It's the Great Pumpkin

Found it. It's been a journey. I've gone from the super clovey Schlafly to the faint pumpkin taste of the Sam Adams. I've tried quite a few and have mostly been disappointed and nearly concluded that I just don't like pumpkin beers. But, I finally found it in the horribly named Hoppin' Frog Frog's Hollow Double Pumpkin Ale.

I love Hoppin' Frog beers so much. When I heard last week that K-7 Liquors in Shawnee's Godland had Hoppin' Frog BORIS for $5.99, I headed out there to pick up 3 bottles so I could always have some on hand. Unfortunately for me, I've already drank 2 of the bottles. I've been looking forward to Hoppin' Frog's foray into pumpkinland. I even did research to find out when it was coming out. I emailed a friend at the distributor to ask when it was going to be on shelves. So, while I was out near Gomer's in Lenexa I stopped in to pick up a bottle.

It was a long wait to get it open, maybe too long. We had some Shake Shack for dinner and then had to go down to Crown Center so Stella could pick up her packet for the KC Marathon. By the time we got the kids to bed and settled in for the evening it was 8:00. I set it out for 15 minutes to get it warmed up a little and I wish I'd waited longer, but I just couldn't wait.

My first sip was much different than the last. This is a tale of 2 beers, the chilled and the cellar temp. The chilled pumpkin had a bit of the clove aftertaste that I don't really like. The cellar temp version tasted like I imagine pumpkin wine would taste. Both versions had a perfect pumpkin taste, but the cellar temped part that I had was much more blended and had a simple pumpkin pie taste and feel. It felt like I was eating a bunch of pumpkin blended with Cool Whip. If that appeals to you, you're going to love the Hoppin' Frog Frog's Hollow Double Pumpkin Ale at cellar temp.

Aside from the name and drinking it pretty cold, I can't imagine a better experience with a pumpkin beer. It's everything I've been looking for in a pumpkin beer and was afraid I wasn't ever going to find. Hoppin' Frog is only available on the Kansas side and may be a little hard to find. Gomer's Lenexa is your best bet to find the Double Pumpkin.