10 Best Pumpkin Beers Available Before Fall

Before you go diving into a patch of pumpkin brews willy nilly, however, we've put together a list of the season's top pumpkin beers with the help of our friends at BeerAdvocate and RateBeer. It's tough to go wrong with this style, but solid brews such as these make it even tougher:  

Cape Ann Brewing Fisherman's Pumpkin Stout 

BeerAdvocate rating: 84 of 100
RateBeer rating: 93 of 100
Pumpkin and spice is just fine for a bake sale. If you're trying to get into the spirit of the season, there'd best be some Halloween-style chocolate in the mix.  

This is where Gloucester, Mass.-based Cape Ann excels. Its dark, chocolatey stout blends in pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. There's a lot of fall aroma on the nose, tons of flavor on the finish and a somewhat strong 7% ABV behind it. When you're in a leaf-peeping mecca such as New England and have a brewery minutes away from some of the area's finest foliage, a strong fall beer such as Fisherman's Pumpkin Stout is just what slow-driving, cabin-renting tourists are looking for.   

Jolly Pumpkin Brewing's La Parcela No. 1 Pumpkin Ale 

BeerAdvocate rating: 87 of 100
RateBeer rating: 97 of 100
A brewery named Jolly Pumpkin really should have a pumpkin ale.

Dexter, Mich.-based brewer Jolly Pumpkin didn't brew a pumpkin beer for several years, but the only pumpkin ale it brews is a beast. Though teeming with touches of cinnamon, allspice and pumpkin, La Parcela can taste a bit like an orange-infused wheat beer when it first hits the tongue.

A little bit of cocoa in the mix makes a lot of difference in this surprisingly sweet brew, but the underrated draw is its 5.9% ABV -- remarkably low for a beer this bold. A great bring-your-own 22-ounce bomber for this year's Halloween parties.

Avery Brewing Company Rumpkin 

BeerAdvocate rating: 87 of 100
RateBeer rating: 99 of 100
Want to get a good scare out of your pumpkin-pie-beer-drinking friends this Halloween? Show up to a party with a foil-wrapped 12-ounce bottle of 15.9% ABV brew. That'll spook them away from your spot in the beer fridge.  

Boulder, Colo.-based Avery pulls no punches with its pumpkin offering. Sure, there's a whole lot of roasted pumpkin, nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger in there, but try finding most of it behind the oak-and-molasses flavor left behind by the rum barrel Rumpkin was aged in. For lovers of stiff cocktails and rum punch, this brew is an absolute dream. For leaf peepers who love to pull multiple brews from the cabin fridge, it's an absolute nightmare.  

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