Friday, September 28, 2012

PUMPKIN BEER


Or What we call at 822
Punkin Beer

You know it's autumn when this festive specialty beer is placed on the shelves
I've tried them all and this is my favorite


I even have glasses to match my beer
 always freezing in the freezer...because they are 
CUTE!
&
YUM!

The best kind of TGIF includes
a fire in the firepit, football, snackipoos and an ice cold
pumpkin beer!

via google

The History Via Google

Pumpkin beer first became popular as a major component in colonial cups of "flip"—
a standard drink throughout the colonies that mixed rum, beer, and sugar. The 
reason for the mix was simple - those items were much more easily found in early 
America than things needed to produce a more sophisticated brew.

But why use pumpkins instead of malt to make beer? Again the answer was one of 
practicality. Pumpkin was adopted simply because of availability. It is a native 
American plant. In fact it was completely unknown to most Europeans before the 
16th century. On the other hand, good malt was not so readily accessible—
fermentable sugars had to be found where they could, and in the first pumpkin beers, 
the meat of the pumpkin took the place of malt entirely.

Pumpkin's great asset in early America was its versatility. It could be used to make 
good tasting beer, bread, custards, sauce, molasses, vinegar, and, on thanksgiving 
day, pies, as a substitute for what the Puritans said was the "unholy" minced pie.

Here is a method of making pumpkin beer dated to 1771, from the American 
Philosophical Society, Philadelphia::
Receipt for Pompion (Pumpkin) Ale: Let the Pompion be beaten in a Trough and 
pressed as Apples. The expressed Juice is to be boiled in a Copper a considerable Time 
and carefully skimmed that there may be no Remains of the fibrous Part of the Pulp. After 
that Intention is answered let the Liquor be hopped cooled fermented as Malt Beer. 
NOTE-There is no cinnamon, no nutmeg, no malt; it's getting sugars for yeast to 
metabolize from the flesh of the fruit. Hard-up colonists used all sorts of ingreients for 
these sugars, including pumpkin, parsnips, molasses, cornstalks, and more.

Pumpkin beer continued to be a staple throughout the 18th century but its popularity 
began to wane by the early 19th century as the pumpkin itself began to be viewed as 
something quaint and rustic. Further pushing the pumpkin to the brewer's outhouse 
was the new easy access to quality malts thanks to more and more local farmers 
growing it as a cash crop. Pumpkin beer made an aborted entry to brewing as a 
flavoring agent by the mid 1800s but it failed to catch on with the beer drinking 
masses.

Today's pumpkin beers have little in common with their colonial ancestors. Instead of 
tasting pumpkins, modern versions give you 'pumpkin pie in a glass. Many seem to 
use an overbundance of spices such as nutmeg and cloves to cover up the fact that 
they've brewed a very mediocre beer without any real pumpkin as a main ingredents.

Generally speaking, pumpkin ale can be found on store shelves from September 
through November and the more popular bottles tend to sell out quickly as it does on 
draft at bars and restaurants throughout the fall. But where did the notion of reviving 
pumpkin beer originate?

The honor is claimed by Buffalo Bill's Brewery, which has been making their 
America's Original Pumpkin Beer since the late 1980s, using one of George 
Washington's recipes as an inspiration. Although the experimental batches used 
pumpkin as an ingredient, the commercial version stuck with pumpkin pie spices 
instead though they now make an Imperial Pumpkin Ale with some actual pumpkin.

10 comments:

Jane and Lance Hattatt said...

Hello Gina:
Kellemes hétvégét!!

Now this is something which is entirely new to us and, as far as we are aware, unheard of in Hungary although of that we cannot be entirely certain. Generally though here not a great deal is made of pumpkins in any form.

Anonymous said...

well I never heard of this but I like the sound of it!!

Marina in Blue said...

Thanks for your work of research, very very interesting, I'm not joking, I like a lot learning about other cultures and ways of using food, thank you

momto8 said...

I always knew beer was healthy

carolyn bradford said...

I've never had it but I'm always game to try a good beer! I know my son would love it! Have a great weekend!

Maureen Wyatt said...

I've never even heard of this stuff and feel it's my duty to track some down and test it out! I'm very good about doing this kind of service for people. lol ~ Maureen

HolleyGarden said...

I'm always amazed at how seemingly the colonists would make beer out of anything! ;) And I loved that recipe!

Woodside Park said...

I've never heard of it. Will be on the lookout. There is a Rock Bottom Brewery around the corner from my shop.....will check there. Hope your renovation is nearly done!

Anonymous said...

Never heard of it, but sounds delicious, especially with those ice cold glasses.
Thanks for stopping by the shop.
XOXO's,
Marcia

The Tuscan Home said...

Sounds delish, I'm up for some Autumn Pumpkin ale! Cheers! =)