How to Turn a Pumpkin Into a Keg

Thrillist on Yahoo

By: Alex Robinson

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Credit: Cole Saladino/Thrillist

Ah, fall. The season of pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin pie, Oktoberfest, pumpkin picking (?), pumpkin carving, and finally, pumpkin kegs. That’s right, pumpkin kegs.

While the majority of your peers will be trying their artistic hand at carving jack-o’-lanterns and getting upset when theirs doesn’t look like the one in the picture, you’ll be kicking back and enjoying pints of fresh pumpkin ale, poured straight from the admirable pumpkin keg you just made. Sounds nice, right? It only takes about 15 minutes and will hold anywhere from six to 10 beers depending on its size.

No tricks here, pal. Only treats.

More: The 21 Best Pumpkin Beers, in Order

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Credit: Cole Saladino/Thrillist

Materials

• 1 big, dumb, boring pumpkin

• A pumpkin carving kit (or serrated knife and large spoon)

• A bowl to discard those delicious seeds

• A pen

• A spigot

• A sixer of pumpkin beer (your choice, but maybe go with one of the best ones!)

More: Every Coffee Shop Chain’s Pumpkin Latte, Ranked

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Credit: Cole Saladino/Thrillist

Step 1: Crop the top

Take a pen and draw a circle around the top of the pumpkin. This will help you carve out a nice, clean incision to rip the top off.

More: The 14 Phases of Every Beer Nerd’s Life

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Credit: Cole Saladino/Thrillist

Step 2: Clean the keg

Remove the top and put it aside. It’s time to mine this giant gourd for its delicious seeds.

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Credit: Cole Saladino/Thrillist

Step 3: Discard seeds

You can either keep the seeds for some nice roasting later, or plant them to grow a pumpkin patch of your own.

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Credit: Cole Saladino/Thrillist

Step 4: Outline the spigot

This will provide a perfect circle for you to cut out, in which your spigot will snugly fit.

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Credit: Cole Saladino/Thrillist

Step 5: Jam the spigot into the pumpkin

It might seem like you’re hurting the pumpkin, but you aren’t. Pumpkins don’t have central nervous systems and can’t feel pain.

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Credit: Cole Saladino/Thrillist

Step 6: Fill with beer

I chose Brooklyn Brewery’s Post Road Pumpkin Ale. It did not disappoint.

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Credit: Cole Saladino/Thrillist

Step 7: Admire your work

You just turned a pumpkin into a keg. You’re like the Archimedes of gourds.

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Credit: Cole Saladino/Thrillist

Step 8: Enjoy the fruits of your labor

If all went according to plan, when you flip the spigot, delicious pumpkin beer will start to flow like the Colorado River out of the pristine Rocky Mountains. The whole process took about 15 minutes and the beer came out cold and flavorful. Just the way Mother Nature intended.

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