These fall Missouri beers offer something to please pumpkin lovers — and haters

Aarik Danielsen, Columbia Daily Tribune
·2 min read
'Tis the season to partake of pumpkin beer.
'Tis the season to partake of pumpkin beer.

Across menus and markets, it's harvest time for fall flavors.

Not to be outdone by their peers in coffee and other beverages, Missouri brewers show up and show out, creating a number of seasonal beers. This is good news for pumpkin lovers, no doubt, with many choices conjured up across the state.

But Missouri beer drinkers who can't stand pumpkin ales also can find promising options through area breweries. Here is just a flight of what's available on taps and in stores.

Keep an eye out for Flat Branch's Great Pumpkin ale

In Columbia, the most-talked about fall beer is Flat Branch Pub and Brewing's annual while-supplies-last Great Pumpkin Ale. The brewery boasts of using around 200 pounds of pumpkin each year, and relying on five key spices. Eager drinkers should train an eye on Flat Branch's social media because once this beer is tapped, it goes quick. (5.5% ABV)

4 Hands Ill Repute (St. Louis)

This seasonal option from one of the most reliable breweries in a great beer city mingles cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger with more dominant flavors of pumpkin, caramel and chocolate. (8.5% ABV)

Mother's Mr. Pumpkin (Springfield)

This very drinkable pumpkin ale promises "a generous dose of Columbus hops" along with nutmeg, cinnamon and more. (5.2% ABV)

O'Fallon Brewery various styles (Maryland Heights)

This St. Louis-area brewery goes pumpkin mad during the season, offering no less than six pumpkin-related styles: their standard Pumpkin Beer (5.6% ABV); Vanilla Pumpkin Beer (5.5% ABV); Salted Caramel Pumpkin Beer (5.4%); a pumpkin-flavored Oktoberfest (5.8%); the Jack O'Latte milk stout (6.6%) and Chai Pumpkin Porter (5% ABV).

Schlafly Pumpkin Ale (St. Louis)

A longstanding fall beer, Schalfly's well-honed offering is "fermented in pounds of fresh pumpkin squash and a brewer’s wort and sugar mix before being filtered through a spiced infusion of cinnamon, clove and nutmeg," the brewery notes. (8% ABV)

Welpman Springs Shubunkin Punkin Amber Ale (Stover)

This Morgan County brewery subverts expectations by saying this brew will not taste like "pumpkin pie in a glass." While clearly brewed with pumpkin, the beer — named for a Missouri goldfish — eschews traditional pie spices. (4.7% ABV)

Fall-flavored beers for people who don't like pumpkin

If pumpkin isn't for your palate, Missouri brewers deliver other intriguing options. They include:

  • 4 Hands' Imperial Hot Chocolate Milk Stout (8.5% ABV, available in November)

  • Boulevard Brewing Co.'s Cinnamon Bun Ale (Kansas City, 9.5% ABV, listed as "coming soon" on the brewery's website)

  • Crane Brewing's Apple Spice Gose (Raytown, 4.5% ABV)

  • Perennial's Black Walnut Dunkel (St. Louis, 6.6% ABV)

  • Wages Brewing Co.'s Mississipecan Brown (West Plains, 5.3% ABV)

Aarik Danielsen is the features and culture editor for the Tribune. Contact him at adanielsen@columbiatribune.com or by calling 573-815-1731. He's on Twitter @aarikdanielsen.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri fall beers to please pumpkin lovers — and haters