By now, everyone should know about Elysian Brewing’s Great Pumpkin Beer Festival – Friday, October 4th through Sunday, October 6th. If there is another pumpkin beer festival anywhere in the world that compares to the GPBF, I’ve yet to hear about it. I know there are others, but what Elysian puts together each year is crazy. And it just keeps growing. This is a fantastic festival that continues to gain national attention, especially among the most seriously afflicted beer geeks. And for us Seattleites, it happens right here in our backyard.
Exact numbers are hard to pin down. Rumor has it that for the 9th annual Great Pumpkin Beer Festival 79 local and not-so-local breweries will be pouring their gourd-inspired creations. You never know who might be sending beer to the GPBF. Maybe even some breweries from other states that don’t normally send beer to Washington. Uhmmm. I digress. Expect to find about 60 different pumpkin beers on tap at any given moment. As many as 23 of these pumpkin beers were brewed by, or in collaboration with, Elysian Brewing. (showoffs.) And for those seeking a gluten-free option, we know for certain that Seattle Cider Company is sending its Pumpkin Spice Cider.
Elysian’s Great Pumpkin Beer Festival runs Friday through Sunday. The Saturday session is sold out. Friday evening and Sunday afternoon will very likely sell out in short order so get your tickets now. The event takes place in and around the Elysian production brewery in Georgetown. Details about the event are details below.
It’s Not About the Pumpkins, It’s About the Pumpkins
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More than a celebration of pumpkin beers, this is a celebration of pumpkin beers. I mean that exactly as I said it. Yes, pumpkin beers can be delicious, creative and inspired, but that doesn’t entirely overshadow the fact that pumpkin beers are little bit silly. The Pumpkin King would be the first to agree with me. Something about pumpkins make people smile. It’s hard to take a pumpkin seriously. As much as we all worship and adore it, beer has a lighter side. Beer is fun. That said, this is a big, quirky beer festival revolving around giant pumpkins full of beer. Yes, pumpkin-conditioned beer. Dress up in a pumpkin-inspired costume of any sort. You will not be alone. Get as wacky as you like.
The de facto Pumpkin King of the beer world is Dick Cantwell, brewmaster and owner at Elysian. I use the term de facto because few people would dispute the claim but the official coronation has yet to take place. His dedication to pumpkin-fueled brews is unmatched. Where most see an odd orange gourd, Dick sees a blank canvas upon which he can create interesting beer. What’s more, he is not shy about encouraging other brewers to do the same. Some might say he is relentless in that regard.
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He Said, He Said
Among his many collaborative brewing efforts, Dick Cantwell teamed up the guys from 21st Amendment Brewing to create a couple of pumpkin beers this year. I was fortunate enough to sample both of them the other day (they’ll be available in the Seattle area soon). Two beers, one name: He Said.
If you ask Shaun O’Sullivan at 21st Amendment Brewing, he’ll tell you that it was his idea. If you ask Dick Cantwell, he’ll say it was his idea. And hence, He Said and He Said.
One is a Baltic Porter pumpkin beer and the other is a Belgian Tripel pumpkin beer. They are both delicious. You can try them both at the Great Pumpkin Beer Festival. Hopefully, you will soon find it on tap at better beer bars around town and in 12-ounce cans at local bottleshops. It will be available, just not sure when. Below, I have posted the official press release about the He Said beers.
Great Pumpkin Beer Festival
Elysian Brewing’s 9th Annual Great Pumpkin Beer Festival
***GPBF SATURDAY. OCT. 5TH tickets have SOLD OUT! Tickets to the festival for Friday and Sunday are available online, in our pubs, and at Full Throttle Bottles.
Who would have known a funny little obsession with pumpkin beers would grow into one of the Northwest’s Largest Fall Beer Events?! Elysian Brewing’s Great Pumpkin Beer Festival started in Seattle back in 2005 with less than 10 beers in total. Nine years later, pumpkin fever is in full force, and the Elysian’s 9th Annual GPBF (as it’s now known) will span three days, with one – six hour session each day.
Over 60 pumpkin beers will be flowing at any given time, with surprise beer treats, three local food trucks + ice cream and fresh donuts on hand, along with professional pumpkin carving and of course – GIANT PUMPKINS FILLED WITH BEER!
The highlight of the festival is always the tapping of The Great Pumpkin – a giant gourd filled with a pumpkin beer of Elysian’s choice. Once tapped, samples flow freely from the great pumpkin until it runs dry. This, of course, takes about 15 minutes.
The full beer lineup will include over 60 brews on tap with additional beer treats announced and tapped during the event sessions. Elysian’s pumpkin crazy team will be brewing at least a dozen beers for the fest, and will fill the remaining taps with endless varieties of guest pumpkin beers from near and afar. You will have the opportunity to sample everything from sours, to ipas, porters, rauchbiers and other rarities – all paying homage to the mighty gourd.
Expect to see Elysian favorites Dark o’ the Moon Pumpkin Stout, The Gourdfather Pumpkin Barleywine, Mr. Yuck Sour Pumpkin Ale and The Great Pumpkin Imperial Ale returning as well as new collaborations including a pumpkin beer duo with San Francisco’s 21st Amendment featuring a Pumpkin Belgian Tripel with ginger and a Pumpkin Baltic Porter with Caraway and Cinnamon.
More details on Beer Line-up will be posted on the Elysian website closer to the event.
