|
Pour yourself some pumpkin flavor |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Written by Rick Armon
|
|
Tuesday, 25 September 2007 |
|
|
|
|
Dan Weirback swore years ago that pumpkin beer was just a fad.
There was no reason for his Weyerbacher Brewing Co. to brew one, since the seasonal beer would fade in popularity, he thought.
But after watching pumpkin beers continue to sell well each fall and his wholesaler constantly bugging him to make one, Weirback cracked three years ago and created Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale.
He's now a firm pumpkin believer; the beer has turned into a big seasonal seller for his Easton, Pa., brewery.
"I think it's the festivity of the idea," Weirback said, trying to explain the following. "It's really a fun beer. It signifies a seasonal change."
Every brewer — from little brew pubs to the national powerhouses — seems to be making pumpkin beer these days. (BeerAdvocate.com has ratings for 148 of them.) Some brewers even agree that the style is overtaking Octoberfest as a fall favorite among beer drinkers.
And now is the time to try them as pumpkin beers are hitting store shelves, bars and restaurants for the season.
They have become so popular that the Brewers Association added a specific pumpkin category this year at the annual Great American Beer Festival, scheduled for Oct. 11-13 in Denver. In years past, pumpkin was judged alongside other fruit and vegetable beers.
So far, the pumpkin category has 15 entries.
"It's just been coming on the radar," said Julia Herz, marketing director for the association. "Craft brewers are known to be pushing the envelope when it comes to beer and styles of beer. The fact that they are producing pumpkin beers now in larger quantities than ever is a sign of the times."
At least two breweries have started festivals around their pumpkin beers.
The Shipyard Brewing Co. in Portland, Maine, will hold its second Pumpkinhead Festival on Oct. 26-27. The event features music, a charity fundraiser, children's games and, of course, Pumpkinhead Ale.
And the Elysian Brewing Co. in Seattle holds a true pumpkin beer festival, with brewer Dick Cantwell creating a variety of the beers for tasting — lavender, stout and hefeweizen ones, for example.
This year, he's making a Scottish pumpkin beer aged in barrels that once held Jack Daniels. It's called Jack o' Bite. The brewery also offers guest pumpkin beers during the event.
Beer drinkers have gone crazy over the Great Pumpkin Brewing Festival, held on different days at the three Elysian locations. One year, there was a line outside the brewery for 10 hours, Cantwell said.
"I think our festival is only going to get bigger," he added. "Last year, people came in pumpkin costumes and that was with one year of history behind us."
So why does he think people are so fascinated with pumpkin beer?
"I think what's so appealing about it is it's so absolutely hilarious," Cantwell said. "When I traveled to Germany and told people there that I brewed pumpkin beer, they laughed and laughed. They can't believe someone would do such a thing. They said `that's so ridiculous,' and then they said `I wish I could have one.'"
A good pumpkin beer — at least to many drinkers — will taste like liquid pumpkin pie.
But not all pumpkin beers are made the same. Some use real pumpkin. Others use only spices. For example, Weyerbacher uses more than a pound of canned pumpkin per case.
The style has a strong following — one brewer calls the fanatics "pumpkin zombies."
"They start coming in at the first of July. They are nuts about it," said Lew Bryson, a Philadelphia beer author and blogger (http://lewbryson.blogspot.com). "For a lot of people, it's the only nonmainstream beer they will drink because it's so familiar and sweet," he added. "It's almost like comfort food."
Bryson rates Weyerbacher's as one of the best available. It has 8 percent alcohol and is a heavier brew.
Other pumpkin beers include Anheuser-Busch's Jack's Pumpkin Spice Ale, Coors' Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale, Dogfish Head's Punkin Ale, Brooklyn's Post Road Pumpkin Ale and Shipyard's Pumpkinhead Ale.
"They sell really well," said Tom Canning, who buys beer for the Acme Fresh Markets store in Montrose, Ohio. "They are starting to pick up each year as more people are coming out with pumpkin beers."
Of course, visiting the store or bar isn't the only way to get a good pumpkin beer.
