A few weeks ago, Jaime and decided to try all the pumpkin beer we could get our hands on. We made it through half of the options in one night, but while waiting for night two kept discovering more options. Here is what we found.
1. Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale (8.0% abv)
Good, hoppy, dark
2. River Horse Hipp-O-Lantern (8.0 % abv)
Hoppy, strong, medium
3. Uinta Punk’n (4.0% abv)
Lighter, smooth, slightly hoppy
4. Shipyard Pumpkinhead (5.1% abv)
Not hoppy, spicy, Jaime’s fav so far. Tastes like pumpkin pie deliciousness.
5. Post Road Pumpkin Ale (5.0% abv)
Smooth, slight spice
6. Southern Tier Pumking (8.6% abv)
Most pumpkin flavor, aka pumpkiniest
6a. (not pictured because it was consumed at a bar) Smuttynose Pumpkin (5.6% abv)
Delicious, but it was served in a glass rimmed with cinnamon and sugar. I’ve had this before and actively disliked it, but like Meg said, Natty Ice would probably taste good if you served it in a cinnamon/sugar glass.
7. Wolaver’s Organic Pumpkin Ale (5.35% abv)
Smooth, slightly hoppy, nothing special
8. Fisherman’s Pumpkin Stout (7% abv)
Dark, smooth, not pumpkin-y at all
9. Fire Island Pumpkin Barrel (4.8% abv)
Good but not memorable. Somewhat pumpkin-y
10. Dogfish Head Punkin (7% abv)
Delightful and sweet. Yum!
11. Pumpkin UFO (5.9% abv)
Wheaty and pumpkiny, like alcoholic pumpkin pancakes in a bottle. Not really, but still good. I don’t know what alcoholic pumpkin pancakes in a bottle would taste like, probably would be difficult to drink.
12. America’s Original Pumpkin Ale (5.2% abv)
Kind of yuck. Pretty bottle.
13. SixPoint Autumnation (6.7% abv)
Hoppy. Jaime liked it, me not so much. I like the can because it is orange, but most of them are orange because they are pumpkin. Sixpoint Sweet Action is more delicious but this is ok.
14. Shock Top Pumpkin Wheat (5.2% abv)
This has a mowhawk and I am eating artichoke pizza. Jaime says it tasted like pumpkin gasoline. My mouth tastes like pizza so I don’t know. We are almost done.
15. Sam Adams Harvest Pumpkin (5.7% abv)
Sam Adams makes pumpkin beer?!? Since when?
16. Blue Point Pumpkin (6.0% abv)
I am tired of beer I think.
The undisputed winner was Pumking, though a close runner up for me was Dogfish Head. One day we’ll find Woodchuck Pumpkin Cider and try that one, too.
