Gourds continue their ceaseless march into every inch of our autumn lives. That means pumpkin beers keep on piling up. Here are this year's 5 most popular.
1. Southern Tier Pumking
No surprises here—the OG pumpkin beer remains atop the list by a pretty healthy margin. For those within a certain age bracket, it was almost certainly the first gourded beer they ever tasted. Spicy, warming, and 8.6%, it really is pretty tasty for a leaf-crunching fall beverage.
2. Schlafly Pumpkin Ale
Another long standing, widely distributed beer that's historically been a regular atop this list. Those with St. Louis ties (we know a few) won't be caught dead with any other pumpkin beer.
3. Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale
A beer coming from beautiful Portland, Maine. Shipyard says a "proper pint" of the beer is served with a cinnamon sugar rim. Knee jerk reaction from us: "no way."
But hey, you're already drinking a light pumpkin beer, so you might as well follow the brewery's orders (and also add that shot of spiced rum for accompaniment)!
4. Elysian Night Owl Pumpkin Ale
Elysian, popularly known for their Space Dust, was an early craft brand coming out of Seattle.
A couple years back they sold to AB-InBev, thus increasing their distribution footprint and bringing more of their Pumpkin Ale to the people. Given the data, the people still want it, despite the sale.
5. Downeast Pumpkin Blend
Well, now.
Never before has a cider ranked so high in our pumpkin beer rankings. This one's made with apples, pumpkins and chai tea spices from Downeast's neighbors in Massachusetts, MEMtea. As Downeast says, it "helps the end of summer suck a little less."