No matter where your vacation rental is this fall, you can rest assured that you’ll be able to find a quality, tasty pumpkin beer. This fall you can try an award-winning pumpkin lager in Milwaukee, go on a Boston brewery tour, or discover the best foods to pair your pumpkin beer with in a popular beer hall. Here are Tripping.com’s 10 best places to drink pumpkin beer.
1. Cambridge Brewing Company, Cambridge, MA
Located just across the river from Boston, you can find Great Pumpkin Ale at the popular Cambridge Brewing Company, which is locally known as the CBC. This seasonal beer contains 5.4% alcohol and is brewed from local sugar pumpkins from farms in Athol, Hadley, and Lexington, Massachusetts. CBC, furthermore, is known for being the first American commercial brewery to produce a Belgian beer. Enjoy the Great Pumpkin Ale inside the uniquely refurbished mill building or outside on the patio.
2. Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Milton, DE
If your vacation rental this fall is in or near Delaware, make sure to head over to Milton to taste Dogfish Head Craft Brewery’s Punkin Ale, which was originally released in 1995. This seasonal brown ale is available every year from September 1st through November and contains flavors of cinnamon, pumpkin, and brown sugar. It’s recommended to pair it with foods such as turkey, roasted duck, or lamb.
3. Harpoon Brewery and Beer Hall, Boston, MA
If your vacationing in Vermont or in Massachusetts, the Harpoon Beer Hall is a fun place to go on a brewery tour and then enjoy hot pretzels and beer in the hall afterwards. Try the Harpoon Pumpkin Cider, which is gluten-free and tastes like pumpkin pie and apples. It tastes crisp and tart and is light golden in color. This cider is available from August to October on tap.
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4. Flatiron Hall Restaurant and Beer Cellar, New York, NY
New York City is filled with so many bars that it can be overwhelming to choose which ones to go to. Flatiron Hall is a popular spot and always has 12 special beers on tap, including a seasonal Pumpkin Ale. Visit on a Monday night to try your luck at weekly trivia! This Victorian style bar is located in downtown Manhattan in the Flatiron District.
5. Blue Moon Brewing Company, Golden, CO
Located in Denver, Colorado, the Blue Moon Brewery has over 20 rotating beers, including the Harvest Pumpkin Wheat. The Harvest Pumpkin Wheat tastes like autumn with its warm combination of nutmeg, cinnamon, pumpkin, cloves, and allspice. It’s an amber-colored ale with malty notes and is best served with soup or beef. In addition to beer, the brewery offers a variety of food, including appetizers such as ribs and beer chili and entrees such as steak and burgers. The brewery is open daily from 11 am to 9 pm besides Friday and Saturday when its open until 10 pm. Blue Moon has been creating beer since 1995, when it originated at Coors Field.
6. Lakefront Brewery, Milwaukee, WI
It’s hard to find a Pumpkin Lager but you can have an award-winning one in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at the Lakefront Brewery. Lakefront Brewery won Regional Honorable Mention for Pumpkin Beer in 2017 in the United States Beer Tasting Championship. The Pumpkin Lager is lagered for four weeks and combines nutmeg, pumpkin, cinnamon, and caramel and Munich malts. In addition to trying the Pumpkin Lager, you can go on a brewery tour for $10, which includes four 6 oz pours of beer and a souvenir pint glass.
7. Sheffield’s Beer & Wine Garden, Chicago, IL
Sheffield’s Beer & Wine Garden is located in Chicago, Illinois and offers a variety of pumpkin-flavored drinks, including the Pumpking, Pumpkick, and Pumpkin Patch Ale. If you’re visiting in October, make sure to go on the day of the Annual Pumpkin Carving. The restaurant serves a variety of barbecue food, including ribs, chicken, brisket, and pork. Sheffield’s is open until 2 am every night besides Saturdays when it is open until 3 am.
8. Ballast Point Brewing Company, San Diego, CA
If you’re looking for a Scottish ale with a pumpkin twist, you have to try Ballast Point’s Pumpkin Down. The Pumpkin Down won the bronze medal in the 2016 World Beer Cup, has 5.8% alcohol, and an earthy flavor that tastes great with foods such as butternut squash and sage gnocchi. Ballast Point has several tasting room locations throughout San Diego, California as well as one in Long Beach, California and in Daleville, Virginia. Daily brewery tours are offered at Miramar, which is in San Diego.
9. Casa Luca, Washington D.C.
Located on New York Avenue in Washington DC, Casa Luca is a popular Italian restaurant that also offers pumpkin beer. The meals are designed to be shared to encourage guests to try several new dishes at once. Enjoy a wide selection of pasta, fish, meat and Italian desserts such as homemade soft serve ice cream. Case Luca also offers cooking classes and Sunday Dinners that are a great idea for date nights.
10. Shipyard Brewing Co., Portland, ME
The Pumpkinhead is Shipyard’s unique wheat ale that is a combination of nutmeg, cinnamon, and pumpkin in a glass rimmed with cinnamon and sugar. It has a golden color and 4.5% alcohol level. Shipyard even publishes recipes that you can incorporate your beer into, including the Pumpkinseed Whoopie Pie, Pumpkinhead Cupcakes, and Pumpkinhead Chili. Visit Shipyard on Portland, Maine’s waterfront to try pilot drinks in the tasting room that haven’t been released to the market yet. Note that you have to make a reservation ahead of time for a tour of the brewery.
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