There are so many pumpkin beers on the market. It can be overwhelming when deciding which ones to choose. There are many great go-to standards like Southern Tier Pumking, Stegmaier Pumpkin Ale and Dogfish Head’s Punkin. These are wonderful pumpkin beers, but if you want more intense flavor, more body and some experimentation with your beer, here are some suggestions. Here are seven pumpkin beers with a lot of flavor and some “unique” takes on the pumpkin beer style.

1. Avery Brewing Company – Rumpkin: This 18% ABV imperial pumpkin beer has been aged in rum barrels and is not for the faint of heart. Enjoy it slowly. The rum adds a lot of complexity and is a perfect complement to the huge amount of pumpkin and spices in this full-bodied beer. This is truly a pumpkin explosion and is perfect for the fall season!

2. Southern Tier – Warlock: Warlock is where this brewery’s talent shines. Warlock is the perfect blend of a full imperial stout and a delicious pumpkin ale, making for a thick and creamy stout with that wonderful pumpkin aroma and flavor we crave this time of year. A perfect pumpkin stout that has flavor, body and balance that is sure to be a phenomenal beer on a chilly fall evening.

3. Weyerbacher – Imperial Pumpkin Ale: The aroma explodes with pumpkin spices and the full body holds that wonderful pumpkin taste. Not to mention the 8 percent ABV makes it a great beer to warm you up on a cool fall night. What makes this beer so unique is that the sweet malts are so well balanced against the spices while both are able to shine through perfectly.

4. Elysian – The Great Pumpkin: Elysian is a brewery that has set the standard for what pumpkin beer should be with its Night Owl pumpkin ale. It is only natural its imperial pumpkin ale, The Great Pumpkin, now sets the standard for imperial pumpkin ales. It was also the first imperial pumpkin ale ever! The cinnamon notes and semi-sweet malts lay a base similar to a graham cracker crust with a perfect balance of spices.

5. Flying Dog- The Gourd Standard: This pumpkin IPA sounds like a contrast of flavors but works well together. The pumpkin spices are present but instead of clashing with the citrus hop notes they melt into one another for a unique but very refreshing fall beer. The brewery collaborated with a local chocolatier, Salazon, to create a pumpkin IPA chocolate bar. The sea salt, dark chocolate, pumpkin spices and beer bar is a perfect pairing with this fall beer.

6. New Belgium- Pumpkick: Pumpkick proves the fall beer style should live on at least until Thanksgiving. The brewery took a light pumpkin ale-base beer and infused it with cranberries for a tart flavor that melts into the pumpkin spices.

7. Two Roads Brewing- Roadsmary’s Baby: The name of this beer makes a wonderful Halloween beer. This is a world class pumpkin beer far from just a gimmicky name. The rich sweet malts are blended perfectly with pumpkin spices with hints of rum and vanilla. The result is a pumpkin beer that is fairly complex yet light and refreshing.

While some of these beers may be to extreme for the novice pumpkin beer drinker, for the experienced folks, it is just another delicious walk in a pumpkin patch. If you are a longtime fan of the pumpkin ale style and have never tried any of these beers, do yourself a favor and get one from this list. The pumpkin beer season will be gone before you know and so will these beers.

By Derek Warren

For Weekender

Derek Warren is a beer fanatic, avid homebrewer and beer historian. Derek can be heard weekly on the Beer Geeks Radio Hour at noon on Sundays on WILK 103.1 FM with past episodes available on iTunes.