The History of Pumpkin Beer

With cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and other spices more suited to pie than a pint, pumpkin beer has come to define the flavor of fall. beer Lovers in recent years (even if they began to appear in bars and liquor stores Early August). While these pumpkin-infused drinks are now part of Pumpkin spice industryThey actually have roots in a humble colonial-era drink prepared more out of necessity than flavor.

1. The unofficial origins of pumpkin beer
2. “Beer of last resort”
3. Forgotten beer is getting a literal makeover

The unofficial origins of pumpkin beer

Famine was an imminent threat to New England colonists in the 17th century. Lack of favorites like Wheat and barley This meant that many families, especially poor ones, needed to find a robust, versatile crop that was easy to grow and could withstand the harsh northeastern winters. PumpkinIt turns out it fit the bill perfectly.

“When (the first New England colonists) came here, they wanted their European fare, their European food, but they couldn’t grow it yet,” says Cindy Ott, associate professor of history and museum studies at the University of Delaware. author The Pumpkin: The Strange History of an American Iconhe told Mental Floss in 2020. “So they rely on pumpkin because it’s so prolific (and) it grows like a weed.”

Families can roast and eat the pumpkin flesh, snack on a handful of seeds, or Mash everything With butter and spices. For some, the fact that squash makes up the bulk of their diet was enough of inspiration Tongue-in-cheek poetry With sarcastic lines like: “We have pumpkins in the morning and pumpkins at noon. If it weren’t for the pumpkins we’d be doomed.”

But there was another European staple that pumpkins were about to take over in North America: beer.

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“Beer of last resort”

Without grains available to make proper beer, colonists discovered they could use squash as a cheap, fermentable filler, along with molasses, bran, corn, and honey. Other components The average family can do the research. This early pumpkin beer did the job – but it became known as a drink exclusively for peasants who couldn’t get the real stuff.

“(The colonists) relied on pumpkin as this cheap alternative, and it helped them get through tough times,” Ott said. “But no one wants that. It’s really like a beer of last resort.” In her bookOtt wrote that the flavor was described as having a “slight resonance” when compared to the more popular beers of the time.

A handful of pumpkin beer recipes have survived over the years, including These are instructions of 1771 For Pompeion Isle:

“Let the pompom be beaten in a basin like an apple. The expressed juice should be boiled in a copper vessel for a long time and peeled carefully so that there is no residue of the fibrous part of the pulp. After this intention has been fulfilled, let the drink cool and ferment like barley beer.”

Over time, as agricultural practices improved and better ingredients and brewing techniques emerged, pumpkin beer disappeared in the colonies. That is, until the crop took on a whole new meaning centuries later.

Forgotten beer is getting a literal makeover

In 1985, Bill Owens, owner Buffalo Bill Brewery In Hayward, California, he supposedly found details about pumpkin beer George Washington He was Known for fermentation. Owens – A Popular craft beer A pioneer known for his agricultural acumen and special selection of ingredients (such as sourcing specific hops from Tasmania) – he wanted to try a more modern approach. His version called for roasting the squash in his pizza oven and thrown in Standard amber beer at the brewery.

To usually give a little more mild pumpkin flavour GravityTo distance the beer from the original recipes, the brewery added spices such as nutmeg and cloves. today, Buffalo Bill Original Pumpkin Ale It is considered the world’s first modern style – although it did not immediately attract everyone’s attention.

“I think we were kind of a joke for a long time,” Jeff Harris, who worked on those early batches and is now the current CEO and head brewer at Buffalo Bill’s, told Mental Floss in 2020. “Even people like Anheuser-Busch came out with commercials making fun of all of us making pumpkin (beer) or something.” “unique.”

Big brewers may have stayed away at first, but the burgeoning craft movement embraced the offbeat flavors that pumpkin beer was offering — at one point, Owens even sold his beer recipe in a trade magazine to craft brewers that he published. Within a few years, new brewers were creating their own takes on the style, including Garrett Oliver, head brewer at Brooklyn Brewerywhose first batch of the company’s popular Post Road Pumpkin Ale called for 100 five-pound cans of pumpkin puree.

“I think one of the reasons our beers remain popular is because of their subtlety,” Oliver told Mental Floss in 2020. “It’s not sweet or overly spicy and still tastes like a beer…a beer with ‘seasonal pumpkin overtones.’

By 2014At the peak of the trend, pumpkin beer sales had increased 1,500 percent over the past 10 years. Today there are more 2200 different pumpkin beers Listed in BeerAdvocate.com, the digital encyclopedia of foam. Many of those beers come from the world’s largest brewing giants, including a few… Anheuser-Buschproving that putting a little pumpkin in your beer is no longer a fringe trend or beer of last resort.

A version of this story was originally published in 2020; Updated for 2025.