BeerMike : The Elusive Pumpkin Beer

Whilst on my rounds at the St Albans Beer & Cider Festival last month, I noticed two Pumpkin Beers on tap, these included the likes of Pumped Up (4.2%) by New River Brewery and Pilgrim (5%) by Abbeydale Brewery respectively. Until recently I’ve never heard of Pumpkin Beer, indeed it is seldom known in the UK and only a handful of Breweries in this country have released their own take on the beer style. The reason for their lack of popularity, as the appropriately named blogger Pumpkin Pie notes “the trouble is though, they can be hard to find. Particularly in the UK. And there are two key reasons for this, the first of which is ‘demand’. Surprisingly (or perhaps not) we’re yet to really fall in love with pumpkin flavoured products on this side of the water.”[1] Indeed, Pumpkin themed products are rife in the US from soft drinks, toys and hand soaps, along with the hyper-commercialisation of Halloween which helps further their popularity. Moreover “the second factor is the pumpkins themselves. Pumpkins are harvested once a year and take a long time to grow. This means that there is a small window in which to harvest them and make beer.” [1] Pumpkin production in the UK, pales in comparison to the US, which makes it much harder for brewers to source Pumpkins in the first place, hence the scarcity of Pumpkin Beers. To understand more about this elusive beer style, we need to look into its background and how it is produced.

During the 17^thand 18^th centuries, as colonists from the UK emigrated to the Americas, they also brought over the demand for brewing beer. However, with the lack of barley cultivation at the time, this made things difficult for the new settlers. Beer Sapiens note “during the first years of colonization, it was not easy to get quality ingredients to make beer, either due to scarcity or high cost. For this reason, settlers began to use alternatives as a source of fermentable sugars.”[2] The use of Pumpkins in brewing as Colleen Graham states “the original brew of pumpkins, molasses, bran, and corn malt was brewed by American colonists who couldn't afford imports from Europe.”[3] The earliest recorded example of Pumpkin Beer dates from 1771, when the American Philosophical Society published a recipe for Pompion Ale. As Horst Dornbusch notes “it was made only from pumpkin juice and, unlike modern pumpkin ale recipes, does not call for any addition of cereal malts. It is thus more a recipe for a pumpkin wine than for a pumpkin beer.”[4] Pumpkin was a substitute for malt, spices were also used with this beverage such as cinnamon, cloves or ginger. It was also seen as a health tonic, highly recommended by doctors; and it was often mixed in cocktail with Rum and brown sugar. However its use an alternative to malt in brewing soon declined and the use of Pumpkin in brewing all but disappeared, as Beer Sapiens adds “despite becoming a staple throughout the 18th century, its popularity began to wane in the early 19th century with increased access to quality malts and the use of pumpkin in brewing became rustic and unremarkable.” [5] Ironically the rise of the American brewing industry and the establishment of commercial cultivation of barley led to the demise of Pumpkin Beer. However, all was not lost, in 1986 just as the craft beer movement was gathering pace in the US, a brewery based in California called Buffalo Bill released a beer called Pumpkin Ale (6%). Made from real organic Pumpkin and spices such as Cinnamon, Clove and Nutmeg, it was an Amber style beer replete with the flavourings of a Pumpkin Pie. This curious brew soon gained a popular following, and soon other breweries across the States subsequently brewed and released their own Pumpkin Beers. Today, it has become a popular beer style, indeed dozens of breweries across the country, including the majors like Brooklyn, Shipyard and New Moon release their own Pumpkin Beers on a seasonal basis between September – November, conveniently targeting the Halloween period for maximum commercial potential. Moreover, they have even featured in beer festivals such as the Great American Beer Festival which now has a seperate category for Pumpkin Beers.

