Does Pumpkin Beer Actually Have Real Pumpkin In It?

Fall is pumpkin spice season, and if you aren't a fan, you might as well hide under a rock, because it's pretty much inescapable. While the pumpkin spice latte gets a lot of attention this time of year, for folks looking for something brewed with a bit more of a kick, pumpkin beer becomes the object of our obsession.

If you're not well acquainted, there are loads of different pumpkin-style pints for you to try, and we've ranked the best and worst pumpkin beers for fall. While some pumpkin-flavored goodies don't have any real pumpkin in them at all, many pumpkin brews on the market are made with real-deal pumpkin, though the capacity in which it is incorporated can vary. 

Beer is typically made through a process where the sugars present in grain are fermented, which produces alcohol and carbon dioxide — aka booze and bubbles. In the case of pumpkin beer, however, pumpkin flesh was historically used in place of grain, though that's not always the case today.  Some varieties, like Brooklyn Brewery's Post Road pumpkin ale, still use real pumpkin during the brewing process. Perhaps worthy of a spot on the list of secrets that beer companies don't want you to know, however, is that many other brands introduce pumpkin puree or flavoring to an already established malt beer, rather than fermenting pumpkin. 

While pumpkin beer may seem like a trendy new thing, born from the ever-growing pumpkin spice craze, it has actually been around for a really long time. In fact, it was a fan favorite of American colonists when they landed in the New World. More accurately, they didn't necessarily love the stuff, but grain to make beer was in short supply. There were plenty of pumpkins, though (which are native to North America), so pumpkin ale would have to do! 

Even among those brands that do still use real pumpkin today, most still include spices, malt, and hops to improve the flavor. That's because pumpkin adds little to the beer in the way of flavor. When all is said and done, it's the addition of spices that creates that fall-heavy taste that some modern-day drinkers love (and others hate).

If you'd really like to play up the pumpkin notes — or otherwise just the spice flavorings — in your drink, there is one little trick you can pull when your plain old pumpkin beer needs a little kick: garnish it with a tasty cinnamon and sugar rim. Simply run the rim of the glass under water or brush it with a touch of maple syrup, twist the rim in a bowl of cinnamon sugar, and voilà! Fall in a pint glass.