TICKETS GO ON SALE AUGUST 1 on Brown Paper Tickets and in all three Elysian pubs. Everything is first come, first serve, and we did sell out last year – so please plan ahead and make sure you get the session you want.
SESSION TIMES:
OCT. 4 :: 4:00-10:00pm
OCT. 5 :: 12:00-6:00pm (SOLD OUT)
OCT. 6 :: 12:00-6:00pm
FESTIVAL LOCATION:
5510 AIRPORT WAY S., SEATTLE, WA 98108
ELYSIAN PUB TICKET LOCATIONS:
Elysian Cap. Hill 1221 E PIKE ST., Seattle, WA 98122
Elysian Tangletown 2106 N. 55th St., Seattle, WA 98103
Elysian Fields 542 1st Ave. S., Seattle, WA 98104
FULL THROTTLE BOTTLES 5909 Airport Way S Seattle, WA 98108
He Said and He Said – Collabortive Brews
21st Amendment Brewery and Elysian Brewing Partner to Release a Pumpkin Beer Like No Other
It’s a Baltic-style Porter….or is it a Belgian-style Tripel?
September 25, 2013 – San Francisco, CA – He Said let’s brew a dark beer with pumpkin and spices and put it in a light colored can. He Said let’s brew a light beer with pumpkin and spices and put it in a dark colored can. So they did both and produced a pumpkin beer collaboration like no other: two black pumpkin beers and two white pumpkin beers, together in one box.
Brewing up a pumpkin collaboration beer should be a piece of cake for Dick Cantwell, the pumpkin king at Elysian Brewing and a slam dunk for Shaun O’Sullivan, the 21st Amendment Brewery Brewmaster who brought the world Hell or High Watermelon Wheat Beer. In truth, brewing up He Said wasn’t that hard. What proved to be more difficult was getting their story about its inception straight.
Here, straight from the mouths of the pumpkin king and one of the watermelon guys, is exactly what He Said:
Shaun: “I met Dick in 2010. He walked into our San Francisco pub, came over to Nico and me and said he’d always wanted to meet the watermelon guys.”
Dick: “I met Shaun in 1999. He walked into my Seattle pub, came over to me and said he’d always wanted to meet the pumpkin king.”
Shaun: “Later on, while I was knocking his block off at Rock’em Sock’em Robots, Dick mentioned his little pumpkin fest and suggested we attend.”
Dick: “Later on, while hatching a plan to colonize a planet entirely devoted to watermelons and pumpkins I invited him to my massive pumpkin fest.”
Shaun: “One year later, Dick asked me again. Then he kicked me in the shins until I said yes.”
Dick: “Ten years later, Shaun asked me if the invitation still stood. I punched him in the ribs and said yes.”
Shaun: “After drinking the pumpkin elixirs, I told Dick we should do a pumpkin collaboration sometime.”
Dick: “After some cajolery, Shaun and Nico begged me to do a pumpkin collaboration as soon as possible. I said we should brew a pumpkin beer like no other. A Baltic Porter with caraway and cinnamon in a light colored can. Courage!”
Shaun: “I said we should brew a pumpkin beer like no other. A Belgian Tripel with spices in a dark colored can. That’s as big time as it gets.”
He Said is a white Belgian-Style Tripel ale brewed with pumpkin, tarragon and galangal. He Said is also a black Baltic-Style Porter lager brewed with pumpkin, Vietnamese cinnamon and ground caraway. Both beers have an ABV of 8.2%.
Try them both. Two 12oz cans of each version of He Said will be packaged together in a pumpkin-colored carrier that features the likenesses of the two brewers, each telling his side of the He Said story.
Shaun O’Sullivan, Brewmaster and Co-Founder of 21st Amendment Brewery, said, “Last year I attended Elysian’s Great Pumpkin Beer Fest – and this is the truth as it happened – I lobbied Nico hard for us to brew a pumpkin ale and release it in a can.”
Nico Freccia, Co-Founder of 21st Amendment Brewery, said, “I agreed to the endeavor, but only if we could collaborate with the pumpkin king, himself: Dick Cantwell of Elysian.”
Dick Cantwell, Founder of Elysian Brewing and the Elysian Great Pumpkin Beer Fest, said, “Well, it went something like that. In the end, we decided that it would be fun to brew two unusual types of pumpkin beers – a dark and a light – and package them together. And that’s how it happened.
He Said, part of 21st Amendment Brewery’s Insurrection Series of once-in-awhile four packs, will be available in four-packs and on draft starting in late September in all seventeen of 21st Amendment’s current distribution territories: CA, OR, WA, AK, ID, MN, OH, MA, NY, NJ, DC, MD, DE, PA, VA, GA and NC. For up to date availability, events and promotions, visit 21A’s website at www.21st-Amendment.com.
About Elysian Brewing
Elysian operates three pubs and a production brewery in Seattle, producing 32,000 barrels a year. They don’t only make pumpkin beers, but this time of year it’s a lot of what they do, leading up to their Great Pumpkin Beer Fest on October 4, 5 and 6. Elysian has made around 300 different beers since they opened in 1996, both traditional and innovative, in large and small quantities. At least 30 of them have involved pumpkin. Visit Elysian at www.elysianbrewing.com
About 21st Amendment Brewery
Hey, we’re Nico & Shaun. We live for great beer. When we opened the 21st Amendment Brewpub in San Francisco in 2000, we vowed to do things differently. To us, the 21st Amendment means much more than just an end to Prohibition. It means the right to brew beer, the freedom to be innovative, and the obligation to have fun. http://21st-amendment.com/
