An Important Question for Fall Beer Drinkers: Yes or No Pumpkin?
Two very different ways to drink fall. Where do you land?
Every year, it happens.
The temperature drops just a little. The leaves start thinking about changing. Football is back on television. And suddenly, pumpkin is everywhere.
Pumpkin candles. Pumpkin coffee. Pumpkin pie. And, of course, pumpkin beer.
For some people, the arrival of pumpkin beer is an unmistakable sign that fall has officially begun. For others, the sight of the first pumpkin ale appearing on shelves sometime around the end of summer inspires a much different reaction.
At Sloop, we figured there was no reason to make you choose a side. That’s why we have two very different beers for this one very important fall question: Yes Pumpkin or No Pumpkin?
But before we get into the beers, let’s take a quick trip back through the surprisingly long and very American history of pumpkin beer.
Pumpkin Beer Has Been Around Longer Than You Might Think
While pumpkin beer may feel like a product of the modern pumpkin spice era, brewing with pumpkin actually dates back to early America.
Colonial brewers didn’t necessarily turn to pumpkins because they were trying to capture the flavors of fall. They were often working with what was available. Barley and other traditional brewing grains could be scarce, while pumpkins were abundant, so brewers sometimes used them as a source of fermentable sugars.
Historical references to beer brewed with pumpkins appear in early American history, and colonial-era versions would have been quite different from the pumpkin beers we know today. They weren’t necessarily loaded with cinnamon, nutmeg, and the other spices we now associate with a slice of pumpkin pie. In many cases, pumpkin was simply an ingredient used to help make the beer.
So, while today’s pumpkin beer has become synonymous with fall, the original versions were born more from practicality than seasonal nostalgia.
From Colonial Necessity to Fall Tradition
Pumpkin beer largely faded from the mainstream American brewing landscape over time, but it found a new life during the American craft beer movement.
In the 1980s, Buffalo Bill’s Brewery in Hayward, California, is widely credited with helping revive the modern pumpkin ale. By the 1990s, pioneering craft breweries were beginning to release their own versions, helping establish pumpkin beer as a distinctly American fall seasonal.
And then, somewhere along the way, pumpkin beer became a ritual.
Every year, as summer winds down, pumpkin beers begin making their return to refrigerators, beer aisles, backyard fire pits, tailgates, and autumn gatherings. For many beer drinkers, that first pumpkin ale is as much a sign of the changing seasons as a flannel jacket or the first leaves hitting the ground.
Of course, not everyone is on board. Which brings us to our two chosen beer offerings for the season:
YES PUMPKIN
For the Pumpkin People.
You know who you are.
The people who see a pumpkin beer on the shelf and immediately know what time of year it is. The people who fully embrace fall. The people who aren’t afraid of a little seasonal spice.
Yes Pumpkin is our Pumpkin Ale made for saying yes to the season.
It’s for crisp fall afternoons, backyard fires, weekends spent outside, and gathering with friends while you make the most of those few perfect months between summer and winter.
Pumpkin beer has become a fall tradition for a reason. There is something undeniably fitting about enjoying a seasonal beer as the weather changes and another year begins to wind down.
For the pumpkin people, there is only one answer.
Yes. Yes to pumpkin. Yes to fall. Yes to enjoying every last minute of the season!
NO PUMPKIN
For Everyone Else.
Maybe you’ve made it this far and are still thinking, Yeah, but I don’t want pumpkin in my beer.
We hear you. Fall doesn’t have to taste like pumpkin pie.
No Pumpkin is our Hazy IPA for the people who would rather let the hops do the talking. It brings its own bold personality to fall, offering a completely different option for the people who love the season but aren’t necessarily interested in drinking a traditional pumpkin beer.
No pumpkin. No frills. No seasonal spice. Just a delicious, crisp IPA.
Because while fall may arrive with an overwhelming amount of pumpkin-flavored everything, there is absolutely no rule that says you have to participate.
You can enjoy the changing leaves, the cooler weather, football Sundays, and every other great part of fall without putting pumpkin in your pint.
So, Which One Are You?
That’s the fun of it: you don’t actually have to choose a side forever.
Maybe you’re a dedicated Yes Pumpkin person who waits all year for pumpkin ale season. Maybe you’re proudly Team No Pumpkin, reaching for a Hazy IPA while everyone else debates the appropriate amount of nutmeg in a beer.
Or maybe the answer changes depending on the day.
One weekend, you’re sitting around a fire with friends and saying yes to a classic fall beer. The next, you’re heading to a tailgate, gathering with friends, or spending a Saturday outside and reaching for something hoppy instead.
At the end of the day, Yes Pumpkin and No Pumpkin aren’t really competing against each other. They’re two different answers to the same question.
So, Pumpkin? Your call.
Fall Beer for Every Kind of Beer Drinker
At Sloop, we believe good beer should fit the moment—and fall offers plenty of them.
Whether your ideal fall beer is a seasonal Pumpkin Ale or a bold, refreshing Hazy IPA, there is room for both at the table. Or in the cooler. Or at the tailgate. Or around the fire pit.