The History of Pumpkin Beer

The 2011 season of Pumpkin Ale has proven to be one the most successful seasonal sellers for craft beer makers. The popularity of falls favorite “Pumpkin Beer” has become all the rage.  With more than 400 pumpkin beers to choose from today, modern drinkers may not be tasting anything like their beer’s colonial ancestors.

Many would be surprised to discover that Pumpkin Beer has a history in America; its tale goes all the way back to the 1600’s with “America’s first folk song”

Instead of pottage and puddings and custards and pies,
Our pumpkins and parsnips are common supplies;
We have pumpkin at morning and pumpkin at noon;
If it was not for pumpkins we should be undone
… Hey down, down, hey down derry down….
If barley be wanting to make into malt
We must be contented and think it no fault
For we can make liquor, to sweeten our lips,
Of pumpkins and parsnips and walnut-tree chips. 

~circa 1643

While most Europeans had never even seen a pumpkin, both pumpkins and brown sugar were easily accessible in early uncolonized America, while proper malt was not. Pumpkin was a native plant. Colonist brewed pumpkin beer for health and sustenance, replacing malt entirely with pumpkin meat.

Pumpkin beer continued to be a staple through the 18th century but its popularity began to wane by the early 1900’s as the access to quality malts became commonplace and the pumpkin itself became viewed as something rustic and less desirable.

Modern pumpkin beers tend to aim for more of a ‘pumpkin pie in a glass’ approach as opposed to ‘pumpkin in a glass’ using spices such a nutmeg and cloves rather than authentic pumpkin flavors. The rebirth of the Pumpkin beer is credited to Buffalo Bill’s Brewery which has been making their America’s Original Pumpkin Beer since the late 1980’s, using one of George Washington’s recipes as inspiration.  Although the experimental batches used pumpkin as an ingredient, the commercial version stuck with the pumpkin pie spice approach instead.

Hoppy Feet has been lovingly crafted by combining Premium malt with lots of Amarillo and Columbus Hops. Grapefriut and Pine are balanced on the nose and on the palate by a nutty, dark chocolate, raosted backbone

The Essense of wonder is a unique and masterful blend of strong malty ale and authentic Belgian Kriek. Our philosophers deduce that this powerful marriage of cherries, roasted malts, and dark chocolate will only achieve more wisdom and coherence as it broods in the dark recesses of yoru cellar.

Behind the full golden color you'll find an alluring aroma, a dynamic complex of flavors, Belgian flair, Brooklyn fortitude and a dusting of our special yeast. To create this beer we use teh old technique of 100% bottle refermentation, a practice now reare even in Europe. It give this beer a palate of unusual depth.  by Brooklyn Brewery

Larry pours a beautiful amber orange with a nice fluffy white head. The first thing you notice is the aroma. Strong hops, grapefruit, pine and floral smells. The taste is spicy, citrusy, piney and hoppy. However this beer is not just about the hops, it's remarkably well balanced

Jack Do’r is the first beer from Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project.  It’s an American version of the Belgian Saison style.  Saisons were simple table beers brewed in the winter months for farm workers to enjoy during the summer.

 

Jack pours a beautiful hazy orange color with a fluffy white head.  Smell is fruity with grape, lemon, apple, grass, and yeast apparent.

 

The flavor is close to the aroma, but with a dryness from the three strains of  yeast used during the brewing. 

 

This is a very complex, very special beer quite possibly like nothing you’ve ever tried before.

Young’s Double Chocolate Stout is made in England by Wells & Young’s Ltd.  This is a sweet, or milk stout style.  That means unfermentable sugars are added to the brew kettle to add sweetness and counter the bitterness of the roasted malts.

 

This beer pours a deep beautiful black color with a nice brown head.  Aroma is chocolate with hints of coffee.  Mouthfeel is rich and creamy.  The flavor is what you would expect from the name and more.  Plenty of chocolate flavor, but hints of coffee and roasted malt.

 

At only 5.2 % alcohol by volume you can easily have a few of these.  This is a good introductory beer for someone wanting to try something a little different.  Don’t be afraid of the dark!  

 

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