Despite now being the time to harvest pumpkins for fresh incorporation into a warming autumn seasonal, pumpkin beers have been on the market for quite a few weeks now. Three years ago I set out to acquire and taste every pumpkin beer brewed in BC; there were only four. I set out to do the same this year, but found a freaking whole lot of pumpkin beers being brewed in or available in BC this year. I did my best to acquire them all, fully intending to review and rank them all for you, my dearest readers. Sadly, I failed spectacularly.
We, the wife, some friends, and I, set out to taste these pumpkin beers in succession. We even prepared a pumpkin themed dinner to accompany our tasting. And while the pumpkin mash, pumpkin soup, salad with pumpkin seeds, and pumpkin creme brule were all a treat, we quickly tired of pumpkin beer. You see, we can’t waste any but the worst beer and these pumpkin beers were mostly in 650ml bombers. After four rounds of pumpkin…what, fresh hops you say? Turns out, pumpkin beers can be very good, but they aren’t exactly session-able for the majority of people. Yeah, so here’s a list of all the pumpkin beers I found. More importantly, make sure you eat roasted kabocha (Japanese pumpkin) as soon as possible. It’s ridiculously good.
These are kabochas
BC Pumpkin Beers:
- Cannery Brewing Knucklehead Pumpkin Ale
- Granville Island Pumpkin Ale
- Tree Jumpin Jack Pumpkin Ale
- Steamworks Great Pumpkin Ale
- Howe Sound Pumpkineater
- Lighthouse Pumpkin Ale
- Phillips Crooked Tooth
- Central City Red Racer Pumpkin Ale
- Parallel 49 Schadenfreude
- Parallel 49 Lost Souls
- Fernie Pumpkin Head
- Swans Pumpkin Ale
Other Pumpkin Beers available in BC:
- Elysian Night Owl
- Elysian The Great Pumpkin Ale
- Elysian Dark O’ the Moon Pumpkin Stout
- Brooklyn Post Road Pumpkin Ale
- St. Ambroise Citrouille
- Pike Harlot’s Harvest
You should be able to find a lot of these at BC Liquor stores and many of the better beer stores. You’re liable to find other pumpkin beer one offs at brewpubs, tap rooms, and cask events around town, so keep an eye out. Did I miss anything? Also, for the record, I remember being particularly partial to Elysian Pumpkin Stout, Howe Sound, Red Racer, and Lost Souls.
Cheers,
Chris