Pumpkin beers and Oktoberfest seasonal beers made their appearance on store shelves back in early August, but one brewery waited a little longer to send its prized pumpkin brew to retailers. That brewery is Rogue, which just released its Pumpkin Patch Ale for the 2017 season.
As everyone knows, seasonal beers continue to get released earlier and earlier, much to the annoyance of many craft beer fans who feel the early releases are too far removed from the season they represent. Rogue waits a little longer, timing its release with the Rogue Farm pumpkin harvest. The pumpkins are picked fresh, taken to the brewery, toasted in an oven, and then added directly to the brew. Rogue president Brett Joyce says the process his brewery uses not only insures freshness, it also means that the pumpkin seasonal will arrive in stores, restaurants, and bars when this type of beer should be arriving.
“It’s part of the Grow-Your-Own revolution,” said Joyce. “We never understood summer pumpkin beers, they just made no sense to us. Instead, we chose to take the extra time to grow our own pumpkins, so what you’re tasting isn’t something out of a tube, a can or a lab, but real pumpkin, complete with the terroir of the Willamette Valley.”
I’m not a huge fan of pumpkin beers, but I have found some good examples of this seasonal style and Rogue Pumpkin Patch Ale is definitely one of them. I, too, get a little frustrated with these early seasonal releases and I respect that Rogue holds back on its annual pumpkin beer release until the actual fall season has arrived.
Pumpkin Patch Ale is available in 750 ml bottles and on draft in many places where Rogue beer is presently distributed. To find this seasonal treat near you, use the Rogue Beer Finder. To learn more about Oregon- based Rogue Ales and Rogue Farms, visit online at Rogue.com.
Not really a fan of beer, but wouldn’t be a bad idea to try just one bottle one day just that am not sure if I have ever come across pumpkin beer before.
There are more pumpkin beers out there than you realize, but many of them are not very good. Shipyard Pumpkin is one example of a pumpkin beer to avoid. This one, from Rogue, is better than most and worthy of a try.
Im not a pumpkin lover, but I love the season.
This one, from Rogue, is a good example of what a pumpkin beer should be like. I’m not a huge fan of pumpkin beers overall, because many of them are not that good. But this one is worthy of a try