Pumpkin beers are an acquired taste, but if you love them, you really love them. And while I'd say they are good for cooler temperatures, local breweries are rolling them out all month, regardless of the weather (see our guide to beer and weather).
Here are a few pumpkin brews already on tap and a few releases to come, including a double bill Wednesday night in Boulder from both Avery and Upslope:
Wynkoop Brewing, Denver, tapped its Drunken Pumpkin last week. "It's a malty amber ale made with a couple hundred pounds of fresh, pureed and flaked pumpkin, then spiced with trad pumpkin-pie spices. The beer is about 8 percent ABV. It's really gourd," the Wynkoop says.Crabtree Brewing in Greeley is serving its Chunkin' Pumpkin.
October 13, 6 p.m. Avery Tap Room, Boulder Rumpkin Barrel-Aged Imperial Pumpkin Ale It's 13.2 percent ABV! "Imperial Pumpkin Ale brewed with pumpkin puree and a blend of five spices. Aged in extremely fresh Gosling's Rum barrels for six months. Consume early and often, preferably with a pumpkin pie and/or s'mores."
October 13 Upslope Brewing, Boulder Pumpkin Ale "Brewed using locally grown organic pumpkins from Munson Farms Boulder and seven different organic spices from Savory, this 7.3 percent pumpkin ale is perfect for the new season."
October 15, 3 p.m. Dry Dock Brewing, Aurora Cask-conditioned Pumpkin Ale Dry Dock's weekly Firkin Friday will involve a 280-pound pumpkin. "What better vessel to serve our Pumpkin Ale out of than a GIANT pumpkin! We can't even fit this through the taphouse door! Tipping the scales at over 280 lbs., we'll have this in the brewhouse on the forklift with our Pumpkin Ale in it," the brewery says.
October 22, 5 p.m. Trinity Brewing, Colorado Springs Emma's Coffin Pumpkin Saison This farmhouse-style beer was "brewed with brown sugar, garam masala, torch roasted Vennetucci Farm sugar pumpkin, white sage, coriander, and grains of paradise. This version of our seasonally rotating saison tastes like liquid pumpkin pie...If you were in Belgium, that is! 10.5 percent ABV."
October 26, 5 p.m. Bristol Brewing, Colorado Springs Venetucci Pumpkin Ale This deep-red ale, at 5.7 percent ABV, is dedicated to Nick and Bambi Venetucci, who ran their family farm for six decades, giving away "literally millions of pumpkins to school children all across the Springs. Just before he died, Nick made plans to donate the farm to the Pikes Peak Community Foundation, that it might be preserved forever as a rich community resource. And, yes, so that hundreds of children wouldn't go empty-handed each fall. The Venetuccis taught us to give back. That's why 100 percent of the profits from this beer will go to support their farm."
October 28, 5 p.m. Euclid Hall Avery Rumpkin tapping Euclid Hall will break into a keg of Rumpkin, its rum-barrel-aged Imperial Pumpkin Ale, which checks in at a huge 13.2 percent alcohol by volume and an equally large cost of $14 for an eight-ounce glass.
October 30, 5 p.m. Bull & Bush, Denver Pig and Pumpkin Beer Tasting, 5 p.m. The Bull & Bush is serving up its own pumpkin beer, Ghoul Fuel, along with a lineup of more than twenty rare or tasty pumpkin brews from around the world (see the list below). The beers will be "paired up with various pork products and dishes" like sausage and prosciutto. Sample beer tickets are $1 each, and the swine is free. Best pumpkin-theme costume and best piggy-theme costume get a free growler of Ghoul Fuel.
October 31 Vine Street Pub in Denver; Mountain Sun and Southern Sun in Boulder Belgian Pumpkin Ale The two Boulder locations will tap their Belgian-style pumpkin ale on Saturday, October 30, while the Vine Street Pub will dig in on Halloween itself. The beer was brewed with more than one hundred pounds of fresh pie pumpkins and a blend of six spices from Savory Spice.
Bull & Bush beers
Bull & Bush Brewery Denver, Colorado Ghoul Fuel 2010
The Bruery Orange County, California Autumn Maple
Boston Beer Company Cincinnati, Ohio Octoberfest Harvest Pumpkin Ale
Buffalo Bill's Brewery Brewed by Pyramid Brewing Co. Pumpkin Ale
Dogfish Head Milton, Delaware Punkin Ale
Four + Brewing Company Salt Lake City, Utah Punk'n
Jolly Pumpkin Artisian Ales Dexter, Michigan Fuego del Otono (Autumn Fire)
Lakefront Brewery, Inc. Milwaukee, Wisconsin Pumpkin Lager Beer
The Lost Abbey San Marcos, California Inferno Ale Witch's Wit
Michelob Brewing Co. St. Louis, Missouri Jack's Pumpkin Spice Ale
New Belgium Brewing Ft. Collins, Colorado Hoptober
Saranac Utica, New York Pumpkin Ale
Shipyard Brewing Co. Portland, Maine Pumpkinhead Smashed Pumpkin
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Chico, California Tumbler, Autumn Brown Ale
Woodchuck Cidery Middlebury, Vermont Private Reserve Pumpkin Cider
Wychwood Brewery Oxfordshire, England Hobgoblin Dark English Ale
