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It's the Great Pumpkin (Beer Thread), Don Rockwell


PappyVanWise

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Dogfish Punk'n - The one pumpkin beer I really like.  More spiced than last year?

I just bought a four-pack of this based on your recommendation.

ETA: Meh. Ichabod reigns supreme for me this year.

I've had a good 5-10 pumpkin ales in the past month, and have decided that I'd rather suffer through their confectionary spices than over-hopped "microbrews." That said, given the choice between the two, and a glass of water, I'll take the glass of water.

But the Ichabod tastes like a good *beer*, infused with roasted squash (pumpkin) and not much in the way of clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, or brown sugar. Just ... roasted pumpkin, and that's a wonderful flavor without all this other high-toned nonsense mucking it up.

The mistake breweries are making is that they assume people want to drink a piece of pumpkin pie, and they don't. Or, at least *I* don't.

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For those that can find it (as I've heard that its very hard to come by in VA), Southern Tier Warlock is very tasty. Everything that I always wanted a combo Pumpkin/Creme Brulee (which is a very popular combo at my local beer store) to be, but better. The pumpkin doesn't dominate, so I don't know if I could properly call it a 'pumpkin ale', but its a great pumpkin stout.

Caveat: not really a huge fan of pumpkin beers.

Also, to second Beer Advocate and to toss in untappd. The rankings on untappd aren't all that great since everything gravitates to between 3.3 and 4.1 (though its a pretty damn good bet I'll like a beer with an average of 4 MUCH better than one with an average of 3.4), but primarily just so I can remember what I've drank, and what I thought of it.

Been looking around for Warlock and lots of places were out of it.  Not Total Wine in McLean though----at least 40 bottles were on display at the front of the store early this afternoon.

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Been looking around for Warlock and lots of places were out of it.  Not Total Wine in McLean though----at least 40 bottles were on display at the front of the store early this afternoon.

A warning about the McLean Total Wine displays (scroll down to post #29 also) - I got burned twice in one visit because of clever displays there.

They *do* have the best beer selection that I know of in the DC area, but don't count on their displays to reveal their quality beers - their salesman are impressively knowledgable (not something you expect at Total Wine), and it's refreshing to see. The salesmen, not the displays, are your resource of choice here.

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I know most of you are DC or NOVA residents, but Frisco Tap House in Columbia, MD is having their annual Punktoberfest starting at 6 pm tomorrow. They have a TON of pumpkin beers on tap (check their Facebook page for the most recent list), including their own brew they made in collaboration with a local brewery AND...wait for it...Southern Tier Pumpking served (via tap if you can believe it) out of a bourbon soaked pumpkin. Could be delicious, could be a disaster, but I'm going to be there to try it!

If anyone decides to head up there, give me a heads up so I can say hi.

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I believe I had Fear out of a bourbon soaked pumpkin at Frisco last year. But honestly I cannot remember which one it was. I want to say it was just a random weeknight without an official event, but I could be wrong. FWIW I do not think I'll be there tonight, I only make it there a small handful of times every year. I was just there last week though and I love the fact that they have a breakfast burrito on the menu.

Is there even a thread on them? That will be on my to-do list for the week if not.

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Damn. I'll be up that way tomorrow, though probably wouldn't have stayed that late. How was it?

You know, as much as I hate to say it, I was a bit disappointed. Maybe I should save my detailed feedback for the Frisco thread that JDawg is kindly going to start if one doesn't already exist? I will say that they had a huge selection and variety of pumpkin beers. All of their taps were devoted to pumpkin that night. The full list is still posted here. And in addition to the bourbon Pumpking pumpkin, they also had a Kraken The Fear pumpkin. I decided to embrace the pumpkinyness that night and ordered and enjoyed the former. There's a time and place for most things I guess. ;) Unfortunately, there were a lot of issues from poorly executed food to an overwhelmed server to some off tasting beers. I'll post more in the other thread and some rvws of the beers I did have later since I have to run now.

