Colorado Beer Beat | Bi-Weekly Beer Release Guide 9/14

Welcome to the Colorado Beer Beat, a bi-weekly roundup of all of the new can releases around the state. From Denver to Grand Junction and everywhere in between, we have you covered. Be sure to check back on Thursdays (usually!) to find out what’s new in the Colorado beer scene.

Now that college football has returned, there are a lot of new Colorado fans all of a sudden… That can’t be everyone jumping on the Deion bandwagon, can it? Oh, it definitely can! But, while you’re here trying to find out more ways to make yourself seem like you’ve been a fan for years, take a look at what you’ve been missing out on in the Colorado beer industry.

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Energy City Brewing | Bistro Grande Pumpkin Cheesecake

With innovation and experimentation at the forefront, Energy City Brewing in Batavia, Ill. has something new brewing every week. Without an operating taproom and in the middle of a still-surging pandemic, they have still found a way to keep the sophisticated beer drinkers’ attention and stay relevant in times of uncertainty. While their mainstay offerings continue to be popular around the Chicagoland area, their one-off offerings, available only for curbside pick-up at the brewery, are the main attraction, drawing people all the way from Chicago to make the long drive two counties over for a chance to get their hands on this week’s concoction.

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Half Moon Bay Brewing Co. | Pumpkin Harvest Ale

Some of my favorite Fall things are the leaves changing colors, pumpkin spiced foods and beverages everywhere, cooler weather, and of course pumpkin beers! Half Moon Bay Brewing Co brews up their Pumpkin Harvest Ale seasonally to delight the taste buds. Read More

Homebrewing | Death to Pumpkin Beers Recipe

I know right now you’ve read the title and instantly assumed I am counter to everything that is right in the world. You are all chanting your fall mantras, “the spice expands consciousness, the spice is life and who controls the spice controls fall.” But I for one cannot take any more overly sweet, acrid, or overly spiced pumpkin beers. I think the problem is the gourd itself. Pumpkin, at least to the brewing process, primarily bring nothing but starches and very minor sweetness to the party. This inherently pushes the spices to the front and leaves nothing but the harsh wash of cinnamon on the palette. Enter the contender! Apple brings much more than pumpkin in the way of sweetness aroma, fall character, and a lasting drinkability that fits not just for early fall but all the way through Thanksgiving and into early December. A balanced apple pie presence to amplify an amber caramel and malt forward beer style is a match made in heaven. Read More

Cloudburst Brewing | Remember the Maine Smoked Pumpkin Porter

ABV: 5.1%

As our own writers have demonstrated, pumpkin beers can be a divisive topic. But despite the controversy attached to this particular category of beer, West Seattle’s beloved beer bar and bottle shop The Beer Junction has devoted an entire week to celebrating this type of beverage with an event titled Pumpkin Junction 2016. This event features 30 taps devoted solely to pumpkin beers and ciders for eight straight days (Oct. 15-23). I attended the Pumpkin Junction on opening day and chose Cloudburst Brewing’s Remember the Maine Smoked Pumpkin Porter as my inaugural pumpkin beer for the season. The Beer Junction’s promise of pumpkin did not disappoint.

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The Best Pumpkin Beers of 2016

Featured image courtesy of: Adam Barhan (Flickr)

Ah, pumpkin; such a polarizing flavor. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, pumpkin beers are rearing their squashy, spicy heads for fall – but not all are created equal. From mildly-flavored to spice bombs, and from drinkable to over-the-top boozy, we’ve found a pumpkin-laced brew for almost everyone in this diverse list of the best pumpkin beers of 2016! Read More

Repent Pumpkin Beer Sinners, The Path to Atonement

Every year, more and more sinners are born.

They are conceived in the darkest part of hell, raised by the devil himself, and born into our world loving that which is most foul: Pumpkin Beer.

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Literary Beer Collection | Halloween Edition

I am excited to bring you a second edition of the Literary Beers series. Can we call it a series now that there is more than one? Meh, who is counting… I lost count long ago.

This edition of Literary Beers will focus on stories/brews that are centered around Halloween.  I have scoured retail shelves and library catalogs to find you the most intriguing and haunting of literary brewing collaborations. So, light a candle and grab a pumpkin ale because this is about to get real!

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The Ultimate 6er | Trick R Treat!

