Is Boston Beer Company on a roll this fall or what? A few weeks ago I picked up their Fall Variety Pack at Target for just $13.29 (what a deal!) and was very impressed with the two new beers I’ve tried so far: Samuel Adams Bonfire Blonde and Samuel Adams Toasted Caramel Bock. I haven’t popped the Samuel Adams Maple Ale yet but it’s still August after all, and I guess I should save some of my fall ales at least for September.

You’re not here to read about those beers, though, are you? No, you’re here for Samuel Adams 20 Pounds of Pumpkin, not found in the sampler but sold in 6-packs all by itself. I picked up one of these, also at Target, about a week after the Fall Variety Packs first appeared. By no stretch of the imagination is this the first pumpkin beer from Boston Beer. Wise to the ways of finicky craft beer drinkers always looking for something new, Boston Beer keeps coming up with new pumpkin beers and labels.

First to arrive in my recollection was Samuel Adams Harvest Pumpkin in 2010, followed by Samuel Adams Double Pumpkin in 2011, which was renamed Samuel Adams Fat Jack Double Pumpkin Ale in 2012, and Samuel Adams Pumpkin Batch in 2015. All of these were different from each other (save for the renamed Fat Jack and its predecessor), but to my taste Samuel Adams 20 Pounds of Pumpkin is a lot like the Samuel Adams Harvest Pumpkin of 6 years ago.

From the label:

The Pilgrims brewed from pumpkins when they had no grain. Today we add pumpkins, well, because they taste good. Twenty pounds of pumpkin per barrel give this beer body and sweetness, while spices like cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg warm you on a crisp fall day.

Ingredients from the website:

HOP VARIETIES: East Kent Goldings and Fuggles

MALT VARIETIES: Samuel Adams two-row pale malt blend, Caramel 60, Special B, and smoked malt

YEAST STRAIN: Samuel Adams Ale Yeast

SPECIAL INGREDIENTS: Real pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg & allspice

Samuel Adams 20 pounds of Pumpkin has an alcohol content of 5.7% by volume with 14 IBUs. I paid $8.55 for a six-pack at Target, definitely a bargain these days.

Samuel Adams 20 pounds of Pumpkin pours to a brilliant chestnut color with a medium head of creamy tan foam and rich spicy notes of ginger and nutmeg in the nose. The beer has rich molasses notes in the palate, brown sugar, gentle roasted notes, a hint of fleshy pumpkin but it’s really drowned out by the malts and the rich spicy notes of ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg, the latter boldly emerging in the finish to dry the beer nicely. In some respects, the dark malts here and spice recall mince pie to me more than pumpkin, but I do get the pumpkin connection too.

Samuel Adams 20 Pounds of Pumpkin may be a little darker and fuller a beer than Harvest Pumpkin was. It’s truly delicious, and at the bargain price, it’s a new fall favorite for this pumpkin loving Bruguru.

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