The brewing of Pumpkin Beer is not as straightforward as it sounds, and has often been misinterpreted as Pumpkin Ales on occasion. Indeed, “the name Pumpkin Ale does not identify an actual beer style, but rather a characteristic of some beers. In other words, pumpkins can be added to very different beer styles”[6] Birra Balladin notes. Although traditionally used in amber ales, it can also be used in Stouts, Porters, IPA, Barrel Aged Strong Ale, Belgian style Ales and even Shandy to name a few, so as an ingredient it is quite adaptable. The production of Pumpkin Beer, falls into two different methods; the beer can be made from pressed or pureed Pumpkins, however this process is difficult to achieve as Grainfather states “Pumpkin is very subtle so being able to get the flavour is difficult and if you’re using fresh pumpkin you will require a lot (at least 2kg or 4lbs in 23 litres).”[7] There are various ways of extracting Pumpkin as Colleen Graham notes “all pumpkin beers get their flavor through the introduction of adjuncts, though each brewer has their own approach. Some include real pumpkin, roasted or as a purée, in the brewing process, while others don't use any pumpkin.” [3] Sometimes, brewers prefer to use spices instead in order to replicate the flavour of Pumpkin, from a combination of ingredients that you would more commonly find in a Pumpkin Pie, that include Allspice, Nutmeg, Vanilla, Cloves and Cinnamon. It also been the case that brewers have used a combination of genuine Pumpkins and spices when brewing Pumpkin Beers. As an adjunct, Birra Baladin mentions “generally speaking, pumpkins enhance the beer dryness, but they also give a gentle sugary feel at the end of the sip.” [6] Depending on how the beer is brewed, Pumpkins can either have a distinct influence on the flavour and aroma profiles, or merely add a delicate adjunct to the other ingredients of the brew. With the example of Pumped Up (4.2%), as SIBA notes the brewers roast and caramelise Atlantic Giant Pumpkins before adding it to the brew with a blend of spices.

Despite being popular in the states, Pumpkin Beers have been slow to jump across the pond to the UK. One of the earliest breweries to capitalise on this style was Brewdog, who released Pumpkin King (5.4%) back in 2014. It was made in the traditional way, with Pumpkin Puree and spices including Grains of Paradise, Star Anise, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Allspice, Ginger and Clove. It has been described by their publicity department as having aromas of Autumn favourites like toasted marshmallow and toffee apple. One review described it as “on opening the 330ml bottle I could smell the spices from the pumpkin and zesty hops, as well as the sweet smell of caramel malt. At 5.5% volume this golden brown ale is a taste explosion and not for the faint hearted.”[8] Subsequent, a slew of other breweries across the UK took to producing their own Pumpkin Beers, including long established brewers such as Spiced Pumpkin Ale (4.2%) – Arkells, Pumpkin Ale (4.5%) – Everards and Headless Horseman (4.2%) – Hambleton. The soon to be defunct Wynchwood Brewery in Witney, were well know for their brand of beers known as Hobgoblin, so it came to no surprise when they produced their own take on this beer style known as Pumpking (3.8%), this seasonal beer as Jibber Jabber notes “is actually brewed with pumpkin plus some warming spices. The ruby coloured ale also has hints of toffee and dried fruit for the perfect October drink.”[9] Although more amber in colour than described here, this beer was widely available until recently, although with the impending closure of the brewery, this popular beer will sadly join the graveyard of former beers. On the whole, most Pumpkin Beers are hard to find in the UK and a good majority are brewed by independent craft brewers who have had a more limited commercial radius than the major national brewers. These elusive beers are often sold in canned form and can be found in the occasional bottle shop or craft beer pub if you look hard enough, and although these beers tend to be amber ales of varying strength, occasionally you may find something that bucks that trend such as Carve Ye Yams (5.2%) by Elusive Brewing, a sweet porter laced with the combination of Pumpkin puree with Pumpkin Pie spices that helps invigorate the coffee notes through the use of Hasbean coffee beans. Although the kaleidoscope of flavours left some confused with one reviewer noting “it has a rich dark chocolate malt flavour to begin with, merging with roasted coffee and all the spices of nutmeg, and fiery cinnamon and ginger, and a touch of cloves. What I couldn't note strongly in the flavour was the pumpkin.”[10] Sometimes putting too many flavours into a beer, can overtake the subtleness of Pumpkin.

For the foreseeable future the appeal of Pumpkin Beer seems to be limited in this country. For many connoisseurs and real ale enthusiasts they will see it as another gimmicky marketing ploy to promote Halloween Beers, and in some ways, they are right as some brewers do clearly take advantage of the Halloween festival to promote themed beers. Other argue that Pumpkin Beer should held in more regard, indeed The Three Drinkers argue “some traditionalists see it as a tacky gimmick, but in fact fruit ‘n’ veg have been used in beer making for centuries, as a relatively cheap way to add sugar or natural flavour.”[11] Equally seen as a fruit or spiced beer, when done right Pumpkin can work very well with beer as a flavouring. So does Pumpkin Beer has a future as a potential popular beer style in this country, unfortunately the writing on the wall doesn’t look good, and it seems that it will remain consigned to the growing list of seasonal ales that occasionally appear on the market, but ultimately never gain traction.