Poll: Pumpkin Pie vs. Pumpkin Squash Flavor

Fire Island Beer Company used to make one that was lots of pumpkin in the mash, and just the lightest hint of pie spice that was really good.

One of our locals posted pics daily of the process of taking fresh pumpkins, processing them, roasting them, and then using them in the mash. This was a few years ago, never had a chance to try it.

My favorite pumpkin beer was a pumpkin wild ale (the name of which escapes me)

 

I'm in the Smuttynose camp - though I buy just one sixpack a year and usually drink 3 of them and give three away. Generally detest the style, but am still open to being converted

 

A few things,
1. Pumpkin does have a lot of flavor on its own. It depends on the pumpkin used and was it harvested when it was fully ripe.
2. Squash, referring to winter type squashes, have even more flavor, thus, I made a pumpkin ale using Suger pie pumpkin delicata squash and sweet mama squash with just a small amount of cinnamon stick. Wort was super flavored.

And finally, tons of spice, like using a pumpkin pie spice mix , just taste gross to me.

Go pumpkin squash

 

Curious about dogfish heads punkin brown ale. I saw it today, almost bit... but it's hard to commit to an entire 6 pack if it's heavily spiced. Anyone try it?

 

Is this poll even a fair comparison? I've never really been able to taste the actual pumpkin in a pumpkin ale, and I don't think there's such a thing as a pumpkin ale without the addition of pie spices. I thought the appeal of a pumpkin ale was the taste of the spices.

 

Pump[KY]n has been discontinued. And I too, liked it much better than Rumpkin.

 

Bummer! Oh well, they could bring it back sometime, and meanwhile they still have a lot of great BA creations.

You know, I'm starting to think I should take beers I already love, and add pumpkin pie extract to them. Pumpkin BCBS could be blasphemy

 

Lots of ppl on here sing its praises.

Myself, the newest pumpkin ale I've sampled is Two Roads Roadsmarys Baby (rum aged pumpkin) and I thought it very meh. But I still have 3 cans left, maybe they'll be better.

 

Sounds like a good enough beer to try (punkin brown), I like brown ales anyway. I'll grab a sixer if it's still available this weekend and report back.

 

Pumpkin Stouts/Porters are my personal favorite of all the pumpkin beers. Cape Ann Fisherman Pumpkin Stout was a favorite (haven't seen it in years) and more recently Trick or Treat by Evil Genius (to be frank it's probably the only good beer I've had from them)

 

Agreed
The best one ive tasted was locally brewed on tap @Hopvine
high gravity lb's & lb's of roasted pumpkin flesh, some spice, but no
nutmeg (which I feel ruins the flavor)...

 

I really enjoy Lakefront's Pumpkin Lager. For me it has just enough pumpkin taste without it being overwhelming. The spice and candied yam tastes are pretty subtle too.

 

May have to give this one a try then. Mostly I've not been impressed with their line up.

 

Very much with you in preferring the darker pumpkins and Cape Ann in particular. They do still make that beer, as well as an Imperial version (which rocks), though I don't know about the extent of their distribution these days.

Their brewpub is absolutely worth a visit if you're ever in the area. Great older school place right on the water. Good pub food too.

I'll have to keep an eye out for the Evil Genius. Not sure if we get that around here.

 

Yeah I’m with you. I don’t really like any of their beers. I mean, Trick or Treat is not amazing but it’s good and it works well for the season. No actual pumpkin is used and the chocolate addition scared me but it isn’t too sweet. It’s also a bit stronger than I was expecting @ 7%. The roasted malt goes well with the pumpkin spices, IMO. It’s a good pumpkin stout well worth trying just not my favorite of all I’ve had.

Ah man I’d love to check it out. I miss the old microbrew days. I’ll keep an eye out for Fisherman’s Pumpkin Stout next time I’m visiting home! Yeah that imperial version is great too I just like the regular one a bit more personally (probably because you can drink more of them lol)


Honorable mention for pumpkin stout/porter: Four Peaks Pumpkin Porter out of AZ

 

I have heard that about the Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale, but I've never tried it because I don't want to commit to buying a six pack of it, and I've never seen it as singles.

 

Story: Today I rolled into Cape Charles Brewing Co (second brewery on E Shore of VA after Black Narrows in Chincoteague, first new E Shore brewery visit for me, lived on ESVA for 10 years). I'm always fairly excited for new brewery visits. My bro gets a hefeweizen and I get the DIPA... I enjoyed mine, wouldn't change a thing, GREAT!

I request a sample of the pumpkin they have on tap and the sample comes "rimmed" with sugar/cinnamon. For all I know from the sample, it could have been a tasteless beer with the sugar on the rim.

I need to start requesting this sort of stuff now: "Do you guys put Cinnamon Toast Crunch mix on the rim? Yeah? Well don't do that to mine please"

 

Year after year I read these reviews and actually convince myself that these beers do sound delicious. Even crazier is that I believe I would enjoy them. But over the years I stopped buying them as it was a waste. I’ve tried many but I just can’t find the one for me.
Best of luck to you all on finding your ‘Great Pumpkin’ beer!

 

Pie all day. I like the actual flavor of pumpkin, but it needs spices (though not necessarily "pie" spices) to actually make it pop in a meaningful way.
There are places that use pumpkin without spices and it shockingly adds almost nothing beyond texture. Some places (like Trinity) apparently use it a lot for that purpose alone.