Bumped because of the other thread, and the fact that this is the first thread I've started that's lasted more than 5 posts.

With fall quickly approaching, the question must be asked: What is your favorite pumpkin ale?

Boston Beer Works makes a great one; I haven't tried the Dogfish or Cambridge Brewing Company ones yet, but I've heard good things.

Anyone else?

Heh, I posted this in the other thread but it's worth repeating: Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin Ale. It's always easy to find around here in the fall.

I tried every pumpkin beer they had at GABF and the only one that was better was Great Pumpkin from Elysian Brewing Co. in Seattle. Unfortunately, they don't sell it around here -- I'm not sure if they have it anywhere else. It's only a tiny bit better than Buffalo Bill's, so not a big deal.

I had the Red Hook Autumn beer not too long ago, and I enjoyed it. I didn't notice a huge "pumpkin" taste to it, but I still liked it. Mr. Lil' Hannah has been drinking Sam Adams Oktoberfest lately, and he said they both taste a lot alike.

It's getting cold, homeys - you know what that means . . . time to bust out the higher-gravity beers. Porters and Stouts for everyone!

For those of you just starting on darker beers, here's a solid choice for growing into good beers: Grant's Perfect Porter. Complex, with some chocolate and coffee overtones, but mild enough to appeal to a casual drinker. Knock it back.

http://www.liquidsolutions.biz/produ...orter-12oz.gif


Personally, I don't enjoy the explicitly 'pumpkin' brews - however, the Buffalo Bill's is by far the most popular, and gets rave reviews even from casual drinkers. It's definitely something most people will only want about once a year, but it's worth a shot. Many Oktoberfest-style bocks will have vague undertones of pumpkin and spice, as well.

Also, I should mention chile beer. It's really good. Wynkoop (Denver) and Tommyknockers (Idaho Springs) make great ones, although I haven't had chile beer anywhere else. If you can find it, try it.

I don't know where I've been in all of this...but I'm here now.

Spent last Saturday night drinking Anchor Steam on Tap...have absolutely loved this beer since I first tried it. Hoppy enough to satisfy my love of hops, but balanced enough to avoid the pine needle taste after 5 or 6. On tap it was a little bit more mellow than in the bottles, which I liked, the full range of flavors was easier to pick up.

I went to the 2004 Great American Beer Fest in Denver, as I won trip through Old Chicago when I worked there. It was awesome!!! So much fun and so much amazing beer.

I've come to appreciate Sam Adams more in the last 3 months (since I'm still trying to find a liquor store with wide selection and good prices in Omaha...I miss Lincoln where I knew where to go :( )

Other than that, my favorite session beer is Buffalo Gold by Rockies Brewing out of Boulder CO. I also like their Never Summer Ale as a winter seasonal.

As for Fat Tire, I think the quality of it has dropped off some as New Belgium has expanded. I do like the Blue Paddle Pilsner as an alternative to Miller Lite, and the 1554 is very interesting and tasty. Amazing on tap if you can get it.

Finally I'd be remiss without mentioning Kansas City's own Boulevard. The Unfiltered Wheat is a the perfect beer for getting bud light drinkers turned on to craft brew. Great starting place, better without the lemon. Their Pale Ale is tasty, and the Bully!Porter is good too.

Ah yes, porters and stouts, my favorite beers. Some of my favorites:

Rogue Chocolate Stout
Arrogant Bastard
Sam Smith Taddy Porter
Fuller's London Porter

I know there are a few more, but work has clouded my memory a bit. I'll get back to this later.

Hacker Pschorr. Anyone else ever had this?

I've drank a shit ton of Hacker . . . the HefeWeizen is top tier, the Dark Weiss solid but not nearly as good.

Hacker's Hefe is superb - it has that thick quality, and that little bit of semi-banana flavor on the backside, all signs of a great Hefe. Hacker Pschorr is also (technically) the oldest brewery in Munich, so you can spout off some additional beer cred with it.

Best beer ever:

http://nonameradio.com/content/images/uploads/pabst.jpg

hmmmm... I could expect that from another poster ;) But to claim it's the best beer ever indicates either insanity - or more likely a "over-indulgence" in a certain un-named brand :D

Maybe not the best beer ever, but it's a damn good beer. I'd make the case that it's better than more common beers like Bud, Miller, Labatts and Molson.

I'm hoping that Sam Adams ends up making their Boston 375 Colonial Ale available in liquor stores.

Sure, best beer ever is a stretch but it was damn good for the price in college:D

Last night I had a pint of Jack's Pumpkin Spice Ale which is Anheuser-Busch's attempt to run with the Sam Adams and Pete's Wickeds of the world...apparently they're going to market a seasonal draught throughout 2005-2006, and this was the first one. It was actually pretty good, however I'm not sure if I could have enjoyed more than one pint of it. Their press release says its target consumers are "contemporary adult Males 28- 54" and while I am none of those things, I still liked it.

That's interesting; I guess it was a move they had to make at some point, but I can't imagine them putting out a good seasonal draft. I'll have to see if I can find it around here and give it a try.

One of the things that Sam Adams has going for it is Jim Koch, the company's founder. When you listen to him in interviews and the such, it's obvious that he's someone that really appreciates good beer, and markets a lot of his products to those who aren't your average beer drinkers.