Is Pumpkin Beer Still a Gourd Idea?

Originally published on our craft beer newsletter Alcohol Content.

Written by: Grace Lee-Weitz

Photography courtesy of Elysian Brewing

Every year in late summer, the pumpkin beer debate ensues: love or hate? We all know pumpkin beers are polarizing, but, like Thanos, they’ve become inevitable.

Cresting in the early 2010s, the category simply isn’t peaking anymore.
According to Untappd, the world’s largest social networking platform for beer, check-ins for pumpkin beers peaked in 2021 at almost 600k and decreased to 437k last year.

When analyzing the current pumpkin beer market, 3 Tier Beverage Consultant Mary Mills shared, “Pumpkin flavor experienced measurable growth a few years back: It jumped from $6 million in 2021 to $30 million in 2022 and then leveled off.” In the last 52 weeks (through August 10, 2024), according to NIQ, pumpkin flavor fell 22.5% across all pack sizes and types.

But pumpkin beer hasn’t wholly disappeared.

Elysian Brewing, the largest purveyor of pumpkin beer in the U.S., has brewed 100 pumpkin beers over two decades. Each fall, the Seattle-based brewery releases a Pumpkin Pack featuring four varieties.

According to Elysian Senior Home Market Brand Manager Josie Redmond, its variety pack is the number-two pumpkin item in dollar and volume sales total in the U.S. to date through August 2024, making up 10% of total cases sold of pumpkin beer across the U.S.

When asked about the future of pumpkin beer, Elysian Brewing Innovation Manager Brian Wold didn’t miss a beat. “To spread to the nation that pumpkin beer can work,” he says. “We are committed to pumpkin.”

Honestly, they’re not alone. Many breweries are the boss of squash.

Look at a few examples reliably returning each autumn: Samuel Adams Jack-O-Lantern, New Belgium’s Voodoo Ranger Atomic Pumpkin, and Dogfish Head’s Punkin Ale, which remains the brewery’s best-selling seasonal beer.

So, should you go for the ‘gourd’?

The data says you won’t turn into a pumpkin once midnight strikes, but if you do brew one, be hyper-aware of seasonality.

For the last five years, Google Trends shows searches for “pumpkin beer” peaking around the last weekend in September and falling off a cliff by early November.

Good news, though: Even if your pumpkin beer bombs…next year, you can just squash it.