2015 Pumpkin Beer Tasting: Seattle Cider Knocks Eylsian Out of First

Well folks, I think 2015 was finally the year that we reached Maximum Pumpkin Beer.

At this year's 4th Annual Pumpkin Beer Tasting, our group of 25 tasted 31 different pumpkin beers and ciders. That's roughly the equivalent of 13 growlers or 3/5th of a keg. In layman's terms: a shit ton

In addition to adding 7 more beers to our lineup (read about our 2014 list here), we also switched things up a bit by going with a Dia de Los Muertos theme. I really wish we had some extra time to pick up some sugar skulls to really complete the look, but the food and decor came together pretty nicely otherwise.

Menu

• Chips with Guacamole, Pico de Gallo, and Pumpkin Seed Salsa
• Pork and Chicken Tamales (from Rose City Taqueria)
• Chicken Mole Tortas
• Pan Dulce (thanks, Ally!)
• Dulce de Leche Brownies

Decor

• Day of the Dead clip art from Creative Market
• Tasting cups with skull stickers from Target
• Wooden skeleton from Cost Plus
• Dia de Los Muertos plates and napkins from Michael's 

As for this year's pumpkin beer winners, Eylsian still managed to keep a few beers in the Top 5, but we did see two new breweries make it into the winner's circle. The trend here, with the exception of Eylsian's Night Owl, is that all our winning beers (and the cider) were something different than just your typical over-spiced, too-sweet pumpkin beer. Take note, brewers!

Top 5: 

#1 Seattle Cider Pumpkin Spice Cider (Seattle, WA)

This cider is up from 4th place last year and even though it's not technically a pumpkin beer, we're okay with it taking first place because it really is delicious. This cider is fermented with cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves, giving it a delicious, subtle pumpkin-pie vibe.

#2 Pfriem Pumpkin Bier (Hood River, OR) 

This pumpkin beer was new to the line-up this year and I can find almost nothing about it online except for that most people who have tried it agree that it's a Belgian and it's not your typical pumpkin ale. I think our crew liked this one so much because it tasted the most like a normal beer, aka no overwhelming spices or sweetness.

#3 Elysian Night Owl Pumpkin Ale (Seattle, WA)

Night Owl dropped down one spot from its #2 finish last year, but as this beer has always made it into our top three, it think it's safe to say that Night Owl epitomizes what a pumpkin beer should be. It's brewed with 7.5 pounds of pumpkin per barrel and spiced in conditioning with ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice.

#4 New Belgium Pumpkick Spiced Seasonal Ale (Fort George, CO)

This beer was also new to our tasting this year and stands out due to the "kick" of cranberry juice and lemon juice that New Belgium adds to its traditionally spiced ale.

#5 Elysian Punkuccino Coffee Pumpkin Ale (Seattle, WA)

Punkuccio fell from its #1 spot last year, but still finished strong in 5th place. This ale is made with Stumptown coffee plus cinnamon and nutmeg and while it was the darkest beer we tried, it's very balanced compared to most of the other pumpkin ales.

And the rest:

#6 Elysian Great Pumpkin

#7 O'Fallon Pumpkin Beer

#8 Fort George Drunkin Pumpkin

#9 Ace Pumpkin Cider

#10 Kennebunkport Pumpkin Ale

#11 Stormbreaker Pumpkin Pedaler

#12 Blue Moon         

#13 Rogue Pumpkin Patch

#14Two Beers Pumpkin Spice

#15 Laurelwood Pumpkin Ale

#16 Unita Punk'n

#17 Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Harvest Ale

#18 Southern Tier Pumking

#19 Indian Wells Spicy Pumpkin Ale

#20 Oakshire Big Black Jack

#21 Alaska  

#22 Southern Tier Warlock

#23 Anderson Valley Fall Hornin

#24 Ninkasi Pumpkin Sleigh'r

#25 Coronado Punk'In Drublic

#26 Buffalo Bills        

#27 Cisco Pumple Drumkin

#28 Banks Pumpkin Ale

#29 Anderson Valley Pinchy Jeek Barl

#30 Burnside The Dapper Skeleton

#31 Elysian Dark o the Moon

Beer Tour in Fort Collins: New Belgium, Big Beaver, Odell, Funkwerks, and Mayor of Old Town

A few weekends ago, Doug and I flew to Denver to visit Leslie and Ian in Fort Collins. Originally, we had planned to attend the Great American Beer Festival with them in Denver, but when tickets sold out within a matter of minutes, we had to let go of that part of the plan. It actually turned just fine in the end because during our two days in Fort Collins and two days in Denver, we somehow managed to sample 76 different beers between the four of us. Yeah. That's a lot beer.

Let's recap Fort Collins. Denver to follow!  

Day 1 in Fort Collins: 

1) Hike Horsetooth Mountain

2) Beer Tour at New Belgium Brewing

Doug and I agreed that this is one of the best beer tours we've ever been on. The tour was free, our tour guide was incredibly entertaining and knowledgeable (Warm your sour glass with your hands before drinking! Beer should be aerated too- enjoy that foam!), and we got to sample five different beers over the course of the tour, including the rare La Folie, a sour brown ale.


Favorite Beers:  La Folie, Cocoa Mole Ale, Tart Lychee, and Shift. 

3) Burgers and beers for dinner at Choice City. 

This deli/restaurant had a great selection of local beers and their hamburgers were really tasty. Doug's Choice City burger was the clear winner. Its made with a patty of bacon, irish chedder and buffalo all ground together and then topped with grilled balsamic onions and red pepper aoili. So good! 

Day 2 in Fort Collins:

1) Brunch at Snooze

Let's be clear: Ft. Collins and Denver are not foodie-friendly cities. I have never seen so many chain restaurants in one place in my life. Even Snooze is a local chain. But it was pretty good so Doug and I decided to be ok with that.

2) Beer Tasting at Big Beaver Brewing Co.

Big Beaver is obviously aiming to scandalize with their beer names (Black Curly's- really?) and their beer widely varied in terms of quality, but we certainly appreciated their generosity. Free samplers for CU students, Free Pint Fridays, and $1 pint specials. Definitely down for that. 

Favorite Beers: Whiskey Dick Stout and Bust-A-Nut Brown
Avoid!:  Sweet-n-Sour Booty and Wonder Wiener Wheat

3) Beer Tasting at Odell Brewing Company

Every single beer we tried at Odell was good, if not excellent. No joke. This is Doug's new Official Favorite Brewery, so that's a pretty big deal. The only sad thing is that Odell is not yet available in Oregon. Boo. Hoping it gets here soon!

Favorite Beers: St. Lupulin, IPA, Cutthroat Porter, and Isolation Ale

4) Beer Tasting at Funkwerks

Funkwerks is a saison-focused brewery, so not really my thing. Doug thought their beer was interesting, but was a bit average following the amazing beers we had at Odell. But Funkwerks did win Best Small Brewing Company and Best Saison at the Great American Beer Festival this year so maybe don't listen to us?

5) More Beer at Mayor of Old Town


Mayor of Old Town has over 100 local beers on tap. It was a great stop because we were able to sample some beers from local breweries that we weren't able to make it to like Longmont's Left Hand, Boulder's Avery, and Loveland's Grimm Brothers.

Our trip to Ft. Collins also included some quality time spent with this little lady:

June is such a cutie-pie!

Stay-tuned for a recap of the Denver leg of our trip including: Doug is too hungover to drink more beer, Leslie & Ian's first sake bombs, and "rocky mountain oyster" stout.