This is a paid sponsored post from our friends at Elysian Brewing
In 1997, Elysian Brewing’s now-longest-serving employee, Markus Stinson, made a bold decision. One that would change the Seattle-based brewery’s path forever. He brewed a pumpkin beer.
The first beer Stinson designed on his own as a brewer was something no one else was doing at the time. And he wanted to stand out, making a beer that was “pretty, dignified, and drinkable but not wimpy.”
Using roasted seeds and pumpkin, Stinson brewed four barrels of what became known as Night Owl, named after a bartender, Hazel, who always stayed up late.
The beer sold so fast that Stinson brewed eight barrels the following year. “It sold out,” says Josie Redmond, Senior Home Market Brand Manager for Elysian. Each year, Stinson brewed more—twenty barrels, forty barrels—and each year, the pumpkin beer flew out of the brewery.
Fast forward to 2024: Elysian has made over 100 different pumpkin beers, is the largest purveyor of pumpkin beer in the U.S., and is known for creating the world’s first imperial pumpkin ale.
Every fall, they release at least four varieties of pumpkin beers in their Pumpkin Pack, and they even host an entire festival dedicated to just one thing: pumpkin beer.
It’s safe to say that Elysian is the boss of the squash. But why? Where does this love come from for such a polarizing beer style? And how do they keep innovating, over two decades later?
The answers will light you up brighter than a jack-o-lantern on Halloween.
What Is the History of the Great Pumpkin Festival?
When Elysian Cellarmaster Dan-o Beyer taps a giant pumpkin filled with beer, arms reach out for pours, and the Great Pumpkin Beer Festival (GPBF) is officially in full swing.
The event started small, twenty years ago. When Elysian brewed its first four pumpkin beers, they invited a couple of friends to Elysian’s original home—the brewery’s Capitol Hill Pub.
Armed with eight pumpkin beers—four from Elysian and four from guest breweries—the first festival crushed it. And it just kept growing from there, spilling out into the parking lot and eventually the Seattle Center.
Elysian’s GPBF has become a bit of a local legend, attracting, on average, 6,000 pumpkin beer drinkers a year.
When asked to describe the fest, Redmond and Elysian Brewing Innovation Manager Brian Wold looked at each other first, grinned, and laughed.
“How do we describe it?” says Redmond. “It’s unlike any other beer festival. It’s amazing. It’s so energetic.”
Wold picked up the thread, saying, “It’s joyful. These people are here to drink pumpkin beer, which is odd, but they’re just having a good time!”
Redmond chimes in again. “It’s polarizing, right? People love or hate pumpkin beer, so these are all people who love it. It’s all of us pumpkin weirdos, celebrating pumpkin beer!”
For instance, it wouldn’t be too crazy for you to see people dressed up as Ghostbusters or wearing pumpkin heads. Elysian even hosts an annual costume contest, making the festival like a giant Halloween party.
Other surprises usually include a pumpkin pie eating contest, carnival games, pumpkin carving, fortune teller readings, and the pièce de résistance for some—free Elysian tattoos. GPBF merch has historically sold out in two hours, and this year will include a unique, top-secret hoodie for VIPs.
According to Redmond, people line up early just to get tattoos of Elysian’s beer labels.
Everything culminates in tapping that humongous pumpkin filled with one of Elysian’s core pumpkin beers.
The ritual gives off vibes of the official Munich Oktoberfest, where the mayor of Munich starts every festival by tapping a ceremonial keg.
“It is the kickoff of the season for me,” says Redmond.
The GPBF pumpkin tapping tradition started when one of our brewers suggested that we put beer in a pumpkin, so we did!” says Beyer. The team tested it a few days later, then made a fresh “pumpkin keg” for the festival that held about five gallons. It was such a spectacle, that Elysian has incorporated the practice into each year’s lineup.
“As the festival grew, the pumpkin grew,” laughs Redmond.
Today, Elysian ‘gourds’ all out, starting with the Great Pumpkin Weigh-Off the weekend before GPBF, where farmers bring their giant pumpkins to Elysian’s Seattle headquarters. The brewery typically buys the top four heaviest pumpkins, filling two with beer, one for each night of the festival, and live-carving the other two with chainsaws during the event.
These are no run-of-the-mill jack-o-lanterns. According to Redmond, last year, the brewery bought their largest-ever pumpkin.
It clocked in at 2,023 pounds!
The Perfect Pumpkin Beer
With over 100 pumpkin beers under its belt, Elysian’s perfect pumpkin beer starts with choosing the right canvas. “I’m thinking dark beers, ambers, maybe Vienna lagers,” says Wold. “Lagers that are a little richer are great starting points.”
When he starts adding pumpkin to the liquid—Wold is adamant that an excellent pumpkin beer should have actual pumpkin—he avoids adding too much because the beer can get too earthy.
Wold says the form of pumpkin he uses depends on the recipe and type of beer he’s making, but generally, he adds chunks or puree at the beginning of the mash. “This way, the starch and sugars in the pumpkin get added to the future beer,” he explains. “Here at Elysian, we use puree in the mash and then switch to a concentrate in our fermenting vessel. A concentrate has had some of the water removed, so it has a higher sugar content, which means we don’t need as many buckets of puree taking up space in our mash.”
Overall, Wold looks for balance, ensuring the pumpkin is noticeable but not dominant.
When adding spices to a pumpkin beer, balance becomes the word of the day again.
Wold recommends using cinnamon and nutmeg while going easy on the clove. He notes that allspice and ginger go great in pumpkin beers, too.
But you don’t get over twenty years of pumpkin beers just by making the standard starch.
