Pumpkin Beers 2015 – Saranac, Alaskan, Jolly Pumpkin and Ballast Point

Well, it is that time of year again. There is talk of leaves changing color, cooler weather is on the way, football games with meaning are finally being played, and the About Beverages Pumpkin Beer Podcast is here for your enjoyment. It is hard to believe, but this is the 6^th year we have had a podcast devoted solely to pumpkin beer. We always enjoy trying and discussing beverages of all kinds with you, but one of us enjoys this particular podcast a little more than the other. You may already know who that is, but if you don’t, it won’t take you long to figure it out. That being said, we have a good time doing this seasonally themed podcast every year.

This year, we have six new-to-us pumpkin beers that we will be trying. Since we are trying a cornucopia of beers this year, all made with pumpkin, we decided to split this into two podcasts. This week’s episode will cover the first four, while next weeks will be the remaining two plus discussion and the big reveal of this year’s winner. This year we did something a little different and decided not to bring back any of our champions from years past. This leaves one to wonder, “What has become of the previous year’s winners?” The choice we made was to officially “retire” the Punkin Ale from Dogfish (Champion in 2010 and 2011, runner-up 2012), and the Smashed Pumpkin from Shipyard (Champion 2012, 2013, and 2014). They have become the inaugural members of our “Pumpkin Beer Hall of Fame.” If they were sports jerseys, they would hang from the rafters in the tasting room for all to see. As great as they are, we have decided to give six new beers a shot at our coveted pumpkin beer crown.

The beers we will be trying this week are the Saranac Pumpkin Ale, Alaskan Pumpkin Ale, Jolly Pumpkin La Parcela No. 1 Pumpkin Ale, and Ballast Point Pumpkin Down Scotch Ale.  We invite you to listen or watch as we begin this journey to what we hope will be a new and delicious champion.

If you have any ideas for future episodes of “Give It A Shot” or just have a question, you can always send us an email to AboutBeverages@q.com.

You may click on the media player to listen directly on our website, right click the link below to download and listen to it later, or subscribe to us and never miss an episode. Enjoy!

Link Lounge

Here are the links to the things we talked about during the podcast. 

Tasting Notes – Pumpkin Beers 2015 – Saranac, Alaskan, Jolly Pumpkin and Ballast Point