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Pumpkin beers can be incredibly polarizing. There’s not a lot of middle ground…people either love them or hate them. But a well-crafted pumpkin ale at the right time, can make all the sense in the world – and here are five serious pumpkin ales (some of them GABF winners) that might change what you think about the style.
Saint Arnold Pumpkinator
When you take a gold medal at the GABF beer competition, you’ve got something going on, and Houston, Texas-based Saint Arnold Brewing most certainly does…
Saint Arnold’s Pumpkinator 2017 is THE award-winning 10.5% ABV Imperial Pumpkin Stout that took it all at this year’s GABF. Saint Arnold’s barrel-aged version, Bourbon Pumpkinator is also out there now as well…and it’s also killer!
Schlafly Pumpkin Ale
Saint Louis, Missouri’s Schlafly Brewing may be one of craft beer’s most taken-for-granted breweries and their award-winning Pumpkin Ale (which took a silver at this year’s GABF) is a game-changer.
Richly copper-colored and seasonally spiced, (and at 8% almost an Imperial) Schlafly Pumpkin Ale may be a bit sweet for some but its nuanced fall flavors can’t be denied.
5 Phantoms Pumpkin Spice Barleywine
Montana’s Philipsburg Brewing took a bronze at this year’s GABF for their unique take on the pumpkin ale tradition.
Autumnal in color and named after its five basic ingredients (water, barley, hops, yeast & spice), 5 Phantoms Pumpkin Spice Barleywine is a big 8.5% ABV seasonal that uses three different locally-sourced pumpkin variations to flesh things out.
Almanac Pumpkin Sour
Northern California’s Almanac Beer Company is known for their deft sours and barrel-aged creations, and their pumpkin-infused sour is truly one-of-a-kind.
Brewed with pumpkin (of course) and spices (yeah that too), Almanac Pumpkin Sour is an 11.1% exercise in gourdian excellence that was aged for almost two years in bourbon and wine barrels.
Dogfish Head Punkin Ale
Dogfish Head’s fall seasonal pumpkin ale, which they’ve been brewing since 1995, debuted as part of a legendary southern Delaware pumpkin extravaganza, Punkin Chunkin.
Sweet, sassy and brown sugar-toned, Dogfish Punkin Ale is a 7% ABV pumpkin-fueled Brown Ale that’s complex and unassuming at the same time.
