Fall is coming...

Hey all,

So with the cold bite in the air this morning, it is obvious that fall is coming soon.  As you can see from the "What's in the Works" section to the left we already have Octoberfest, Hop Harvest I and Hop Harvest II fermenting away.  I know that a lot of you have been drinking other pumpkin ales now for weeks, if not months, and that's what I want to talk to you about now.  I am not sure when the fall seasonal became such a huge seller for all large scale production breweries out there, but in order to capture more of the market the pumpkin ales and/or Oktoberfest bier have been coming out earlier and earlier every year.  I am pretty sure I saw a pumpkin beer display in August this year.  Crazy!

With this being said I wanted to let you guys know how we make our pumpkin beer at the Portsmouth Brewery and how that affects when we release it.  We use locally grown pumpkins from Blueberry Bay Farms in Stratham, NH.  We use 100 pounds of fresh, local pumpkins in each 7 barrel batch.  We think it's vital to use pumpkins that were grown the same year that we brew the beer.  Fresh and local is the best after all!  As you know farming is much like making a fine ale; you can't rush the process if you want to get good results

So long story short, I am making a Pumpkin Ale (as well as a double batch of the Imperial Pumpkin Porter) this year.  But the pumpkins still have a week or so before they hit their perfect ripeness.  So keep an eye out on the in the "What's in the Works" sidebar of this blog to see when our Pumpkin Ale is under way.  It will be worth the wait!

Cheers,
Tyler