Four Peaks’ Pumpkin Porter is back – and this time it brought hats

🎃 Fall officially arrived in Tempe over the weekend, at least by the only calendar that matters to Arizona beer drinkers: the one that says Pumpkin Porter is back on draft.

Four Peaks Brewing released the beer at its Eighth Street brewpub, kicking off what’s become an annual rite for Valley craft beer fans. Pumpkin Porter debuted back in 1999 and has been Arizona’s most popular seasonal ever since.

The brewery describes it as combining all the things that make a great pumpkin pie – nutmeg, allspice, ground clove, a little ginger, and pumpkin, built on a porter base that gives it that faint burnt-crust edge longtime fans know well.

It comes in at 5.1% ABV and 9 IBUs, and this year it’s available in 12-ounce bottles and on draft.

True to form, Eighth Street was the beer’s first stop before it starts rolling out to bars, restaurants, and stores across the state – so if you’re not in Tempe, expect draft lines and bottles to start showing up at your usual spots over the coming days.

This year Four Peaks is sweetening the deal for merch hunters. Along with the beer, the brewery is dropping limited-run Pumpkin Porter T-shirts and hats. The brewery’s own warning bears repeating: ‘‘These are limited runs, so once they’re out, THEY ARE OUT!’’

For a deeper pour into the beer’s origin story – from its Coyote Springs Brewing roots to why brewmaster Andy Ingram insists the recipe hasn’t changed in decades – check out my 2014 Arizona Beer Class feature on Pumpkin Porter.