This is OK for me as an after dinner beer, but I am not really sold on any of the pumpkin beers that I have had. I have tried some of the ones mentioned in this thread but not Shipyard.

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I would be more interested in seeing a proliferation of domestic Oktoberfests.

I agree with the whole post and should have read it before I posted above. Anyway, I really enjoyed the Oktoperfests I have had so far this year including Dogtoberfest from Flying Dog and Harpoon's. Plus, you can get the Marzen from Heavy Seas which is the same style as an Oktoberfest and available all year long from them. I had the Marzen at FedEx Field Gordon Biersch and was not favorably impressed though.

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I was in Corridor today and looked for any of the other recommended pumpkin beers and they had none of them of course. Plenty of other crappy ones. I would love to try the Southern Tier one if anyone sees it in MD.

I had the Dogfish Head the other night with Juliusc91 - I thought it had a really strange aftertaste when first poured out of the bottle, but after that "blew off" it really grew on me. Any idea what that initial aftertaste is about?

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According to their website, this is the list that Perfect Pour in Columbia has.

Sierra Nevada Tumbler Ale

Gordon Biersch FestBier

Pyramid Juggernaut Ale

Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale

Brooklyn Brewery Pumpkin Ale

Brooklyn Brewery Oktoberfest Beer

Evolution Lot 3 India Pale Ale

DAB 6-pk Cans

Floris Apple Beer

Floris Framboise

Ridgeway Extra Stout

Stillwater For Love & Regret Saison

Southern Tier Harvest

5L Paulaner Oktoberfest Kegs

Spatan Oktoberfest

Stoudt's Fest Beer

Flying Dog Dogtoberfest

River Horse Imperial Pumpkin

Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin

Fisherman's Pumpkin Stout

While the prices may not be the greatest, I always prefer their beer selection to Corridor. Be careful though, they close by 8 or 9 most nights.

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According to their website, this is the list that Perfect Pour in Columbia has.

Sierra Nevada Tumbler Ale

Gordon Biersch FestBier

Pyramid Juggernaut Ale

Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale

Brooklyn Brewery Pumpkin Ale

Brooklyn Brewery Oktoberfest Beer

Evolution Lot 3 India Pale Ale

DAB 6-pk Cans

Floris Apple Beer

Floris Framboise

Ridgeway Extra Stout

Stillwater For Love & Regret Saison

Southern Tier Harvest

5L Paulaner Oktoberfest Kegs

Spatan Oktoberfest

Stoudt's Fest Beer

Flying Dog Dogtoberfest

River Horse Imperial Pumpkin

Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin

Fisherman's Pumpkin Stout

While the prices may not be the greatest, I always prefer their beer selection to Corridor. Be careful though, they close by 8 or 9 most nights.

Thanks! I like that shop, but I've always been there for wine, didn't realize they had a good beer selection.

I recently discovered River Horse too (their Hop Hazard ale is my new favorite) so I'd be interested in trying their Imperial Pumpkin.

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I stopped into Perfect Pour yesterday to pick up a bottle of bubbly and at the last minute thought I should check to see if they have any pumpkin beer left. They were out of most, with the exception of the 4-packs of Dogfish head and the larger bottles of 2 that I was very interested in, the Heavy Seas and the Southern Tier. I would have liked to try the River Horse and the Shlafly, the latter based on recs here, but this is better than nothing although not cheap at $9/bottle! Anyway, I'm planning to taste them side by side when I'm in the mood. I'm no beer expert, but I'll report back anyway. :)

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Seconded. Had this at Proof recently (can't remember if it was bottle or draft). Very nicely balanced pumpkin ale. Is this available in stores in the DC area?

The Van Ness Liquor Store (not Calvert but the one in the Bank of America building, next door to the Jerry's sub shop) has been carrying Schlafy Pumpkin, kinda pricy at $13.99 (I believe) for a 6 pack...I might have bought the last 6 pack, but he may have restocked.

(202) 363-7000

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The Van Ness Liquor Store (not Calvert but the one in the Bank of America building, next door to the Jerry's sub shop) has been carrying Schlafy Pumpkin, kinda pricy at $13.99 (I believe) for a 6 pack...I might have bought the last 6 pack, but he may have restocked.

(202) 363-7000

Thanks, I'll have to check it out. I've only been to that store once, but I remember they had a surprisingly good beer selection.

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