Autumn doesn’t politely arrive; it comes stomping in with gourds under both arms, spices flying, fields glowing, and breweries all but possessed by nutmeg spirits. Pumpkin beers are America’s oddball genius — equal parts pie, pint, and pagan harvest hymn. They can be sweet, spiced, silky, boozy, restrained, or absurdly decadent — but they all whisper the same thing: it’s October now, you fools, drink accordingly. And today the gospel gets louder: the Grit & Grain Podcast records Episode 160 live at Peaks & Pints at 3:30 p.m., tracing the history of pumpkin beers from colonial brews to modern pie-in-a-glass experiments, and tasting them on air. Which is why we’ve stacked today’s tray with five riffs on the pumpkin theme — from subtle field-fermented to gothic barrel-aged — the perfect prelude to a pumpkin sermon in stereo.
Peaks & Pints Pumpkin Podcast Flight
Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale
4.5% ABV | Spiced Wheat Ale | Portland, ME
Pumpkinhead is autumn’s prankster — lighter, cheekier, spiced wheat instead of heavy malt. Cinnamon and nutmeg ride easy across a crisp wheat base, finishing dry, playful, endlessly pintable. Shipyard has turned it into a ritual — sugared rims, spiced rum toppers — but even straight it’s pure October mischief: a beer that tastes like jumping in leaves, light enough for another round, and another.
Fort George Topaz Pumpkin Ale
6.7% ABV | Pumpkin Ale | Astoria, OR
Astoria’s Fort George doesn’t sprinkle pumpkin spice on top; they drag real roasted gourds from Topaz Farm straight into the mash tun. The result is earthy, husky, glowing orange in both hue and intent, with malt sweetness tempered by the faint char of roasted squash and a seasoning hand so restrained it borders on reverent. No pie-syrup carnival here — just pumpkin, honest and unvarnished, as if the field itself fermented.
Elysian Punkuccino
6% ABV | Coffee Pumpkin Ale | Seattle, WA
Seattle’s Elysian Brewing knows you want your latte and your pumpkin too, so Punkuccino answers like a barista gone feral. Cold-pressed coffee collides with pumpkin puree, cinnamon, and nutmeg, all swirling through a creamy body that tastes like your PSL grew up, got a leather jacket, and moved into a dive bar. Espresso roast hums underneath the spice, keeping it balanced, never cloying, and finishing like a wink, with a caffeine jolt.
Little House Brewing Pumpkin Spice Donuts
7% ABV | Scotch Ale / Wee Heavy | Chester, CT
Connecticut’s Little House went full bakery fever dream, brewing a Scotch ale with actual cider donuts from Bishop’s Orchards — one donut per pint — then layering in pumpkin spice and vanilla. It’s rich, cakey, cinnamon-laced, with a biscuity malt heft that makes it feel less like a pint and more like your grandma’s oven colliding with a cider mill. Decadent but never silly, it’s autumn dressed in sugar and dough.
Epic Brewing Barrel-Aged Imperial Pumpkin Porter
9% ABV | Barrel-Aged Imperial Pumpkin Porter | Salt Lake City, UT
Epic Brewing stages the season’s gothic opera: an imperial porter brewed with pumpkin and spice, then sent to brood inside whiskey barrels until oak, vanilla, and bourbon warmth seep into its marrow. Chocolate and caramel crash into nutmeg and clove; roasted malt smolders beneath pumpkin puree; the finish glows boozy and warm, like candlelight flickering on cathedral stone. At 9 percent, it’s less a beer than October itself distilled into velvet darkness.
LINK: Peaks & Pints beer and cider cooler inventory
