Elysian Brewing was born in Seattle. But as fall kicks into full swing, you won’t find anything approaching the Pumpkin Spice Latte flavor fellow Washington juggernaut Starbucks has developed into a national frenzy in their beers.
Pumpkin, sure. Hell, they’ve got four nationally distributed pumpkin beers ranging from ales to stouts and crushable to heavy. But there’s no pie-adjacent, sugary-sweet brew amongst their flagship beers despite the neverending rising tide of pumpkin spice … everything. That’s on purpose.
“Starbucks has a reputation as a soccer mom, SUV type drink,” founder Joe Bisacca told me midway through a pumpkin beer tasting session. “I think Elysian’s vein is more ’72 [Dodge] Challenger. There’s a little more edge to it. Latte inspired? Maybe, but we’ll put a twist on it that’s a little more edgy.”
That doesn’t mean there aren’t spiced beers in the company’s portfolio. Crack open a bottle of Night Owl Pumpkin Ale and you’ll get plenty of cinnamon and nutmeg right from the first whiff — it just won’t be Starbucks sugary, and it will be unmistakably Elysian. It also doesn’t mean those sweeter beers don’t exist at all — just that their distribution is limited to the brewery’s annual Great Pumpkin Beer Festival.
“We do 10-12 pumpkin beers each year to fill out Pumpkin Fest,” Cellermaster Dan Beyer said. “We go as eclectic as one can — a straight up PSL clone is not unheard of. You’ll hear multiple instances of “latte” in our Pumpkin Fest lineup this year.”
That’s great if you’re in Washington to help bartenders drain a hollowed-out, 1,800-pound gourd on the festival grounds. You’ll also get to try guest brews in styles like pumpkin pickle beer, cinnamon roll stout and apple cobbler ale — two-thirds of which sound pretty good.
But if you’re, say, stuck in Wisconsin your options are limited to Elysian’s core four pumpkin beers. And while I’m wishy-washy on the topic — there are so many ways to do pumpkin ales and every brewery’s take is different, leading to a wild variation even before you get to overall quality — I’d be remiss if I didn’t tuck into this year’s pack from a trusted brewer.
Let’s see how it tastes.