Every sweater season, another pundit declares pumpkin beers dead, killed by consumers’ culinary fatigue with all things pumpkin spice. But every year, the gourd-flavored beer rises from the grave right on schedule—like a Halloween zombie—to sell out at bars and breweries across Pittsburgh. 

A decade ago, most pumpkin beers were all the same: some variation on an amber ale, light on creativity and heavy on baking spice. Today’s brews are vastly different. In Pittsburgh alone, there are breweries concocting pumpkin tartshakes, pumpkin white stouts, yam-mashed IPAs—and even pumpkin beer without any pumpkin at all.

While pumpkin beer has been around in various forms for centuries, the modern American revival can be traced to the early 1980s, when craft brewers began experimenting with the seasonal flavor. Despite the name, pumpkin beer doesn’t always contain actual pumpkin. There can be pumpkin purée or pumpkin concentrate, but also winter squash or spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and ginger that create a flavor reminiscent of pumpkin pie. Because pumpkin itself has a mild flavor, the spices often do much of the heavy lifting.

Here, some of the most interesting versions to try over the next two months, all brewed locally or by nearby Pennsylvania breweries. And when you’re done tasting the beers below, hit up Pittsburgh’s other craft breweries for more local brews.

The Newest Way to Pumpkin Beer

Yam Jam at Dancing Gnome Brewery

If you’re housebound until Halloween, fear not: Dancing Gnome extends the spirit of pumpkin beer season into November with Yam Jam, a 6.8% ABV IPA with six different hops—Citra, Mosaic, Simcoe, Strata, Nectaron, and Nelson—that’s mashed with 100 pounds of roasted yams. The recipe has changed a bit over the years, but Dancing Gnome has always managed to produce one of the best IPAs in the city—if not the country.

Yam Jam is available on draft and in cans around the city, or at the brewery in Sharpsburg.

Barrel-Aged Nunkin at East End Brewing

What started as a joke—Nunkin contains no actual pumpkin—has become one of Pittsburgh’s most anticipated pumpkin beer releases. First brewed in 2011, it’s aged in bourbon barrels and made with a spice blend that gives it a distinctly pumpkin-y flavor. It’s a high ABV ale—usually 7.9%—and to try it, you’ll have to head to East End Brewing’s Mount Lebanon taproom or Larimer brewpub. If you’re lucky, you can sometimes find it in cans at better beer establishments or on draft around the city.

Star Crumb Pumpkin at Cinderlands

Made by Cinderlands, a brewery and taproom based in the Strip, the Star Crumb series includes some of the most unique beers you’ll taste in Pittsburgh. For proof, you need just one sip of Pumpkin: it’s a tartshake, a fruited sour that blurs the line between a sour, an IPA, and a milkshake. 

Designed to taste like an alcoholic pumpkin milkshake in a glass, the beer is brewed with hundreds of pounds of real pumpkin purée per barrel, along with cinnamon, nutmeg, and Madagascar vanilla bean. If you’re dairy free, you’ll want to skip this one: the beer also contains milk sugar, a.k.a. lactose, which gives the brew its signature creaminess.

It’s available in cans and on draft at Cinderlands, and will also be featured at Hundred Acre Manor, the Halloween attraction in South Park. Only one batch was brewed, and it’s expected to sell out by October 31.

Throwback and Easy as Pie at Hitchhiker Brewing Co.

Hitchhiker Brewing makes two awesome pumpkin beers, which brewer Andy Kwiatkowski says “are the most popular thing we sell right now.” The first is Throwback, a straightforward, 6.6% ABV pumpkin ale brewed with pumpkin and toasted malts and conditioned over pumpkin spices and vanilla bean. It’s scheduled for released in two weeks and should stick around a little longer than Easy as Pie, though it still goes extremely quickly. 

The more unique beer is the 6.4% ABV Easy as Pie, a cleverly named White Stout brewed to taste like—what else?—a pumpkin spice latte. Brewed with oats and wheat and conditioned on coffee, baking spices, marshmallow, and vanilla, it’s a creamy celebration of the season.

Both beers are available in cans and on draft from the brewery. Easy as Pie drops on September 4 and won’t last the weekend in cans, though it will see limited distribution. Throwback follows in two weeks.

Zombies Are People Too, Double Zombies, Barrel Aged Double Zombies, Werewolf, and Barrel Aged Werewolf at New Trail Brewing Company

New Trail Brewing is based in Williamsport, about three hours northeast of Pittsburgh, but their beers often find their way to the Burgh—and you’ll be glad they made the trip. The brewery’s autumn offerings are like a masterclass in pumpkin, and this year they’ve transformed the gourd into five different pumpkin beers: Zombies Are People Too, Double Zombies, Barrel Aged Double Zombies, Werewolf, and Barrel Aged Werewolf. All of them are delicious, but keep your eyes open for Barrel Aged Double Zombies—made with maple syrup—which won a bronze medal at this year’s World Beer Cup.

New Trail’s pumpkin beers are available in draft and cans around the city. If you’re having trouble finding them, check out the beer finder on the New Trail website.

Master of Pumpkins at Tröegs Independent Brewing

Another classic from Central Pennsylvania, Master of Pumpkins is a seasonal release and one of the best regularly scheduled pumpkin beers in the country. Available annually every September and October, the 7.5% ABV beer is made with 3,000 pounds of pumpkin grown only a few miles from the brewery. Add in cinnamon, clove, ginger, and nutmeg, as well as German Northern Brewer hops and Belgian ale yeast, and you’ve got a dark brown, boozy beer that’s perfect for cool nights.

Master of Pumpkins is available on draft and in cans around the city.

Endless Moon at Old Thunder Brewing

Old Thunder in Blawnox doesn’t make a pumpkin beer, but they do have Endless Moon, a 5.5% German-style lager that screams autumn with a capital A. Brewed with Munich and Vienna malts, it’s a crisp, refreshing beer with toasted-bread notes and delicate Hallertau Mittelfrüh hop character. If pumpkin beer isn’t your thing, this should be your go-to for celebrating the fall season.

Find a bite for when you’re done drinking with our guide to Pittsburgh dining.

Story by Kenny Gould
Featured Photo From Cinderlands

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