Bristol's Venettuci Pumpkin Ale is on its way!

The Venetucci Pumpkin Ale might be my favorite Bristol beer. I love pumpkin beers, they signal a change of seasons. Autumn and Fall are generally my favorite times of the year, and these beers are the epitome of Fall. Of course most breweries in town make pumpkin beers, and many of them are great. Last year I tried the Trinity, Phantom Canyon and Rock Bottom pumpkin beers and all were wonderful. Trinity's beer is really worth trying if you can get your hands on in. Bristol's beer gets the most attention however, and perhaps rightly so. The proceeds of the beer are donated to the Venetucci Farm, and the beer itself has a wonderful smoothe texture with nicely balanced spices. I don't know if I can decide a favorite pumpkin beer ever but Bristol, Trinity, and Upslope are certainly contenders for first. Last year, FotB readers did a blind taste test of some local pumpkin beers and Bristol's was the clear winner.

Bristol was kind enough to send along some photos. Here we see the Bristol crew picking, cutting, and roasting the pumpkins, getting them prepared for the brew. It is said that roasting the pumpkins and getting them a bit carmelized will add some carmel-pumpkin flavor to the beer. Generally the spices contribute most of the pumpkiny flavor. However, the pumpkins play a huge part in making the beer smoothe like pumpkin pie.

The pre-orders for this beer have already taken place so your if you want some you have a couple options. You can either show up to Bristol on the night of the release or you can try to find it at a local liquor store. I went to the opening last year and it was a ton of fun, even though I waited for a whole hour to get in! I got my allotment of bottles and I had three pints of the beer at the bar. Also last year there was some controversy as some local liquor shops charged high prices for the beer. That may happen again but generally if you go to some of the places we talk about on the blog you won't run into that problem. Regardless, the whole situation is a ton of fun, whether you're showing up to the taproom or hunting for the bottles around town...you won't want to miss it.

Here's the information about the release party:
Thursday, October 25 / 5:00 pm
Bristol tasting room, 1647 S. Tejon, Colorado Springs

Things You’ll Want To Know:
--There is a 2-bottle limit per person.
--A limited number of bottles will be available for purchase at $5.99 plus tax per bottle (bottles may not be consumed in the tasting room).
--Pints will be available for $6.00 each.
--Growler fills will not be available this year so that the line will move faster and so there will be more beer to go around.
--If the brewery sells out before you get some, don’t forget to try the liquor store. They’ll have some, too!

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