Drumpkin - Pumpkin Brew Reviews

Fall is upon us. Kids are back in school. Saturday's belong to little kids' soccer games. And every brewery and its sister has decided to put out a cooler weather-themed beer. Continuing in our tradition of trying to save you some time and money, we're reviewing a trio of pumpkin beers.

Third Place: O'Fallon Pumpkin Beer
It breaks my heart to give O'Fallon, easily my favorite brewer, last place here, but this is really a testament to the strength of its competitors more than to a misstep on their part. The one thing that did pull this to the back of the pack it'd be the way it felt in my mouth. It felt a lot like a Coke. Which is good. If you are looking for Coke.

Second Place: Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin Ale
I'm not a big advocate of Blue Moon in general (wheat beers are too fizzy, light, and sweet for me), but this hit the spot. The least pumpkin-y of the three, it was really well done, although still not really my bag.

Winner: Schlafly Special Release Pumpkin Ale
Easily my second favorite brewery, Schlafly seldom puts out a bad beer and this is no exception. This beer is sweeter than I'd normally like, but it was the lightest on the spice that makes pumpkin pie pumpkin pie. A worthy winner.

Small Print
In the interest of full disclosure I should let you know that I haven't historically liked Pumpkin beer, but it's been a while since I've given it a shake, so I thought this would be a good start. Believe me, based on my memory any of these would  have been my favorite pumpkin beer to date. Individual tastes vary, so if you like pumpkin beer these are all worth a try. I had to stay pretty local because I couldn't find many national beers with pumpkin offerings. I could have gone all St. Louis, but I refused to buy the Shocktop pumpkin because everything that Michelob puts out that isn't Michelob (or Light or Ultra) sucks.