Elysian has a whole slew of squash creations in its back pocket.
The Boss of Squash, 100 Pumpkin Beers Later
As brewing innovation manager for the last five years, Wold’s job description As brewing innovation manager for the last five years, Wold’s job description now includes creating new, unique pumpkin beers for each year.
“That’s the challenge of brewing pumpkin beer,” says Wold. “It’s such a polarizing style; how do I make this work? I think you can deliver something that people still enjoy just by how you change it up.”
Wold gets inspired by everything around him—savory dishes, recipes he reads, and cooking shows he watches.
To help Wold with ideas, the brewery now hosts an internal contest, asking employees to submit their favorite pumpkin beer ideas.
For instance, Pumpkin Cinnamonster, a brown ale inspired by a pumpkin cinnamon roll.
“I don’t think I would have thought of doing the cream cheese frosting in addition to the pumpkin and cinnamon,” says Wold, who constantly keeps his antenna up for new pumpkin projects.
Here are a few of Wold and Redmond’s favorite pumpkin beer innovations throughout the years:
The Great Pumpkin
Brewed by Stinson as Elysian’s one-thousandth batch, The Great Pumpkin is essentially “a bigger, bolder, badder Night Owl,” Redmond explains.
Redmond loves The Great Pumpkin because “those spices really come through,” she says. “And it’s very crisp.”
With an 8% ABV, The Great Pumpkin is considered the world’s first imperial pumpkin ale. And it is very drinkable, according to Redmond.
She’s not the only one who thinks so.
“It’s usually the more popular one,” says Wold.
Pumpasalakin
Inspired by a pumpkin curry dish, Wold added the Northern Indian spice garam masala—typically a blend of things like cinnamon, mace, peppercorns, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cayenne pepper, and cardamom pods—to an amber beer base.
“I wanted to play with the spices a little bit more,” says Wold, who also added cinnamon, ginger, and allspice to this pumpkin beer. “I thought it turned out very interesting with that more savory spice.”
Gourdziskie
Starting with a smoked Polish beer base called grodziskie, Wold makes an oak-smoked pumpkin wheat ale.
“The subtle smokiness of the oak really, really worked with the pumpkin and the few spices that I used just to touch it up,” he says. “I thought grodziskie was just waiting to be turned into Gourdziskie!”
Plum Founded
Inspired by an older version called Purple Pumpkin Eater, featuring Friar plums from CLS Farms in Washington’s Yakima Valley, Wold brewed his own “plumpkin” beer called Plum Founded.
“Plums and pumpkin and cinnamon just work well together,” he says. “It was a really delightful flavor combo.”
Steamy Hollow
A play on Washington Irving’s infamous “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” Steamy Hollow starts with a California Common (aka steam beer) base before getting a dose of pumpkin.
“The subtle gourdiness showed through, but it wasn’t over the top,” says Wold. “It worked really well in that style.”
Mr. Yuck Sour Pumpkin Ale
“Possibly through hearsay, we might [have brewed] the first pumpkin sour ever,” says Wold. Mr. Yuck Pumpkin Ale is “a subtly sour pumpkin golden ale,” says Wold. “That was a good one.”
Rye Barrel-Aged Pumpkin Old Fashioned
Another one of Redmond’s favorites, this pumpkin beer mimics the flavors of an Old Fashioned cocktail with a hint of pumpkin beer.
“Last year, we served it at the Great Pumpkin Beer Festival with a cherry!” Redmond explains gleefully. “I thought it was cool that we brought in that Old Fashioned element.”
Can’t Decide Which Pumpkin Beer to Try?
Elysian thought of that, too.
Every year since 2012, they’ve released a Pumpkin Pack, including four of Elysian’s most popular pumpkin beer varieties.
“It’s a nice way for people to try four if they haven’t tried any,” says Redmond.
This year, the Pumpkin Pack includes:
Night Owl – First brewed in 1997, Night Owl includes pumpkin puree and juice and spices such as ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice. You can expect notes of vanilla, caramel, brown sugar, and, of course, pumpkin. “Our quintessential pumpkin beer,” explains Redmond. “It’s that standard pumpkin ale.”
The Great Pumpkin – Considered the world’s first imperial pumpkin ale, The Great Pumpkin has all the flavors of a boozy pumpkin pie in a glass. “It’s our double Night Owl, so it has that bigger, bolder pumpkin flavor,” says Redmond. “Which is awesome!”
Punkuccino – A milk stout brewed with Stumptown coffee, Punkuccino is like a pumped-up pumpkin spice latte—everything you love about the morning drink with a bit of evening flair.
Dark O’ The Moon – This 8.4% ABV pumpkin stout is spookily smooth and chocolatey with a slight smokiness. Pouring dark as Halloween night, Dark O’ The Moon is perfect for autumn with its dark fruit notes and full, creamy body.
A Pumpkin Beer Prognosis
As we all know, pumpkin beer has been a polarizing style for quite some time. But every year, as the leaves change colors and a chill nips through the air, pumpkin becomes the prince and princess at Elysian Brewing.
And they unabashedly have no plans to change that any time soon.
“How do we innovate? We always want to surprise and excite our consumers,” says Redmond. “We’re always trying to keep it fresh and keep it fun.”
When asked what the future looks like for pumpkin beer, Wold didn’t miss a beat.
“To spread the goodness to the nation that pumpkin can work,” he replied. “We are committed to pumpkin.”
Where Can I Find Elysian’s Pumpkin Pack
You can find Elysian’s pumpkin pack at select retailers across the nation. Check out Elysian’s Beer Finder to hunt one down near you!