Pumpkin can be found in a variety of food and beverages, but which does it best? Some will claim pie, soup, or pancakes, but these lack the liquid joy found in a pungent pumpkin pint. The question is: Which beer is the king of the pumpkin patch?

The Pumpkin Beer Festival at The Coug was an ideal environment for a first-hand survey of the finest drops ever squeezed from a gourd. The Coug collected fermented fun-juice from four breweries for its second annual celebration of drinkable pumpkins.

The headliner of the evening was Elysian Brewing Co. of Seattle, with ten different taps unleashing a flood of flavors from plums to ginger, from pickles to cappuccino and beyond.

Bob Cady, the owner of The Coug, brought the Elysian Pumpkin Road Show to Pullman last year after witnessing the festivities at the brewery’s Great Pumpkin Beer Festival in Seattle.

“They hollowed out a giant pumpkin, filled it with their Great Pumpkin Imperial Ale, tossed in some spices, and sealed the whole thing with wax,” said Cady. “Then they tap it and everybody drinks from the giant pumpkin keg.”

Although his beer did not emerge directly from a punctured pumpkin, Sasa Seva’aetasi still approved of his taste of Imperial Ale. The political science major (and apparent gourmet) said he would have paired the beer with some roasted squash and seasonal greens.

He also approved of the musical accompaniment from The Coug’s jukebox, including Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and the Ghostbusters theme song, but was waiting for “Monster” by Kanye West or Lady Gaga. 

The brewers from Elysian also garnered the appreciation of Tristan Hanon, a senior agriculture and food business economics major. Although he doesn’t exclusively drink stouts, Hanon was impressed with the flavor of roasted pumpkin seeds found in the Dark O’ The Moon Pumpkin Stout.

“It’s both spicy and smoky,” said Hanon. He said it could enhance a slice of pumpkin pie or a handful of pumpkin seeds flavored with Johnny’s Seasoning Salt.

Beyond the Elysian elixirs, Dogfish Head Brewing was represented by Punkin Ale, which Cady considered one of the earliest pumpkin-tinged beers. The Delaware-based brewery catapulted to first place at the 1994 Punkin Chunkin Recipe Contest when they launched this brown-sugar flavored pumpkin beer. With a juicy 7 percent alcohol by volume, one pint of this pioneer pumpkin brew can elevate you like a trebuchet.   

Redhook Brewing, a staple of Northwest brewing, offered the Out Of Your Gourd Pumpkin Porter. This brew includes the usual suspects for seasonal spices with cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger, but also slides in maple syrup. This beer has the added benefit of being easily accessible, since Redhook can be found in most stores across the state.

New Belgium was the third guest tap at the festival and contributed a holiday combination with their Pumpkick Ale. Those mountain-high brewers from Colorado created a ‘Hallows-giving’ beer that starts off with a pumpkin taste, but then turns cranberry on your tongue. It should be enjoyed with a caramel apple and a turkey sandwich to achieve the full effect.

My favorite beer of the night didn’t come from a tap; instead it emerged from a bottle brought out from a secret beer preserve that Cady cultivated in an undisclosed location (the far end of The Coug’s storage space). The Blight Pumpkin Ale was part of Elysian’s 12 Beers of the Apocalypse series leading up to the Mayan-induced mania of 2012. It can still be found in scattered bunkers and beer caches, but it’s scarce. If you ever find some, buy a bottle and enjoy a noseful of the cinnamon as strong as a spice blow on Arrakis, with a hint of apples.

Cady said the growing popularity of the The Coug’s Pumpkin Beer Festival could help change resistance to event cover charges in Pullman. Tickets to the festival cost $25, which included a healthy sample of each of the thirteen beers, a customizable tasting glass, and some swag from Elysian. Even my drink-schnozzled brain understands that I would be much poorer and probably much less alive if I bought and drank thirteen full pints.