What's your take on pumpkin beers?

Not a big fan, but it bothers me that autumn now seems to be the season when many brewers give in to the status quo instead of challenging it. Stupid amount of pumpkin beers on the shelf. Pumpkin beers are to beer what Coldplay is to rock and roll. If you like Coldplay, I apologize, as that analogy will not resonate

 

I'm in the same "love 'em/look forward to them every year" boat. It seems some people think you either have to love all of them, or else hate them.

There are definitely a few that shine (Weyerbacher, Schlafly, etc) that I will continually buy. Aside from that,I'll usually try a half dozen others for the first time, and remember which ones to avoid in the future.

 

Pumpkin beers with subtle earthy flavors of gourd and mild pumpkiny sweet? Love em. Pumpkin pie beers? Keep em.

 

"Taking away valuable resource"?? WTF? Why do you think pumpkin beers are being brewed? Because people enjoy them and of course, brewers make money - it's a business! Pumpkin beer is THE best selling seasonal beer in the craft market place, and seasonal beer is second only to IPA's, in popularity and sales. What does that tell you???

 

Not a fan as well, IMO the spices are too heavy, and some give me heartburn. Where's the pumpkin? Seems most I have are cinnamon, allspice, clove bombs. And I love pumpkin pie too.

 

Way to gloss over my post.

 

If I could try the all for free, I bet I can find one that is light on the pumpkin spice I could drink If I had too, but I cannot.
So far its the season I hate the most. Still It does not effect me anymore., 95% of what I drink is what I make now.

cheers!

 

No glossing - did I miss a point you were trying to make? You don't like pumpkin beers....right?

 

Way too pungent and sweet for my liking. I don't mind pumpkin per se but the pumpkin pie spices are just revolting. Hard to imagine that I'll come across a pumpkin ale that I would tolerate. Maybe a European one (if they ever try to make one) because they don't tend to like overwhelmingly sweet-tasting (or sweet-smelling) stuff over there.

 

Right, but you quoted the part of my post that was convenient to you. I already said I understood why them make them and why I am inclined to accept their existence.

 

Accept their existence? Wow....whatever dude

 

I love them. I enjoy the history behind them, and I do enjoy the beer itself. I don't want to say its really weather related for me, but I seem to enjoy them even more here on the East Coast than when I was living in SoCal. I prefer some straight pumpkin/yam flavor (DFH Punkin or Bruery Autumn Maple) to the pumpkin pie spice boms, but I still really enjoy Pumking, etc. Pumpkin stouts are a style I'm looking to gain some more experience with as I enjoy ST Warlock.

 

I'm looking at them more as a fun seasonal indulgence than a beer lately, and enjoying them more. So, what I look for in these things and what I look for in a beer are totally different. I want my pumpkin beers to be over the top, hopefully served with ice cream and chocolate. Hell, I even had a pumpkin black and tan over the weekend and enjoyed it. : )

 

I enjoy them during the fall season. My favorites are Southern Tier Pumking and Dogfish Head Punkin.

 

I love them, I've reviewed about 70 different thus far.

 

I love them, though I will say that probably 70-75% of them are mediocre at best. There's a big difference between a Shipyard Pumpkinhead adjunct cinnamon-flavored bullshit malt beverage and a Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin. I think I've tried 70-80 at this point and though I will keep ticking, I buy a lot of new ones in singles now vs 4/6 packs like I used to unless I know I like it already.

When they're good, though, I will drink myself into a diabetic coma every fall. Roadsmary's Baby is a new favorite for me this year, and I'm looking forward to trying some Punkaccino in the next couple of weeks. I also really enjoy Fisherman's Pumpkin Stout.

 

If you don't like pumpkin pie then the style likely won't resonate with you, but I'd recommend you give Cisco's Pumple Drumkin a try if you come across it, lighter on the spice and actually a little hop-forward which imo is unique in this style. I'm also personally a big fan of Red Hook's Out Of Your Gourd Pumpkin Porter, which is more about the porter and pumpkin adding body than big sweet flavors.

 

Thanks for the heads up! I'll definitely keep an eye out for them as I'm always keen to try new stuff.

 

Just like most styles, there are good examples and bad. I really enjoy a few of them.