Tickets are now on sale for the Great Pumpkin Beer Festival 2011. This year the 7th annual celebration of pumpkin beers organized by Elysian Brewing Company happens on Saturday, October 8th and Sunday, October 9th at the new Elysian production brewery in Georgetown. Organizers moved the event from the Elysian Capitol Hill brewpub to the larger Georgetown location to accommodate the growing hordes of pumpkin beer lovers.
The festival will feature more than 40 beers from breweries near and far. We list them below. The Great Pumpkin Beer Festival (GPBF) is like a normal beer festival except that all of the beers are pumpkin-themed, pumpkin-brewed, and pumpkin-inspired. Perhaps the highlight of the festival is the daily tapping of the Great Pumpkin, which happens each day at 4:00.
The Great Pumpkin
Elysian takes a couple of 200 pound pumpkins and carefully hollows them out. They scorch the insides, fill them with still-fermenting beer, and then seal the pumpkins back up using hot wax. They sit. The beer ferments. This is a pumpkin version of a cask-conditioned ale. The beer undergoes its final fermentation in the pumpkin. The Great Pumpkin is tapped with a spigot and mallet and the beer pours freely until it is gone.
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Participants
Among the local breweries particpating are Silver City, Big Time, Rock Bottom, Ram, Schooner Exact, Fremont, Georgetown, Naked City, Black Raven, Snoqualmie, Elliott Bay, Pike, Anacortes, Rogue, and likely some others.
Out-of-state guests include Anderson Valley Brewing (California), Russian River Brewing (California), Allagash Brewing (Maine), Jolly Pumpkin Brewery (Michigan), Avery Brewing (Colorado), Cambridge Brewing (Massachusetts), Iron Hill Brewery (Pennsylvania/Delaware), Stewart’s Brewing (Delaware), St. Arnold Brewing (Texas), Utah Brewers Collective (Utah), Nøgne Øl (Norway).
The Elysian pumpkin beer contingency will include at least eight pumpkin-themed beers: Mr. Yuck Sour Pumpkin Ale, Night Owl, Great Pumpkin, Dark o’ the Moon Pumpkin Stout, Hansel and Gretel Ginger Pumpkin Pils, Coche de Medianoche, Kürbitinus, and PK-47 Pumpkin Malt Liquor. A few more additions are expected.
Piquing our Interest
- Elysian’s Coche Medianoche (midnight drive) sounds muy interesante: a Mexican-themed pumpkin ale with cumin, cinnamon, black pepper, chilies, roasted pumpkin seeds, and Ursa Orange.
- For the first time the Great Pumpkin Beer Fest will include an international offering: a pumpkin beer from Norway’s Nøgne Øl brewery.
- Russian River Brewing is sending a sour pumpkin beer. I cannot imagine that being a bad thing. It was a wonderful treat at last year’s GPBF.
- Allagash Brewing from Portland, Maine is sending over some of its Ghouleschip, a beer that was spontaneously fermented on Halloween night 2008. Very scary!
- Silver City Brewing is brewing up a batch of Punk Rauchen: a pumpkin rauchbier.
Details:
Saturday, October 8th, 12:00 – 10:00.
Sunday, October 9th, 12:00 – 6:00.
Elysian Brewery Parking Lot
5510 Airport Way S
Seattle, WA 98108
Tickets
$20
Ticket price includes Souvenir Glass and 6 drink tickets.
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/192943
Website
http://elysianbrewing.com/greatpumpkinbeerfest.html
