PORTLAND, Maine (MainStreet) -- Pumpkin beer is growing into a patch full of competition and a sophisticated seasonal beer for discerning beer drinkers.
Since Shipyard Brewing of Portland, Maine, introduced its Pumpkinhead pumpkin ale to the masses 10 years ago, production has grown from fewer than 2,100 barrels in 2002 to 19,000, Shipyard's co-founder and master brewer Alan Pugsley says. During that decade, enough craft brewers have poured out their take on pumpkin ales and pumpkin stouts to attract the attention of their bigger brewing brethren.
Anheuser-Busch InBev weighed in with its Michelob Jack's Pumpkin Spice Ale in 2005, MolsonCoors topped off its Blue Moon series with Harvest Moon ale in 2006 (and rebranded it as Harvest Pumpkin Ale this year) and even big craft brewer Boston Beer just added Samuel Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale to its selection in 2010. Even as the market crowds and brewers' pumpkin vines tangle, there's still enough demand to force Shipyard to extend Shipyard's August-through-October release season to Thanksgiving and to increase production to an estimated 30,000 barrels -- or more than 413,000 cases.
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