#25 Sam Adams Fat Jack Double Pumpkin

Oh my God! Why don't they just make this one and forget the other two?!?

Taste: This is a good beer bordering on really good. Unlike the other two beers, this one is DEFINITIVELY pumpkin. There's also a great spice palate and including nutmeg and allspice. Plus, a finish that makes sense*. Oh my God! Why don't they just make this one and forget the other two?!?
Smell: Strong pumpkin, almost like pumpkin pie.
Color: Jon (#402224) (Yes, the color really is Jon)
Stars: 7.5/10
Buy Again?: No

*I want to say, I'm grateful all three beers exist. I love brewers trying new things and developing new recipes that may expand a palate and surprise people. I just find it frustrating that the other two beers' tastes were so confusing. The other two beers just don't compare to Fat Jack in any sense.

#24 Sam Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale

This beer bugged me. Not only because it's very "middle-of-the-road," but because you had to buy a Sam Adams variety pack just to get it. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Sam Adams every now and again. But in terms of buying pumpkin beers, it was very inconvenient.

This beer was the "Okay-ish" beer of the 3 Sams.

Taste: Another beer that tastes yammy. They also decided to make it slightly smoky. I can't help but wonder why they did.
Smell: Pumpkin and Sweet
Color: Irish Coffee (#5C2A21)
Stars: 5/10
Buy Again?: No

#23 Sam Adam's Pumpkin Batch

Sam Adams...what can you say about Sam Adams? Well, you can definitely say that they don't shy away from Pumpkin beers. They released THREE pumpkin beers in 2016. Most companies might decide to make one mediocre beer and stop there. Sam Adams said no sir. Somehow, I managed to try these from "Meh," to "Okay-ish," to "Oh my God! Why don't they just make this one and forget the other two?"

This one is Meh.

Taste: Loads of spices with the most "out-of-nowhere" Belgian-style finish ever. Not much pumpkin. What happened here?
Smell: A tad yammy. And Flowery? What?
Color: Copper Canyon (#794016)
Stars: 4.5/10
Buy Again?: No

#22 Fat Head's Spooky Tooth Imperial Pumpkin Ale

This is so interesting. I won't buy this again, but there was so much going on with this beer. It ultimately ended up being a negative, like trying to put too many story lines into Spiderman.

Taste: Cinnamon, nutmeg, and sweet potato pie.
Smell: Sweet potatoes with cinnamon and somehow butterscotch.
Color: Pueblo (#7D2D12)
Stars: 5/10

Buy Again?: No

#21 Tin Man Herald

Again, a beer that restored my faith in this process. I may not buy it again, but it was good. Sorry to every non-Hoosier out there. This is a local beer.

Taste: Very Yammy. Weirdly so. I didn't expect that at all. But it hits you with some allspice and vanilla at the end that brings it all together.
Smell: AMAZING pumpkin smell.
Color: Red Robin (#80261E)
Stars: 6/10
Buy Again?: No

#20 Red Hook Out Of Your Gourd Pumpkin Porter

I need to go on a big, gushing post about this beer. Thank you, Red Hook, for restoring my hope in the rest of these beers. Thank you for making your pumpkin beer into a porter. I was getting so tired of ales. And thank you for having the coolest freaking bottle design out of any bottle I've found so far. I'd be shocked if anything topped your bottle (Spoiler: Nothing did).

God, I needed this beer. Thank You, New York!

Taste: Like slightly burned, over-roasted pumpkin seeds. I don't know if this beer is so good because I've had so many bad beers in a row, but it sure does taste great. 
Smell: Like coffee. What else was it gonna smell like? It smells like a porter which smells like coffee.
Color: Woody Brown (#3A2E2E)
Stars: 6.5/10
Buy Again?: Yes

Perfect example of why the Buy Again section is so necessary. This beer is only a 6.5, but it is SOOO different from everything else I've tried out there. I'd definitely buy this again. If I was bored looking at a beer menu, and this was on there, I'd get it. I like it that much.

#19 Post Road Pumpkin Ale

So, after a number of beers, I think I found a solution. I've finished the bombers for the most part and now I'm getting down to the "Not so great. Not so memorable. Mass produced." section of the pumpkin beers. Crap, I'm only at #19!? Oh god.