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This evening I enjoyed a .750 of Rogue Farms "Pumpkin Patch Ale," (with the bright orange label looking nothing like the Beer Advocate's picture), and had something of an epiphany.

1) I've about had my fill of Pumpkin Beer for 2013, having perhaps twice, or three-times as many this year as in any other year in the past.

2) At the risk of sounding banal, they tend to fall into two camps: good, and not good. The good ones (which the Rogue is - they apparently own their own pumpkin patch) are "real beers" that have been flavored with pumpkin; the bad ones are flavored with pumpkin in order to imitate the experience of a "real beer" that has been flavored with pumpkin.

3) The good ones tend to be amber-colored with the flavor of squash; the bad ones tend to be lighter in color with the flavor (or really, the "scent") of confectionary pumpkin-pie spice (nutmeg, etc.).

I understand this is an oversimplification, and a dozen-or-so beers hardly makes me an expert, but in the past month, I've had more pumpkin beer than any other single food item that I can think of, and my learning curve is quickly grinding to a screeching, flattened halt - even the good ones are all starting to taste alike.

My next step is either to do side-by-side comparisons, searching for nuances, or to stop for the remainder of the year.

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This evening I enjoyed a .750 of Rogue Farms "Pumpkin Patch Ale," (with the bright orange label looking nothing like the Beer Advocate's picture), and had something of an epiphany.

1) I've about had my fill of Pumpkin Beer for 2013, having perhaps twice, or three-times as many this year as in any other year in the past.

2) At the risk of sounding banal, they tend to fall into two camps: good, and not good. The good ones (which the Rogue is - they apparently own their own pumpkin patch) are "real beers" that have been flavored with pumpkin; the bad ones are flavored with pumpkin in order to imitate the experience of a "real beer" that has been flavored with pumpkin.

3) The good ones tend to be amber-colored with the flavor of squash; the bad ones tend to be lighter in color with the flavor (or really, the "scent") of confectionary pumpkin-pie spice (nutmeg, etc.).

I understand this is an oversimplification, and a dozen-or-so beers hardly makes me an expert, but in the past month, I've had more pumpkin beer than any other single food item that I can think of, and my learning curve is quickly grinding to a screeching, flattened halt - even the good ones are all starting to taste alike.

My next step is either to do side-by-side comparisons, searching for nuances, or to stop for the remainder of the year.

Just had some Rogue Pumpkin Patch and I agree that it is really excellent.  Really well balanced with just a bit of pumpkin/cinnamon to really make it shine.

Probably the best pumpkin beer I've had this season is a Cigar City Good Gourd that I think I had for a year or two, purchased on eBay before they shut down beer purchases.  Sure enough, it's the top rated pumpkin beer on Beer Advocate with any kind of sample size.  If anyone knows where to get Cigar City beers, let me know.

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Why is this? 

Two things:

1. Their history of lawsuits. They're very litigious, it seems, about the Rogue name. I know there are times where you need to be, but they seem (IMHO) to go overboard with it.

2. The way they treat their employees. This came to light (to me) recently when they were trying to hire a new IT person. The skill and time requirements compared to pay were ridiculous, they bragged that they don't plan or budget, and on the site talking about the ad (I want to say Reddit, but I can't truly remember) a number of former employees described horrible working conditions.

Honestly, Rogue used to be good, but I've seen their representation compared to other "micro"breweries in this area plummet, and I'm fine with that. I'd much rather support ones that haven't tried to sue people I know, or aren't so busy trying to be hip and cool that they're abusive to their employees. There's no beer of theirs that I've had that I miss at all, and their spirits (again, IMHO) have always stunk.

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Co-Sign 1000x with SeanMike on the Rogue stuff.  Too much bad press from them for my taste, and that's from a NW boy who had Rogue as his training wheels into better beer.

