Trying my best to hold off on pumpkin beer, when is your ideal date?

Within that style, fresher is generally considered better. If you don't want to drink it now, then buy it and keep it refrigerated to reduce aging effects.

 

Never.

 

For sure, I don't know too many people aching for a pumpkin beer in 85 degree weather.

 

10 years ago.

But seriously, I only drink a few anymore, and I'm too busy with Oktoberfests to pay attention to pumpkin beers. Might have a few starting in September? And then a local brewery has a pumpkin festival every year, so I get it all out of my system there.

 

I saw a bottle of Blue Mountain's Spooky in Lexington VA with a use by date BEFORE Halloween

 

Only when I'm really really buzzed will I taste a pumpkin beer.
And only when it's Halloween. Or I'm watching the movie of the same title... that's it.
R.I.P. P.B.

 

I've tried pumpkin ales in August before just because it was new and I was impatient and wanted to try it.. but they always taste better in September and October when the air gets crisper and the leaves start falling.. I just picked up a local pumpkin ale and am waiting for September 1st since it'll be a Saturday and the first week of college football, so it seems fitting..

 

The minute I find some Fantôme Boo?

 

you cannot make ME drink that stuff. not that I buy any beer anymore but select Belgians I cannot clone well like Orval.

 

I don’t know about you but nothing screams Pumpkin Beer more than 87 degrees and stifling humidity.

In truth the only real pumpkin beers I’ve enjoyed have been imperial stouts so I need a cold night where I can at the very least see my breath a bit.

 

Fall is the only time of year I drink them. Probably the one seasonal beer I actually prefer in season. I'll drink pretty much anything else year round

 

2050? (Should be dead by then, if everything goes as planned).

 

Once the leaves turn...but I usually reach for a marzen instead. I do like a good pumpkin stout/porter though.

 

I have my first pumpkin beer when the temps reach under 60 for the lows, or the first day of fall, whatever comes first. It is quite annoying that they ship out in early August when it's 90 degrees still, and they sit at "room temp". I usually buy them earlier and just keep them refrigerated for a month or so.

 

I knew before I clicked that I'd see many variations on this comment...

...but this one's my favorite. Never change, BeerAdvocate.

In seriousness, while they're not at all my favorite style, I'll crack one or two in October, probably Schlafly and maybe even a Southern Tier Pumking, especially the Cold Press Coffee version. I'll miss the Smuttynose one as I think it had the most pumpkin flavor with the least aggressive spicing (ironic, I know, considering I do enjoy Pumking, as stated above).

 

And yes, who else besides me loves clicking on a "pumpkin" or "NE style IPA" thread and seeing the same comments over and over about how they suck? We get it, we get it. LOL

 

This is a real thing. I don't often find myself wanting a pumpkin beer, but when leaves are on the ground and the air is cool and time is ideal almost all of them have been out for 3 months, often times sitting on a shelf collecting dust. It's really insane that brewers feel the need to push seasonal stuff up so much. No pumpkin beer should release before labor day, and that's a generous count off(I'd say later)

 

I don't consume that many but I usually have a couple when fresh. Then when it gets cooler out I have some more. Honestly, if your craving one have it,
Cheers

 

Do they really go bad that quickly? I usually pick up Pumking and/or Warlock and have them in October sometime. They're perfectly fine then.

 

It's actually a sort of reverse variation of my stock answer to the threads which ask, "What beer do you want to be your last beer while on your deathbed?"

 

I always get a big kick out of all the "pumpkin haters"....to each their own, right?

I have had a few already - left over from 2017, that tasted fine...and I look forward to some this year....I especially liked this new one from an up and coming CLE brewery...

 

That glass rocks!

 

More of a feel than date thing for me. If it's 65 at mid day and the leaves are starting to turn I know it's time.

 

To go along with the predictable pumpkin haters, I'll say what I say every year too. It makes a mighty tasty beer bread!

 

I enjoy pumpkins, and literally every style as well!

 

Those actually hold up over a year IMO. I had a warlock last fall which was from the year before and it still tasted great. I have a pumpking from last year that i'll try sometime next month as well.

 

I have a Central Waters Headless Heron that's been in the fridge for a couple of years now. I think I also have a Pump[KY]n from last year. Those will be consumed at our next "share," at which I plan to supply ALL of the beer (and probably crash on the floor).

 

I've seen some hit the shelves in late May in past years. This year they seem to be holding off - haven't spotted one yet.

 

I had and loved an Avery Pump[KY]n last year. I just drank another I had left - the pumpkin had fallen off and it tasted pretty much like straight bourbon. Not complaining - but drink them fresh if you like pumpkin.

On the other hand Avery Rumpkin tasted like someone filled a bottle with sugar, then poured in as much rum and pumpkin beer as would soak into the sugar. Man oh man was that cloying. I love rum and pumpkin, but was that terrible.

 

I enjoy the occasional Pumpkin Ale, never understood all the newfound hate for them. The weather has to be right though, probably won't have one until late October. Schlafly is my favorite by far.

 

This is the local pumpkin ale that I was referring to in my previous post.. I'm really looking forward to it.. everything that I've had from them has been really good.. I'm interested to see how they do a pumpkin ale..

 

You're not the only one--those of us who do enjoy them are just a small minority in these boards. Seriously though, I love them and I love my pumpkin spice coffee around this time of year as well. I just love fall and the flavors that go with it, and I don't mind having a few early to get myself primed for the season. I get why some hate the seasonal creep, but fall is such a fleeting season anyways, and all of these flavors evoke a lot of nostalgia for me. This is also the time of year that Type O Negative's October Rust gets a lot of play. I like to celebrate autumn early and keep it going as long as the pumpkin beers and marzen are available. A lot of it's all tied to memories and the sensory experience, and that certain feeling that is magical, but hard to define. There is a bittersweet longing that autumn stirs in me and it begins not with the first change of leaves but with the first seasonal beers. I guess those of you who hate the seasonal creep can blame the saps like myself.

 

I don't open my first pumpkin beer until Hell Freezes Over Eve

 

Pumpkin beers are like nickelback where it's fashionable to hate them.

I'll grab some DFH and Rivertowne headless Wylie this year when I see it - whether that's in 2 days or 2 months I don't really care, I'll enjoy them either way.