Taste: This one was bitter. The first taste is pumpkin which evolves into all the regular pumpkin spices. But then, bitterness.
Smell: Surprisingly like Yams.
Color: Fiery Orange (#B2510F)
Stars: 5.5/10
Buy Again?: No

#18 New Holland Ichabod

Taste: This contained a decent spice palate but not a ton of pumpkin. I was not impressed with this one.
Smell: Like Rotten Dirt
Color: Carnaby Tan (#622102)
Stars: 3/10

Buy Again?: No

#17 Heavy Seas Greater Pumpkin

Taste: Almost peppery. I detected no bourbon in this. I didn't even smell it. This was a gigantic let down.
Smell: Buttery pumpkin, almost like pie.
Color: Brown Derby (#56271A)
Stars: 4/10
Buy Again?: No (But Probably will out of frustration)

#16 Jolly Pumpkin: La Parcela No. 1 Pumpkin Ale

So, excuse the picture. This one is my fault. After I wrote I wasn't going to try another beer, I cracked this open. This one tasted off to me too so I stuck the cap back on and put it into my fridge. Life got in the way and I didn't get this again until almost a week later. Sigh. Here are my notes from the initial tasting.

Also, for a brewery named Jolly Pumpkin, I found it amusing that this was their first pumpkin beer since opening in 2004.

Taste: Very, very sour. Nice Pumpkin aftertaste. Just too sour for me.
Smell: Sour Gourd
Color: Dallas (#775328)
Stars: 2.5/10
Buy Again?: No (But probably will to retest it)

#15 Naked Brewing Pumpkin Spiced Ginger's Wheat

This was from the Muncie find forever ago. I wouldn't have found it had my brain not been hard wired since the age of 10 to spot the word naked.

Taste: This tasted like water. Maybe my taste buds are off. This had literally barely any taste. I am perplexed. This is my second and last beer for this night. Below is another average of my mom's score and mine.
Smell: Tiny, tiny amounts of pumpkin spice.
Color: Desert (#A45913)
Stars: 3/10 (1 for me, 5 for mom)
Buy Again?: No

Update: After going through 3 states and an unimaginable number of liquor stores, my trip to Muncie was the only time I spotted this beer. Lucky me?

#14 Bare Hands Jack Yo' Gourd

Oh....this beer...I wanted this South Bend beer to be good. My mom actually quite liked it and didn't taste whatever I tasted. That being said


Taste: I tasted dirt. Like spoonfuls of earth. It didn't matter how many times I drank out of this, that is all I tasted (and I drank all but a few sips). After it warmed up, I kinda tasted pumpkin, but still dirt. The ranking below is an average of my mom's ranking and my ranking.
Smell: Very strong pumpkin.
Color: Rope (#95551B)
Stars: 4/10 (7 for my mom, 1 for me)
Buy Again?: No

#13 Rogue Pumpkin Savior

After the bombardment of the Pumpkin Patch Ale, I moved on to the Pumpkin Savior. This was a Spring 2015 release after Rogue didn't use all their pumpkins from the 2014 season. Rather than tossing them, they made them into a beer, hence Pumpkin Savior. It was also a palate savior.

Taste: Sweet pumpkin inter spliced with cinnamon. There is just the slightest hint of tartness. It is lovely.
Smell: Cinnamon and Pumpkin
Color: Van Cleef (#4D210F)
Stars: 8/10
Buy Again?: No

So, in this case, just because a beer gets a high Star Rating doesn't mean I recommend buying it again. For instance, this was an 8/10, but I don't recommend buying it more than once. I remember this was $12. So it's a beer I like, but not one I figure I'll buy again. Make sense? Great!

#12 Rogue Pumpkin Patch Ale

This bottle is just cool. I have a decent amount of faith in Rogue. They made the first Sriracha beer that I was aware of and it was pretty good. Let's see what Oregon can do with Pumpkins.


Taste: A little taste of pumpkin which is immediately dominated by cloves and pumpkin spice. It's shocking how much better this is warm. Just prepare for an oral assault.
Smell: Pumpkin Pie Spice. Not pumpkin spice. Pumpkin pie spice. I wish I could be clearer.
Color: Van Cleef (#471D0D)
Stars: 6/10
Buy Again?: No