Halloween is my favorite holiday. Something about the crisp fall air and the leaves changing colors has always pulled at my heart strings. Growing up in Colorado, we would always wait for the 31st of October and crossing our fingers that it wouldn’t snow so you didn’t have to wear a coat under your costume. Fast-forward a bunch of years and the holiday still has me twisted. I look forward to picking out my costume, planning on which parties I can attend and planning my must-try beers to go along with my favorite Halloween movies. My favorite Halloween movie is without a doubt, Trick R Treat. The one from 2007 and not the 80’s one. Sure, the 80’s film is great for all of its metal mischief but it can’t hold a candle-in-a-jack-o-lantern to the Samhain anthology of stories that intertwine and enthrall you into following all of the Halloween rules!

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Ultimate 6er | Awesome Autumn Ales

For those who love a crisp, cold ale to accompany the newly arriving autumn weather, this six pack was built for you.

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Dogfish Head Brewery | Punkin Ale

ABV: 7.0% | IBU: 28

Pumpkin beers: love them or hate them, they seem to be one of the most contested beer styles out there. Even at this year’s GABF no pumpkin beer scored high enough in the judging to take home a gold medal, only silver and bronze were awarded this year*. While I do admit, I am quite the sucker for a pumpkin beer and each year when they start rolling out on store shelves I pick up an assortment to try, one pumpkin beer staple in my fridge each October is Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales’ Punkin Ale.

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PorchDrinking Playlist | Pumpkin!!!

Gracing us with its presence (at last!) the season of pumpkin-flavored-everything is upon us. Within the realm of beer, pumpkin is not making its debut this year, but rather confirming its foundational role in brew-making by marking a record high in pumpkin craft. This week, we curated a pumpkin-ale-consumption-worthy playlist, perfect for nascent fall.

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Colorado’s Pumpkin Beer Season Release

Whether you like it or not, summer is coming to an end in Colorado. You can feel the impending change of season in the cool breeze, and may even … Read More

Alltech Brewing | Kentucky Pumpkin Barrel Ale

This post originally appeared on December 5, 2013

Kentucky Ale

ABV 10%

Can we all just enter into a covenant together? Don’t worry I’m not just making an obscure quote reference from the movie Yes Man, though kudos if you picked that up. I really do want us to come together on this one and curtail the growing trend of releasing pumpkin beers so damn early in the year. Read More

Avery Brewing Company | Rumpkin

In honor of Halloween, we revisit one of our favorite Pumpkin beers on the market, a doozy cuz it’s boozy, Avery’s Rumpkin.

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Schlafly | Pumpkin Ale

ABV: 8.0% | IBU: 16

Pumpkin beers have been a contentious issue on PorchDrinking over the past six weeks. Opinions certainly differ on the propriety of drinking pumpkin beer in August, but since we’re well into October, I hope I’m not in the minority in calling pumpkin beer season officially open for business. They’re not for everyone, these pumpkin beers. They tend to offend the Reinheitsgebot in nearly every way possible. Not only do they have adulterating spices such as nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves, but they’re usually chock full of “pumpkin”. Read More

Greenport Harbor Brewing | Leaf Pile Ale

ABV: 5.2%

If there is one thing I absolutely need so that I cheerfully adjust to the seasonal transition of Fall, it would have to be pumpkin. Nothing says comfort like an over-sized sweater, multicolored horizon, warm fireplace, and a tall pint.  Read More

Saint Arnold Brewing | Pumpkinator

Saint Arnold – Pumpkinator 2013
ABV: 10%
IBU: ??

The machines rose from the ashes of the nuclear fire. Their war to exterminate mankind has raged for decades, but the final battle would not be fought in the future. It would be fought here, in our present. Tonight. In this tulip glass! Saint Arnold’s distribution footprint just hit the Colorado Market and one of the heavy hitter’s first out to attack the taste buds is their imperial pumpkin ale, Pumpkinator.

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Porch Swing Editorials | Pumpkin Beers Arms Race

We built this site based on the premise that positivity is the best way to promote the craft beer industry. However, I also feel it is our responsibility to constructively address some of the alarming issues, trends, or behaviors within the craft beer community. This recurring post won’t always take a negative stance on things, but rather I’d like for this to help start the conversation, and I’d love to hear your views in the comments section below. So have a seat with me on the Porch Swing and lets dive into some of the bigger ideas swirling around the craft beer world at the moment. Read More

Weekly Growler Fill | National Beer News Roundup

August 2014 is coming to an end and it’s going out with a bang. This month, we have seen the arrival of pumpkin beers, sinkholes decided to become cool, and hopsicles exist. It sounds like some sort of strange craft beer dream, doesn’t it? Well, believe it, people! This ain’t no dream – it’s real life beer news and it’s coming at ya in this edition of the Weekly Growler Fill.

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