One of the best parts of the fall season is reintroducing staple fall flavors such as maple, cinnamon, apple, caramel, and, perhaps the most popular, pumpkin. Tomorrow’s World Today recently spoke with Brian Wold, Elysian Brewing’s Innovation Manager, to learn more about the pumpkin beer development and creation process that Elysian has used to create its many pumpkin beer varieties.

Tomorrow’s World Today (TWT): Elysian Brewing has developed over 100 different varieties of pumpkin beer since 1996. What inspired you to develop so many pumpkin beer varieties?

Brian Wold (BW): It started when our brewer at the time, Markus Stinton, wanted to make a pumpkin beer. He envisioned something dignified, drinkable, but not wimpy. This became Night Owl, the quintessential pumpkin beer. It sold out so quickly we knew we had to make more. It sold out too quickly again, so we made even more for the next time. On and on it went – it became clear that there was something different about pumpkin beer. People’s desire for pumpkin beer challenged us to keep things interesting and appeal to an even wider audience. From then on, it wasn’t always about going bigger or bolder but also about how to keep pumpkin beer interesting and special.

TWT: What makes developing a pumpkin beer recipe different from, or more challenging than, other flavor pallets?

BW: When adding pumpkin and spices to a beer recipe, balance plays a huge role. Too much pumpkin and you can get some odd, earthy flavors. ‘Gourd’ is sometimes used to describe a particular off-flavor in beer, so getting some gourd but not too much takes skill. Then, incorporating spices calls for some trial and error to find the right mix. For example, I wouldn’t want to use equal parts cinnamon and clove because clove is a very strong spice and would overwhelm everything else about the beer.

TWT: Walk us through the creation process behind one of your pumpkin beers. How is a recipe crafted, how is it brewed, etc.?

BW: I start by thinking about the final product and what I want it to taste like. From there, I think about what ingredients I’ll need to make that final flavor profile. After selecting the base beer, I choose my malts accordingly. Pumpkin is added with the grains at the beginning, in puree form. If there is a fruit or other bold flavor component, I decide when – and in what form – I want to add it. It could be another puree that I add into the boil with hops or into the fermenter with yeast. It could be an essence that I’ll add to enhance the taste later, to make it really shine. Then, I’ll decide what, if any, spices to add and how they’ll be balanced. Finally, I’ll select hops and a yeast strain that will work with all of that.

TWT: Have you faced any challenges in the brewing process of pumpkin beer recipes? If so, how did you overcome them?

BW: Like any recipe development, the key is having a full understanding of your ingredients and how they work together. When we were developing Night Owl to become a packaged product, we acquired samples of cinnamon from around the world to find the one that worked best with the base beer and matched our vision of the beer’s flavor and aroma. It took some time and multiple batches of beer, but we eventually found the right cinnamon, and Night Owl has been winning medals for years.

TWT: Tell us about Elysian Brewing’s most recently released pumpkin beer flavors. What inspired the recipes, and how were they developed?

BW: We recently released Cinnamonster, a pumpkin cinnamon roll-inspired ale. We developed it by focusing on the cinnamon roll. How could we represent this in a beer? Once we wrote the base beer recipe, we turned to the frosting, and that’s when things got interesting! We wouldn’t actually utilize cream cheese frosting, but had to think about how to get those flavor notes. It was a big hit at the last Great Pumpkin Beer Festival.

Another release was Once Upon a Chai, a pumpkin-spiced chai tea-inspired ale. This one had a multitude of ingredients: we needed to incorporate pumpkin, black tea, and all of the spices that make up chai. We had the most fun experimenting with the ratios of the spices to lock into the perfect chai flavor. After that, it came down to determining the timing to add everything to the brewing process so each element would be discernable in the glass.

TWT: Elysian Brewing annually hosts the Great Pumpkin Beer Festival in its hometown of Seattle. How did Elysian Brewing come to host the festival and how does the festival inspire your pumpkin beer development process?

BW: It started back when we realized that we had four pumpkin beers available at the same time. We invited four other breweries to either make or bring a pumpkin beer – and the first pumpkin festival commenced! The success of that festival inspired the next one and it has grown each year since. 2024 marks the twentieth anniversary of the event!

As an innovation brewer, the festival pushes me to come up with new ways to present pumpkin beer so that festival attendees can have something new and different to look forward to. As each year passes, I expand my search for flavor combinations that work together and work in beer. From cooking shows to dining at restaurants, I’m constantly taking notes and imagining how things would taste if I could present them in a beer.

We also include our entire Elysian staff in the development process by inviting them to submit their own ideas for pumpkin beers. The innovation team discusses the entries based on merit alone and then the winners get to work directly with the innovation team to bring their idea to life – writing the recipe and then brewing it on our pilot system.

TWT: How can new customers find their perfect pumpkin beer flavor among your many options?

BW: Our pumpkin variety pack contains four beers that are all pretty different from each other, so that’s a perfect place to start! At 6.7% ABV, Night Owl has a lower alcohol content and is a little more malt-forward, while The Great Pumpkin is an imperial version that is more golden-colored. It has a stronger gourd and spice character that is very balanced. Punkuccino is a pumpkin milk stout with coffee. The spices are mellowed by the coffee, and the lactose addition sweetens the deal (but not too much). Finally, Dark o’ the Moon is a big, dark stout with a strong spice addition. And there’s even more variety at the Great Pumpkin Beer Festival – including everything from lagers to IPAs.

TWT: What is your favorite Elysian Brewing pumpkin beer flavor and why?

BW: My favorite Elysian pumpkin beer is Punkuccino. I love how the coffee is subtle and how it shows off the spices in a different way. The lactose is a small enough addition to round out the rough edges that can sometimes come from the malts in a dark beer. Overall, it’s a spiced pumpkin stout that we tweak in a couple of ways to be more than its title suggests.

For more information about Elysian Brewing Company, follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

Tune in to the Science Channel to watch Halloween Harvest at 10 AM ET on Saturday, September 28!