Jim Lucas, 49, a Wadsworth, Ohio, home-brewer, has been making his own for about 10 years.
He uses fresh pumpkin, baking it as part of the process to convert the starches to sugar. He has even grown his own pumpkins for his brew.
"It's a real good beer to have in the fall because it's bolder and spicier," he said.
PUMPKIN BEERS RANGE FROM MILD TO PIE-LIKE
So what do pumpkin beers taste like? Well, it depends.
Some taste like liquid pumpkin pie. Some have an ever-so-slight pumpkin flavor. Others taste like pumpkin spices.
Here's a sampling after an informal, side-by-side tasting with a few friends. None was considered awful, and all are available locally:
— Lakefront Brewing's Pumpkin Lager: A slight pumpkin flavor, mostly on the aftertaste. www.lakefrontbrewery.com
— New Holland Brewing's Ichabod: No pumpkin flavor at all, with perhaps nutmeg being the dominant flavor. www.newhollandbrew.com
— Shipyard Brewing's Pumpkinhead: A big pumpkin pie flavor in this wheat ale. www.shipyard.com
— Dogfish Head's Punkin: A darker, heavier beer — no shock since it's a brown ale - with more of a brown sugar flavor than pumpkin. www.dogfish.com
— Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale: A darker, heavier beer with a hearty pumpkin spice taste. It's a whopping 8 percent alcohol. www.weyerbacher.com
— Anheuser-Busch's Jack's Pumpkin Spice Ale: A Budweiser with a slight pumpkin flavor. www.anheuser-busch.com
— — —
If you're looking for more in-depth descriptions, go online to www.ratebeer.com or http://beeradvocate.com.
— — — | Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register. |
|
|  | "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth." | |
|  | We're not that bright, even though in our own little world, we're geniuses. We like 80s hair bands and one-hit wonders, but among us we have respectable tastes, too. Metallica, Iron Maiden, U2. Pursuit of all things trivial is a lifestyle, not just a game. We like some sports, love other sports, and can find something to say about anything. We watch TV and movies and we've read a book or two, even a few classics (Yes, Classic Comics count!)
We call it insight, you call it what you will. | |
|  | Felix Wong is an outdoor enthusiast living in Fort Collins. A mechanical engineer by day, he is especially passionate about bicycling, running, and backpacking. | |
|  | Hola Amigos! I'm Sandra. I like to believe that people are 70 percent good and 30 percent dumb. I'm stickin to that story. Reading this blog might make you want to be good, but probably just dumb. | |
|  | Donovan Henderson is editor of NEXTnc. | |
|  | Here at Nextnc we have some characters. Get a sneak peak behind the curtain and find out what amusing antics our staffers get themselves into on a weekly basis. | |
|  | What is up FoCo?
I am a recent college graduate of Minnesota State University Moorhead. After recieving my B.A. in English and Mass Communications this past August I moved down to Colorado.
I enjoy long walks on the beach, candlelight dinners, and heavy metal. My hobbies include reading and writing, music, movies, and getting drunk. Some of my favorite contemporary authors include Bret Easton Ellis, Chuck Palahniuk, and Kurt Vonnegut. My top movies are anything directed by Kubrick. I enjoy listening to anything that rocks.
Right now I am just trying to get to know Colorado and FoCo better. Mostly in order to find the best drink specials on each day that ends in Y. So if you know where I can get a cheap drunk on, let me know!
--Drew | |
|  | Life's little morsels of inspiration, observation and encouragement seen through the eyes of the Nextnc reporter.
| |
|  | Ms. Giles currently lives in Colorado where she stars in her own private reality show. She writes aphoristic accounts of her life, taken completely out of context, and embellished with characters and situations disguised to resemble something close to interesting. | |
|  | over and out | |
| | My name is Michelle Turley and I'm 28 years old. I live in Severance with my hubbie, Brandon. We have 2 dogs and a cat. We enjoy camping, four-wheeling, and just being in the mountains. I like to cook, clean (go figure), flea market, and play poker. I have so much to say about poker... | |
|
|
