Over a month ago, Elysian Brewing Company sent out its Pumpkin Pack of its four core pumpkin beers, to accompany a virtual media tasting designed to get some press on the seasonal specialties as well as promote the brewery’s annual Great Pumpkin Beer Festival (which took place at the beginning of October). I drank some of the last of these from the pack on Halloween and finished them up this week, so I thought it would be a good time to share some thoughts on the pumpkin beers and some of the virtual tasting notes.

Besides, we know pumpkin beers are just as good (if not better) as Thanksgiving beers, right? Even Elysian co-owner Joe Bisacca said, “Why not Thanksgiving?” in reference to pumpkin beer season.

The virtual tasting including co-owners David Buhler and Joe Bisacca along with long-time brewer Dan Beyer.

I’ve written quite about about Elysian Brewing’s pumpkin beers (and events) over the years, so I’m not necessarily covering much new ground here, though there are some interesting tidbits I gleaned about the history behind the brewing of these four beers. But here are short-form reviews (with some of those extras) for these beers for 2021.

Night Owl Pumpkin Ale

Night Owl was the creation of brewer Markus Stinson, who first brewed it in 1997 at Elysian’s GameWorks arcade three-barrel brewhouse; they wanted to brew a special beer for Oktoberfest beer but wanted something different than a Märzen. Night Owl was born!

I don’t know what that original recipe looked like 24 years ago, but today Night Owl is brewed with pumpkin in the mash (both puree and juice, according to the website) along with both raw and roasted pumpkin seeds, and then more pumpkin is added to the fermenter (again, per the website). Spices go in at conditioning and the final result is an amber ale that comes in at 6.7% ABV. The website description reads:

A very drinkable pumpkin ale—brewed with pumpkin puree and juice, and spiced in conditioning with ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice.

Both roasted and raw pumpkin seeds are in the mash, with pumpkin added to the mash and fermenter.

I’ve reviewed this at least twice before, the first time for The Session in 2008, then again a couple of years later in 2010.

My notes: Aroma is full of squash, caramel, cinnamon, allspice. The spices come through in the flavor, with notes of caramel and pumpkin hard candy. Night Owl is in the “classic” mold for the style, with an amber, rich, malty base with good vegetal flavors, and spices that pair well and go “pie-ish” without overdoing it.

The Great Pumpkin Imperial Pumpkin Ale

In 2001, Elysian decided that for its 1,000th batch (brewed at the Capitol Hill location) the beer would be a “double” strength version of Night Owl. That beer evolved into The Great Pumpkin, which the brewery claims is the “world’s first imperial pumpkin ale” though I cannot verify the veracity of this claim.

The modern recipe for The Great Pumpkin is similar to Night Owl, though obviously stronger, and it uses roasted pumpkin seeds only in the mash (no raw) and the ginger is omitted from the spice bill.

It’s 8.4% ABV, and the website says:

The Great Pumpkin was the world’s first Imperial pumpkin ale. Brewed with Pale, Munich, Cara-Hell, Cara-Vienne, Cara-Munich and C-45 Crystal malts. Roasted pumpkin seeds in the mash, and extra pumpkin added in the mash, kettle and fermenter. Spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice.

My notes: Sweet caramel-malty aroma with more prominent nutmeg and cloves—a pleasantly warming, creamy nutmeg note, but not overdone. Roasted pumpkin in the flavor (which could be enhanced by the seeds) and a light vegetal note that makes me think of squash blossoms. Spice is big here too, definitely nutmeg-forward; caramelized sugars, rich malts, big yet dry and spicy finish. Not overspiced.

Punkuccino Coffee Pumpkin Ale

Punkuccino is the (relatively) newest beer of this bunch, and is Bisacca’s favorite of the lineup. It’s brewed with a Stumptown coldpress toddy concentrate, which does contain caffeine, and they estimate that a 12-ounce bottle probably has the equivalent of about 2/3 of a cup of coffee.

It’s 6% ABV, and here’s what the website description says:

A pumpkin ale with the attitude of a world-weary barista, Punkuccino packs a short shot of Stumptown coffee toddy in your pint with just a shake of cinnamon and nutmeg. Pale, brown, biscuit, C-77 Crystal, chocolate and kiln-coffee malts provide the body, German Northern Brewer lends a touch of bitterness, and lactose sweetens just a touch. Three pumpkin additions, in the mash, kettle and fermenter.

My notes: Spiced coffee aroma—with cinnamon, nutmeg, a light chocolatey “mocha” character and a syrupy latte note. Flavor is spice and coffee-forward and there’s some hints of caramelized pumpkin, though the other flavors tend to dominate. Light roastiness from the coffee and the lactose, plus the nutmeg lends a creaminess.

Dark o’ the Moon Pumpkin Stout

Dark o’ the Moon is the least spiced of the bunch, only listing cinnamon as the addition to this American stout base. This is the one I have the least amount of notes on, but it’s 7.5% ABV and here are the (brief) notes from the PDF fact sheet that accompanied the event:

Dark o’ the Moon Pumpkin Stout is spookily smooth and chocolatey with a touch of cinnamon.

My notes: Cinnamon nose with good roasty stout aromas backing it. Spice is prominent but it blends well. Creamy, spicy, roasty flavors and this is one where pumpkin complements the roast in a subtle, sweetish way. Dark bitter chocolate, some dark roast coffee, “heat” from the cinnamon rounds it out.

Other fun facts I noted during the virtual tasting event:

• The Great Pumpkin Beer Fest got its start in 2004 when then-brewmaster Dick Cantwell “messed up” a pumpkin brew (they did not specify how it got messed up), leaving Elysian with three pumpkin beers on tap: Night Owl, The Great Pumpkin, and this #3. What to do? The only logical thing, of course—throw a pumpkin beer festival!
• These days, Elysian brews between 15 and 20 different pumpkin beers each year.
• One of the centerpieces of the GPBF is the giant pumpkin that gets filled with beer and tapped each day. The largest pumpkin they’ve filled and tapped to date was around 1,800 pounds.
• I asked (via the Zoom chat) what the favorite/craziest pumpkin beers they brewed over the years have been. For the craziest, Buhler said Mr. Yuck (a pumpkin sour), Beyer said Avery Brewing’s Rumpkin (a 16-18% barrel-aged behemoth), and Bisacca said PK-47, a pumpkin malt liquor. Buhler also mentioned ESB, Extra Special Butternut from Snoqualmie Falls Brewery as a favorite.
• Mr. Yuck had just in fact been bottled (an extremely limited run) for the first time ever that very day (September 9).
• The first time they brewed PK-47, they used orange dye which dyed everyone’s teeth and mouths orange.
• They keep pumpkin all hot side these days, going into the mash, kettle, and whirlpool, while the spices go in after chilling, 24-48 hours before centrifuging. All the spices go through a steam/water sterilization beforehand as that where the greatest chance of bacterial infection exists.