Hopry Special # 7 | Various Breweries | Pumpkin Beer Tasting
Like many people, fall is one of my favorite seasons. However, pumpkin beers are not one of my favorite styles of beer. Even the greats (like Southern Tier’s Pumking) don’t really do much for me in terms of drinkability and enjoyment. So this year, rather than trying to review several of these beers individually, I have decided to take the comparative approach by doing a blind tasting. It’s more fun and much more effective in sharing my thoughts on many beers at one time. So the four pumpkin beers we have today come from Dogfish Head, New Holland, O’Fallon, and Schlafly (two local and two regional beers). Having never had any of these beers before, I was anxious to see how breweries like O’Fallon and Schlafly measured up to DFH and New Holland. I will let the video speak for itself in this case, but at the end of the review I was fairly surprised at the outcome. Enjoy!
Others: Southern Tier Pumking, Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale
Check out all sessions of The Hopry here.
On the iPod: Raincoats “Lola”
Thank you for your continued support. Please tell a friend…
Posted by Leo Daly on September 16, 2010 at 4:21 AM
Great session. It raises the issue of whatever you like best is the best beer for you. So Older Viscosity is rated 100/100 on Ratebeer – I didn’t find it enjoyable and no amount of chart checking will change that. It’s like you’ve said sometime before, drink what you like.
Really enjoyed this one, Mark.
Posted by thehopry on September 16, 2010 at 8:04 AM
Awesome! Glad you liked it. And I agree 100% that you have to be completely honest with your ratings and tastes, especially if you are reviewing in the public like I am. People will call BS very fast if you’re not honest.
Posted by Steve Jesselli on September 16, 2010 at 11:07 AM
Hey Mark,
Love this session, I am huge Pumpkin beer guy and in fact im having a tasting with about 18 pumpkin beers. For my money Schlafly is my favorite, if you dont want any just send them my way lol.
Cheers!
Steve
Posted by thehopry on September 16, 2010 at 11:15 AM
Glad you like it. It was fun. I only bought two bottles of each. Just not overly excited about the style so I may give the others away here.
Posted by Steve Jesselli on September 16, 2010 at 11:55 AM
Im a fan of the style, are you a fan of winter warmers ?
Posted by beaverc32 on September 16, 2010 at 5:30 AM
Really enjoyed this session, I’ve never seen a blind tasting involving just 1 person. Very interesting idea that was well executed.
Posted by thehopry on September 16, 2010 at 8:04 AM
Thank you. It took a lot of editing (as I knew it would) to get it to around 10 minutes for YouTube. However, I was very happy with how it turned out and glad you felt the same way about it.
Posted by Dan on September 16, 2010 at 7:59 AM
Great episode, love blind tastings. Unfortunate choice of hat though….
Posted by thehopry on September 16, 2010 at 8:08 AM
LOL! I always catch flack for wearing my Cubs hat. Unfortunately, as much as I love them, they really aren’t a threat to anyone…
Posted by Amy on September 16, 2010 at 8:07 AM
Nice show! We did something similar last year, and it looks like you and John have really similar tastes.
http://www.kcworthog.com/2009/09/its-great-pumpkin-ale-kansas-city.html
I liked the dryness of the Ichabod, myself, but the tasting really showed me that there are two types of pumpkin ales: The rich, spicy, flavorful “pumpkin pie” beers (like Pumking & Schlafly’s), and the drier hopped-up-maerzen type beers. O’Fallon is by far my all-time favorite as it strikes a balance with the malt & spices.
Posted by thehopry on September 16, 2010 at 8:10 AM
Looks like he even had an issue with the Ichabod. It’s funny to go back and re-watch the session because every time I talk about # 2 I’m talking about how funky it is or that it’s puzzling me. I think I even made a mistake earlier in the session by saying it was a tie between # 2 and # 4 on aroma but I meant to say a tie between # 3 and # 4. Oh well. It was still fun and interesting to see the results. Go Schlafly I guess…
Posted by welosiped on September 16, 2010 at 9:56 AM
Nice review! Pumpkin ales seem to be difficult to do well. Personal taste plays a big role, and while I like about every pumpkin, I’m glad these beers only roll around once a year. I wasn’t a huge fan of the Pumpking (I’d put it third in your lineup overall) even though it scores well otherwise. However, of those four, I’m yet to try the Ichabod, but perhaps I won’t now. I agree with your top two, after having the Schlafly the past few years and getting some DFH Punkin for the first time this year.
Posted by thehopry on September 16, 2010 at 11:13 AM
Yeah…I wouldn’t go out of your way for the Ichabod. It was not something I’d ever drink again, which sucks because that’s a pretty good brewery. Oh well, guess they can’t do everything…
Posted by builderofcoalitions on September 16, 2010 at 10:30 AM
I was curious how this would turn out. I’ve long searched for the perfect pumpkin beer. Southern Tier’s comes closest, but it’s not good enough to make me a year-round pumpkin beer drinker. From my own experience, I’d rank them the same way. It was fun to see if I could guess which beers you placed where based on your descriptions. At some point you threw me, but I predicted the correct order in the end.
