Schlafly Pumpkin Ale- St. Louis, MO

[jrichstar]

These pumpkin brews come out earlier and earlier, don't they?  So I realize this is getting caught up in the hype....though Schalfly's version is one of the best out there. Ranked 3rd for pumpkin beers on Beer Advocate with a rating of 94, this seems like it's worth taking a chance on for a high quality beer early in the season.

Per schlafly.com:

Our Pumpkin Ale blends the spices of the harvest with full-bodied sweetness for a beer that tastes like pumpkin pie. Pounds of pumpkin form a malty foundation that supports the fall flavors of cinnamon, nutmeg and clove.

 

While pumpkin beers were produced in the early days of the American colonies, they were different from the pumpkin beers we know today.  Colonists used pumpkin and squash as the fermenting medium, since malted barley was scarce.  Once malt became more readily available, it replaced these alternatives to grain.  In the 1990's, American craft brewers reintroduced the style to the delight of pumpkin beer drinkers.

 

Reviews indicate a real pumpkin taste, spices, not overly sweet.  I love Southern Tier Pumking but sometimes a beer drinker does not want a dessert beer but something that will go well with an autumn-type meal.  This one seems to fit that bill.  ABV is 8.0%

 

Cheers,

Jeff

[Toogs]

Will this become the pumpkin beer meta thread?

It is indeed an early release this year for most, and I tried not to buy any until I saw the Dogfish Punkin at the store yesterday.  They change it each year and while this year is better than last year's disaster, it's not as good as the high of 2 years ago.

The shlafly is one of the best for sure.  I anticipate The Fear each year, as it's best in class in my book

[PappyVanWise]

Thank you for at least waiting until Sept 1st to post a pumpkin beer.  They just don't seem right until football season starts.

[Nick Freshman]

We've had most of our Fall beers in for a couple weeks. Due to allocations, we have to order them when they are available. That includes 35 kegs of Dogfish Head Punkin Ale. Yes, 35. Not my favorite, but it's good and sells like crazy. For a point of reference, I heard the Dogfish Head Ale House only got 12. I want to make it past Halloween, and I won't unless I get that much. That said, it doesn't go online until tomorrow. We just can't put Fall beers out until after Labor Day; it's too weird. Despite having had customers asking for Sam Oktoberfest for weeks now...

[jrichstar]

^{This is really a scrumptious brew which will even be better in October when the weather is a bit chillier and the mind is more in tune with autumn.  Very smooth, not too sweet, pumpkin is in the background, flavors of cinnamon and clove shine through.  Had this with some sweet potato fries which was a good match.}

[PappyVanWise]

I was out shopping for our next VBT beer, and the amount of pumpkin/autumn themed beers is pretty overwhelming.  Anyone agree with the upthread notion that we should just start a pumpkin beer thread for the next few months?  I was thinking of doing a make your own six pack and trying a bunch out this weekend.  The Ichabod Crandall and Schafly version along with a few others.  This could also help ease the burden of getting stuck with 5 extra pumpkin beers if we misfire on selecting a single brewery.  I saw a few placed had Maple and Yam autumn beers out, so I'll throw a few of those in the mix as well.  Thoughts?

[SeanMike]

I like that idea. I ended up with some of the New Belgium, Dogfish Head, and Sam Adams pumpkin beers last week through various happenings and whatnot (i.e., thanks to goodeats for the first one, picked up the second one while buying the New Belgium Coconut Curry Hefeweizen at Total Wine, and bought a sampler pack of Sam).