Schlafly Pumpkin Ale

Fuck YEAH pumpkin beer threads. Specifically one starting with a post in the "this year's _____ taste like total crap" format.

Schlafly would have to take quite a dive to knock it out of the top spot for me, along with Weyerbacher's pumpkin ale.

I try to hold out until at least September to buy any, not bc i think its released to early so much as I dont want to acknowledge that summer is almost gone and i havent done shit.

 

Yeah, a couple of years ago Starbucks reformulated their pumpkin coffee to be based on real pumpkin (or squash). Even though it seemed to have some spice it was essentially squash coffee. They went back to the pumpkin spice after the squash coffee proved unpopular. Same thing here - I certainly don't want squash beer, I want pumpkin pie beer.

 

Not a fan of the style, but I love the smell of pumpkins when carving them with the grand kids. It has a ton of nose, and I might be more interisted to try something more pumpkin vs nutmeg/clove/cinnamon. I agree with the above post about a desert beer, if I want a piece of pie I'll have one I don't care to drink one.

 

I'm hoping to track down the two new ones.

 

Speaking of Schlafly Pumpkin beers,I will now be sifting through six packs at the grocery to see if I can find this
https://www.ksdk.com/article/life/f...e-pumpkin-ale-thanks-to-schlafly/63-585866956

 

A White pumpkin ale? A White pumpkin whale! Happy hunting.

 

Depending on how you are defining it (only whole pumpkins, or also pumpkin puree, powdered pumpkin, pumpkin concentrate, etc?), how do you know?

The Feds allow "Pumpkin - Whole, juice, puree, or concentrate." to be used and the beer labeled "pumpkin ale", etc. They don't allow spices-only products (w/o pumpkin) to be labeled "pumpkin" ale - Ruling 2015-1 Attachment #2 pg 2

 

Pumpkin puree, powdered pumpkin, pumpkin concentrate, etc. not the same as real pumpkin. Some beers use trace amounts of pumpkin losing the reason for a pumpkin beer. Like most things I want extreme. If it's a pumpkin beer I want tons of pumpkin flavor with only hints of spice. Hoppy beers I want big bite of hop. Bourbon barrel beers I want a huge bite of bourbon. Rogue uses real pumpkins with a huge bite of pumpkin. Sure there is other ingredients such as orange peel and cinnamon but the use of real pumpkins helps pop the flavor. From their website: "Pumpkin Patch Ale is created using fresh pumpkins grown at the Rogue Hop Farm in Independence, Oregon. In the fall, the pumpkins will ripen and be ready for harvest. Rogue employees hand pick and load the pumpkins into a farm truck and immediately drive them 77 miles to our brewery in Newport where they will be cleaned and chopped by hand and roasted in our pizza oven before being placed into the brew kettle." http://buy.rogue.com/rogue-farms-pumpkin-patch-ale/

 

But TTB labeling regulations do not differentiate them, which is why I asked "How do you know?" to your statement:

...other than specifics from the brewery like the Rogue quotation you cited.
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One of my greatest regrets in life (well, the segment of it concerned with brewing industry research ) is not saving a jpeg posted on a Weyerbacher (I think) blog after they got done brewing their pumpkin ale - probably well before the pumpkin harvest, of course - showing a bunch of empty, large (~gallon or so) food service cans of pumpkin puree, opened from the bottom, sitting next to the brew kettle. I guess they got enough flack for that, that they eventually deleted that post and image - at least, I can never find it via Google Images...

 

Interesting thing about Weybacher and I thought I too read up about them not using real pumpkin and actually years back I could find that info but just now I had trouble finding. But I'll use logic and that is I like beers with real pumpkins. I know Rogue uses real pumpkin. I had Rogue Pumpkin Patch Ale and loved it. When I want pumpkin beer I buy Rogue Pumpkin Patch Ale. But truly I don't know on all breweries but if they use real pumpkin and only use hints of spice it will show in the flavor. Had Weybacher Imperial Pumpkin years back and was not impressed.

 

I'm not a fan of pumpkin ale (or pie) at all, but DFH Punkin was one of the few that I found tolerable (actually pretty good) exactly because the spicing is very subtle. So you may like it too.

 

That's a good starter pumpkin beer. But my palate has changed to where I'd never buy DFH Punkin Ale again but you're right the spice notes are subtle.

 

Could be that it is summer and your palate/mind rejects those flavors, as they don't soothe what the spirit desires?

 

I never realized that there was a difference. Good to know, , ,

 

I feel the exact same way about anything mint. I cannot stand to drink mint. I love candy mints and all that but it just doesn't seem to belong in liquid form other than post tooth brushing.

 

I would say yes with pumpkin flavors. But, I will drink an Oktoberfest year round if I can get it and I usually can at one of the many German places we have in Huntsville. That said, in AL our temps stay warm so long your spirit desires at least the illusion that it's cooler outside.

 

Oktoberfests, apart from the name, are well suited for all seasons...but like I said, the name steers you

 

Pumpkin purée is real pumpkin...