With the leaves falling off of the trees, the chill in the air, and the smell of Ticonderoga #2 pencils, the beer world is once again blessed with the bounty of the harvest in the form of Pumpkin beers.
As the autumnal spices fly off the shelves and pumpkin goes into the mash to make beer, many breweries will be vying for our taste buds’ attention with this seasonal offering.
One brewery in particular is working overtime out in the pumpkin patch and in the lab to bring imbibers not just one offering, but many different offerings of pumpkin beers culminating in a trifecta of deliciousness for your harvest season!
Seattle-based Elysian Brewing is the company that has brewed a plethora of pumpkin beers, and these following 3 bottled offerings will have you trick-or-treating at your local bottle shop:
Elysian Night Owl Pumpkin Ale
Being greeted with a strong and sweet, pumpkin aroma, this 5.9% ABV offering was on the pumpkin pie side. Brewed with 7 ½ lbs. of pumpkin per barrel, the spices used in this beer really shine through. With roasted and raw pumpkin seeds added to the mash, this was a great beer to kick off this tasting.
Elysian Great Pumpkin: Imperial Pumpkin Ale
With an amazingly similar sweetness on the nose as the Night Owl, this Imperial Pumpkin Ale was a complex blend of flavors. With a fuller mouthfeel and slightly more pumpkin flavor, this pumpkin ale was much more of what one would expect from this category of seasonal fall beers. At almost double the price of the Night Owl, this offering also has a muted, subtle alcohol taste which is deceiving of its 8.1% ABV. Too many of these and you may find yourself falling off of the hay ride!
Elysian Dark O’ the Moon Pumpkin Stout
With a very light pumpkin aroma, this 6.5% ABV Stout was a great way to round off the tasting! This slightly dry Pumpkin Stout, as the name would suggest, was about as dark as a beer can get. With intense chocolate and espresso flavors “eclipsing” the pumpkin notes, the subtlety of this beer teetered on elegance. This well-balanced offering is definitely something to howl about!
Dick Cantwell, owner of the Elysian brewing Company, started the “The Great Pumpkin Beer Festival” eight years ago, with this year’s festival boasting 75 different pumpkin beers! It has been said that Mr. Cantwell at one point didn’t even care for pumpkin beers, but the beer world is quite fortunate that he got over that!
While sifting through the many, many breweries enticing us with their creations, it can feel a bit like being lost in a corn maze. Luckily, Elysian’s distinguished lineup of pumpkin beers acts as a compass, guiding us to delicious pumpkin beers to celebrate the season!
Which is your favorite of Elysian’s pumpkin beers? Comment below. These can include those they brew that weren’t even mentioned in this post such as their Hansel and Gretel Ginger Pumpkin Pilsner.
