A fall beer twofer? Pumpkin Lager

Can't all that AB InBev money buy them a map?

 

I think a lot of people hoped that the bastardized "pumpkin-spiced" beers (whether fermented with a top- or bottom-fermenting yeast) were more of a 20th century thing and were dying out in the new millennium.

Yeah, with 8k breweries, someone somewhere's done just about anything - "Innovation" ya know.
(Not sure the subtly of lager vs ale yeast is going to be too prominent once they dump all the spice and, where applicable, pumpkin puree, into the brew).

 

Back in the Fall of 2011, a restaurant in the area I grew up in (NEPA - home of Stegmaier) served what they called a 50/50. It was Stegmaier’s Oktoberfest and Pumpkin Ale combined. That stuff was awesome. Actually started making them myself not too long afterwards.

 

The part of me that likes beers that are "kind of dumb, but kind of fun" wants to try this. I've enjoyed the DB beers I've had before and I feel they're well made. If I lived in their distro area I'd buy a 6'er.

 

Da, kako da ne?

Land of the Southern Slavs...

 

I'm not a pumpkin beer guy - no issue with those that are but I have to wonder:

For those of you who do like the pumpkin beers, does it really matter to you if its an ale or lager?

 

I quite enjoy pumpkin beers, really a nice sign of the season and every now and then I have one during other seasons. I haven't had a lager version of these beers, but I can't imagine it making all that much of a difference. The subtlety of the yeast would likely be lost behind the pumpkin and spices. Funny anecdote, before I really knew anything about beer, I thought Oktoberfest as a style just meant pumpkin beer because of the association of with the season Not my proudest moment

 

I'm in. The hoppy beer they put out last year was enjoyable enough and I am a Pumpkin beer fan so I will probably dig this.

Maybe? I love Lagers but the right Ale yeast can add some more flavors to the beer and Lagers are typically "crispier" so that could work against some of the other flavors. Ales usually have a little more staying power as they warm too.

That being said I have had the Lakefront one and at least one other (can't recall the name) and they worked for me.

 

Is it a sign of something dying out when the Trappist monks join in? And with a religious/pop culture pun name... and in a 16oz can...
Maybe it's actually a sign of the full on apocalypse rather than something just dying out. The monks oughta know.

 

Perhaps it is a result of poor personal choices (again) but far too may pumpkin beers I bought smell pumpkin-y but end up tasting like Bud with no pumpkin flavor.

 

Me? Nope. Not for me. (I think I had one of the early pumpkin beers, either Buffalo Bill's or Shipyard's in the '90s. Maybe one of the earliest incidences when I thought this whole "craft" think was going off the rails. I just didn't put money on it).

Oh, do you mean, like accidentally, at a Hallowe'en party where you can't see well through you're masks (upper and lower) and someone dressed in a sexy Covid ER nurse outfit (Walmart - $11.99) puts her pumpkin lager down next to yours on a table and you pick it up by mistake and take a sip? Uh, no - Hallowe'en parties - also not for me.

Yeah, that'd be my take. Add it to the (very long) list...

Also, atheists can add it to their list of why there is no God:

"If there was a God, would He allow this!"
Slams a can on the podium.
Audience goes "Ooohhh..."

 

I actually tried the OPs pumpkin lager at DBs Outpost (I was having a stout, just had a taster of this). I thought it was very drinkable, spice not overbearing at all.

 

I have seen pumpkin lagers around for a few years - have had the Lakefront one and Duclaw 31 - both decent....I think Coney Island / Schmaltz made one too "Freaktoberfest" or some such.....matters not to me if it is a pumpkin ale or a lager, if made well - I will give it a go....
Picked this one up recently as well....



have not popped it yet, but am looking forward to it....there are even....gasp, pumpkin sours!



picked this one Thursday





New Belgium made one called "Kick" that was pretty tasty as I recall....
It's a whole new pumpkiny world out there fellas, keep your mind and palates open!

 

A thematically similar situation actually happened to me during Halloween season at a company outing. We were catching a movie at the kind of theater that has waiters and serves beer to the audience. I checked out all of the tap handles at the bar in the lobby when I got there. Once in the theater, I asked the server what beers they had (the menu said: "Ask your server what seasonal beers we have")* and he gave me the dreaded blank stare. I told him I wanted the Helles I noticed at the bar. The movie started, the server brought me my beer, and after he left, I took a sip and realized he gave me Pumking instead of the Helles. Imagine taking that first sip in the dark while expecting a Helles. It was a bigger "jump scare" than anything in the movie. I was watching the movie without a server to be found. I was gonna live with it.

*Rule of thumb: If a menu actually states that you should ask their servers what beers they have, they really, really don't want you to ask. It's as if they left off the word don't: "Don't ask our servers..." Or maybe it's reverse psychology... but I know that's giving them too much credit.

 

I'm still surprised when I see that on a beer menu. I mean, 40-50 years ago? Yeah, OK. (Plus, there were only 4 beers on tap, plus the "special" one - easier on the servers with the bad memories). But today, just about everyone has a printer in their home - how is it that a on-premise licensed venue doesn't have one and can't run off new copies as soon as a different keg is tapped. Or, at least, get the person with the cool handwriting to change the chalk board.

As for getting the "wrong/unexpected" beer... I was at some music venue with a crowded bar pre-show, asked what was on tap and heard "Sam Adams" and, after listening to the sing-song, "Bud, Bud Light, Coors Light, Miller Lite" figured that was the best I was gonna get.

"Yeah, I'll have one of those..."

Got my plastic cup of overpriced beer, took a sip, looked around for a place to spit it out... "Goddam! Someone tampered with the draught lines by adding urinal cakes to them!"

Nope. Over-reaction on my part. It was just Samuel Adams Summer Ale...

 

Jack, I posted a pic of this as the first beer I saw for the Fall season in the Fall beer sightings thread. I agree with MistaRyte's post above. Spicing is fairly subdued. It is very drinkable with the Oktoberfest elements being very apparent. The base beer worked very well with the typical pumpkin flavors and were not overshadowed at all, IMO. I had no regrets after paying $12.99 for a 12 pack. Then again, I am a pumpkin fan boy, so there's that.