The Definitive Guide to Pumpkin Beers, Part II

This post is a little more relevant, since I tried this within the past month and have all of my notes!

Before Mike came to spend his two week break in New Jersey, he was lamenting about missing out on fall-- apple cider, changing leaves, and of course, pumpkin stuff. I responded by acquiring a mixed six pack of just pumpkin beers to sample while he was home from Arizona.

Saranac: This was kind of how I expect Saranac beers to be-- pretty good, but not incredible. Accessible but not earth shattering. This was a pumpkin ale for sure, but neither the pumpkin nor the spices were particularly strong (nor was the ale in general). This one might be good for people who want to be festive but who don't care to commit to drinking pumpkin pie all night.

Weyerbacher's Imperial Pumpkin Ale: Upon trying this again (it was already on the list!), I decided I don't really care for this. My notes read, "No thanks. Sweet and weird."

Blue Point: I chose this one because I liked their Toasted Lager. Mike's assessment was that it was dry. I found it to just not have much going on. I just didn't taste much, it's very mild.

Buffalo Bill's: a little sweet, but pretty good

Smuttynose: spiced well, better than Weyerbacher but not as good as Wolaver

Shipyard Pumpkinhead: This one remained consistent from whenever I first added it to my list! Very sweet, but great spices. This is good, but I couldn't do too many of them.

Post Road: I didn't know this was Brooklyn Brewery until I looked it up just now, but that explains a lot! This was a fine beer. GOOD. You can taste the pumpkin and spice, but it's not really sweet.

Wolaver's: I bought this one because I loved the oatmeal stout they make, and I'm not opposed to organic products (in this case, the organic label for Otter Creek). I was not disappointed. This is pretty much my ideal pumpkin beer, more resembling vegetable pumpkin than dessert pumpkin. Awesome.


We are all safe and sound here in Ocean County, NJ, having lost and regained power. It's been flickering but I thought I'd finish this post before we lose it again, which we think we might. We have a lot of branches down, high winds, and water is pooling anywhere it can, but overall, we're doing just fine. My baby brother has joined us from the barrier island, which I'm really happy about, and brought with him two packs of pumpkin beer, which I'm also totally ok with, so I suppose there will be more posts in this series yet!

The Definitive Guide to Pumpkin Beers, Part I/?

Fall CLEARLY means pumpkin! (Unless you are my older brother and his dog, who are disgusted and terrified of pumpkins, respectively.) I really do love pumpkin foods, and just recently started getting into slaughtering my own pumpkin, which has lead to more pumpkin lasagna and pumpkin ice cream.

I know a lot of people get excited about pumpkin lattes and muffins and pies and sweet things, but I prefer pumpkin as a vegetable rather than as a dessert (I do love pie, just not all the time!). Subsequently, I admit am kind of picky about my pumpkin beers.While most people enjoy sweeter, nicely spiced brews, I prefer mine to be milder (though still spiced). I have ridiculously high expectations for my pumpkin beers, and while I enjoy most, there are very few that I just simply LOVE.

This post will include all of the pumpkin beers in my database, although I admit it's been a few years and my tastes have changed. I'm just going to copy my reviews word for word from my list--

Dogfish Head Punkin Ale: as far as pumpkin beer goes, probably the winner

Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale: (This one had two entries by accident, that even show how my tastes have changed!) my favorite pumpkin ale/ too sweet

Mad Fox Punkinator: perfect awesome non-pie spicy but not sweet pumpkin ale (I can only assume I mean pie spiced but not pie sweet)

Michelob's Jack's Pumpkin Spice Ale: (I tried this one with my grandma!) the spices are nice but there are better pumpkin beers out there

Sam Adams: spice but no pumpkin

Starr Hill's Boxcar Pumpkin Porter: a nicely spiced porter

The Shipyard's Pumpkinhead Ale: DELICIOUS. But confuses my tastebuds, meaning, what on earth do I drink next?

The Shipyard's Smashed Pumpkin: "It's like a Belgian pumpkin ale!" -Gurzo

Triumph's Pumpkin Ale: very much like pumpkin pie but smooth and not too sweet

Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale: recommended by NoJo (Noah Joseph). Tastes like pie. Good spices but too sweet. Smooth, but not my favorite pumpkin.

Williamsburg Alewerks Pumpkin Ale: too pie like for me


It was interesting to read through these again. Ha. Yay fall! Part II coming soon of pumpkin beers that I've tried recently and have better notes on, and can give a more current and better seasoned (spiced?) opinion on.

lost post

In case you are ever in western Arizona... I'd like to recommend Mudshark Brewing's Desert Magic IPA from Lake Havasu City, about an hour and a half south of where I'm sitting as I write this. It's a good, easy IPA in the midst of a lot of unimpressive macro brews available in Mohave County, AZ.

It seems I forgot to post this in August... just found it in here as a draft (or a draught? ha ha ha).

Other good beer in Arizona: Yuengling (only available in Mike's apartment, because I checked a bag to bring a case out there for him), and a visit to Beaver Street Brewery in Flagstaff after a long day at the Grand Canyon, which featured Lumberyard Brewing Company's beers. The multiple names was really confusing to sort out when looking for a place to go online (was it the same place? Were these two different places?), but whatever, the food was great, and so was the beer.