Also, “Lola” is easily the most played song in my house as it my two-year-old’s favorite. And yes, I’m talking about the Raincoats’ version.
Nice review!
Posted by thehopry on September 16, 2010 at 11:11 AM
Hahaha…very nice on the Lola piece. I actually haven’t known of that song for very long but like it a lot. Maybe I should play it for my two-year old daughters…
Posted by vinobello on September 16, 2010 at 1:24 PM
We sold out of Southern Tier’s Pumking and I was thinking about replacing it with O’fallon. Guess I will be getting Schafly instead. I read somewhere Schafly was up for sale.
Posted by thehopry on September 16, 2010 at 3:21 PM
That is true, they are. And I would definitely go with the Schlafly instead.
Posted by LaeliaPumila on September 16, 2010 at 2:24 PM
I really enjoyed the blind tasting! Please do more like this for the seasonal beers – it’s great to compare them so we know which to hunt down in the short time they’re out. Perhaps Octoberfests next?
Posted by thehopry on September 16, 2010 at 3:22 PM
Thank you – glad you enjoyed it. I will look into maybe do an Octoberfest session soon…
Posted by Big Mike on September 16, 2010 at 2:51 PM
I’ve only had a handful of pumpkin beers(not my favorite style) and the few that stood out for me were the Pumking, weyerbachers imperial pumpkin and the Smuttynose pumpkin.
Posted by thehopry on September 16, 2010 at 3:23 PM
It’s definitely a one-off style that you either like or don’t like. I think it’s like pumpkin pie itself; you either like it or you don’t. I do not like pumpkin pie at all, but I’m on the fence with the beers. Maybe that’s the booze talking…Hahahaha… Thanks Mike…
Posted by Jon on September 16, 2010 at 7:45 PM
I love pumpkin pie and I want to love pumpkin beers, but just can’t find one I really like. I am seeing this as another vote to go to Schlafly when we are in STL next week though. The wife loves pumpkin beers. Now if someone came out witha good pumpkin pie liquor….
Posted by thehopry on September 17, 2010 at 7:30 AM
Definitely go to 33 Wine Bar and International Tap House while you’re there. Also, if you get a chance, drive over the bridge to Bon Vivant Wines in Columbia, IL for some Three Floyds. Don’t think they have all their lineup but will have a couple for sure. It’s not that far out of the way either.
Posted by Drunk-Monkey on September 16, 2010 at 9:50 PM
Great call on the Schlafly! I love pumpkin beers, and Schlafly is my all time favorite. If you have a few extra bottles, I would age them for about a year. At a year the alcohol mellows and the spices really pop, especially the clove. One of the key elements of a pumpkin ale is the texture, it has to be creamy like a pumpkin pie. Thin pumpkin ales do not cut it.
Great episode!
Cheers
Posted by thehopry on September 17, 2010 at 7:31 AM
I have one other bottle so I’ll let it sit until next year. Just don’t know what I’m going to do with all this extra Ichabod…LOL!
Posted by leszczynski23 on September 17, 2010 at 8:18 AM
I bought a sixer of Ichabod…………….. It was a bad choice on my part! Now I’m tryin to choke the rest of it down. The hops or the spicing is very rough on my taste buds.
Posted by leszczynski23 on September 17, 2010 at 8:24 AM
But on a side note, I picked up a bomber bottle of New Hollands “Black Tulip Trippel” and it was amazing! Just goes to show that it is hard for a brewery to make every beer in its line up a four star brew. I love New Holland brewery, just not there Ichabod…………… also keep up the good work Mark!
Posted by thehopry on September 18, 2010 at 1:36 PM
Thank you for the note. I actually saw the Tripel yesterday and almost bought one. Opted out this time since I knew the 4-pack of Nemesis I was buying would be expensive.
Posted by builderofcoalitions on September 17, 2010 at 8:34 AM
For those looking to rid yourself of extra pumpkin beer, there are some recipes out there for pumpkin beer bread. Just Google search it or check this site: http://dcist.com/2008/09/30/eating_in_spiced_pumpkin_beer_bread.php
Posted by thehopry on September 18, 2010 at 1:35 PM
Hahaha…I’d like to say I would try this, but… Just not a pumpkin lover I guess. Thank you for sharing, though. It’s certainly a way to get rid of the beer.
Posted by theReaper16 on September 17, 2010 at 4:10 PM
Schlafly Pumpkin ale is far and away the best of the style that I’ve ever had. It is the only pumpkin beer that is a mandatory annual purchase for me.
Posted by thehopry on September 18, 2010 at 1:34 PM
Are you able to get this one now that you went south?
Posted by Jamison Moeckel on September 20, 2010 at 8:01 PM
Great review I enjoyed it! I wish I could get more the 1 of these beers but I only get Punk and honestly I did not like it very much.
Posted by KevSal on April 22, 2011 at 4:03 AM
ive actually heard ALOT about shlaflys take on pumpkin ale.
try elysian night owl. it is my all time fav pumkin ale, well soo far. i dint not like the pumpking at all.
*you should do this again with today’s spring releases. i love blind sessions.*