The best pumpkin beer I tried this season was actually two pumpkin beers... He Said, a collaboration/face off between Elysian and 21st Amendment.  Each package was a 4 pack containing two different pumpkin beers -two cans of a white Tripel with pumpkin, tarragon, and galangal AND two cans of a Baltic Porter with pumpkin, Vietnamese, cinnamon and caraway.  They ended up being very complimentary.

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Just had some Rogue Pumpkin Patch and I agree that it is really excellent.  Really well balanced with just a bit of pumpkin/cinnamon to really make it shine.

Probably the best pumpkin beer I've had this season is a Cigar City Good Gourd that I think I had for a year or two, purchased on eBay before they shut down beer purchases.  Sure enough, it's the top rated pumpkin beer on Beer Advocate with any kind of sample size.  If anyone knows where to get Cigar City beers, let me know.

Its not particularly hard to find online, at least the stuff they distribute some of. I found Good Gourd this year pretty easily shortly after release. I'm certain its long gone now though. Two online stores I've used in the recent past are letspour.com and luekensliquors.com. Leukens has a particularly bad website, but I (and a couple of friends) have never had any issues. My stuff is shipped to NC, but doesn't look like there are any issues shipping to the DC area. Leukens is around the corner from Cigar City so tend to get a number of their beers.

Also, they're currently expanding, to about double their current capacity I believe. They've said they're in-state demand is still larger than this, but I've also heard from a couple distributor friends of mine that the rumors are that might be distributing out of state, if not with this expansion then probably with the next.

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The best pumpkin beer I tried this season was actually two pumpkin beers... He Said, a collaboration/face off between Elysian and 21st Amendment.  Each package was a 4 pack containing two different pumpkin beers -two cans of a white Tripel with pumpkin, tarragon, and galangal AND two cans of a Baltic Porter with pumpkin, Vietnamese, cinnamon and caraway.  They ended up being very complimentary.

Agreed on the He Said. I've only had the Tripel, but liked it quite well (though probably not as much as the Warlock, which I'm still high on). The combination of pumpkin and galangal was quite interesting. Had it on tap in Minneapolis, which is near where 21A actually brews most of the beer that they distribute since the brewery in San Fran is way too small to distribute much.

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Looks like Brown distributing picked up the Va rights for Cigar City.  I've heard Jai Alai is already on the shelf at Norm's and the Whole Foods out in Fairfax.  Should be popping up in Richmond this week, too.

As someone who's spent the last year stuffing my bags with CC cans after every work trip to Tampa or Orlando, this makes me giddy.  Needs to get to Arlington though.

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I know this is late as many of these beers are off the shelves in favor of the various Christmas ales hitting the market, but I figured I'd lay out a few pumpkin / autumnal beers that I enjoyed this year:

- Schafly Pumpkin Ale - until last year this was one of my favorites - but for whatever reason I felt last years iteration was very light.  Thankfully, this year they remedied it and it was more of the darker / boozier style that I had come to enjoy.  This moved back up to one of my favorite seasonals.

- The Bruery: Autumn Maple - I had this at Snallygaster with my wife and she begged me to find it in the DC area (I ended up finding two at Rodmans).  What a delicious beer without the overbearing sweetness that some "maple" beers can have.  Great balance between squash and a maple taste that fit right in vs. smacking you in the face.

- Saucony Brewering: Pumpkins Maple Mistress - Another Snallygaster beer that I found on a trip back to visit my folks (in the Lehigh Valley - this beer is produced in Kutztown, PA).  More of a clear maple taste than the Bruery but still managing to stay in balance.  Also some clearer spice notes here - was surprised to see that it clocked in over 8% if I remember correctly.  It hides the booze well.

- Weierbacher Imperial Pumpkin - this used to be one of my favorite pumpkin beers - but for whatever reason it tastes "thin" to me now.  Not sure if they've adjusted the recipe or if my tastes are changing.  Seeing as it's brewed in my hometown (Easton, PA) - I still grab a 4 pack each year, but it made it to the last pumpkin beer left in the fridge this year...not the best sign

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