'Tis the season for pumpkin beer. Here's what's on tap in Columbus
Don’t roll your eyes at pumpkin beers. They’re not one of those newcomers – we’re looking at you, Wendy’s Pumpkin Spice Frosty – on the pumpkin-spice bandwagon.
“The beer thing was there, and then the cappuccino thing and the candles and all that followed,” said Colin Vent, head brewer for Seventh Son Brewing Company, offering up a rough timeline that at least gets those three items in the right order.
Pumpkin beer has been around since the 18th century, according to historians, although its origins are similar to neither the pumpkin nor the beer flavors of today. Grain wasn’t always available to early American brewers, Vent said, so “people were just fermenting anything they could.”
The spices associated with pumpkin pie – cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg – came when pumpkin beers were revived by craft brewers in the 1980s.
You might just be getting in the mood for pumpkin beer and other fall flavors, but retailer demand and seasonal creep mean it has been on store shelves since mid-summer, said Justin Hemminger, deputy director of the Ohio Craft Brewers Association. Smaller, taproom-focused breweries often wait until about now to release their pumpkin beers.
Here are just six of the pumpkin and pumpkin-spiced beers on tap in central Ohio. A number of other local, state and national labels such as Southern Tier Brewing Co.’s Pumking and Dogfish Head’s Punkin Ale, are available either in bars or in six packs at grocery stores and carryouts.
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Decorative Gourd Ale at Seventh Son Brewing Co.
1101 N. Fourth St., 614-421-2337, seventhsonbrewing.com
The 10-year-old brewery in Italian Village puts its own spin on the pumpkin spice trend by using butternut squash and a different mix of spices. The result: Decorative Gourd Ale (6.8% ABV). It also will be available soon at Seventh Son’s other breweries, Antiques on High and Getaway Brewing Co.
Roasted butternut squash is in the ale’s mash, Vent said, and pureed squash is added during fermentation. The spice mix includes the usual cinnamon, ginger and clove, but the addition of black and green cardamom, black pepper, star anise, and other spices takes it more in the direction of garam masala.
Pumpkin Spice Latte Cream Ale at Derive Brewing Co.
2808 N. High St., 614-732-4186, derivebeer.com
If Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte started this whole fall craze, then Derive’s Pumpkin Spice Latte Cream Ale (5.5% ABV) hews closest to the original.
The Clintonville brewery says its cream ale includes coffee beans from local roaster Thunderkiss Coffee, pumpkin pie spices, vanilla and lactose.
Cauldron’s Curse Pumpkin Ale at Columbus Brewing Co.
Beer Hall: 200 Kelton Ave., 614-274-5199, columbusbrewing.com/location/beer-hall
Taproom: 2555 Harrison Road, 614-224-3626, columbusbrewing.com, columbusbrewing.com/location/taproom
With the additional space of a new Near East Side beer hall that opened in February, Columbus Brewing Co. will introduce its first pumpkin beer in early October. It also will be available at its taproom in the Hilltop.
“We have more room to have more fun now,” said Evan Magliocca, vice president of marketing.
Cauldron’s Curse Pumpkin Ale (6.5% ABV) is brewed with roasted pumpkin and pumpkin puree. It includes flavors of fresh ginger, Madagascar vanilla bean, allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg.
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'Hocus Pocus'-inspired beers at Nostalgia Brewing Co.
81 Mill St., Gahanna, 614-934-7039, nostalgiabrewing.com
Three pumpkin beers are on tap at the Gahanna brewery, and they’re all named after characters in the Halloween cult-classic film “Hocus Pocus.”
Sanderson Sisters (6.3% ABV) is a pumpkin ale. Billy Butcherson (5.5% ABV) is a pumpkin porter, and Thackery Binx (6.5% ABV) is a pumpkin-spice latte ale.
Frisch’s Pumpkin Pie Ale at Taft's Brewporium
440 W. Broad St., 614-489-8900, taftsbeer.com
The Cincinnati-based brewer named in honor of President William Howard Taft has paired with another of its hometown icons to produce Frisch’s Pumpkin Pie Ale (6% ABV). “The two biggest boys of Cincinnati have come together,” read its announcement earlier this month.
The beer – served at Taft’s Franklinton location in a cinnamon-sugar-rimmed pint glass – also has hints of nutmeg. Last year’s version included a special twist: Like every good pumpkin pie, it included a taste of whipped cream.
Foliage Finder at Nocterra Brewing Co.
41 Depot St., Powell, 614-896-8000, nocterrabrewing.com
As construction continues on a new taproom in the Brewery District, Nocterra began serving up its fall Foliage Finder (5.5% ABV) early this month at its Powell location.
The pumpkin-spiced ale is made with roasted squash, brown sugar, vanilla and a not-overpowering amount of spice.
rvitale@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: pumpkin beers to try in central Ohio craft beer pumpkin spice
