America’s Favorite Pumpkin Beer is From Massachusetts

Massachusetts has a long pastime with alcohol. The history of beer and bars is intertwined in Massachusetts state history so much so that the first bar in the country opened in Boston on March 4, 1634.

While the business of booze has certainly changed since then, Massachusetts is still home to an abundance of microbreweries, an industry that has skyrocketed in popularity throughout the country over the past two decades.

Once thought of as an industry created exclusively by beer geeks for a niche clientele of homebrewers, craft beer consumption has become one of the fastest-growing parts of alcoholic beverage sales in the United States.

Since 2005, revenue from microbreweries has grown by more than 300%. Over the past 20 years, thousands of new, independent breweries and brewpubs have opened and employment in the industry has more than tripled.

While the popularity of these craft breweries has grown nationwide, specific pockets of the country have become hot spots for beer enthusiasts and New England is certainly one of those.

It's now that magical time of year when everything turns into pumpkin. Throughout the fall season pumpkin spice-flavored coffee, candy, baked goods, pastries, and of course beer. Most of the 130 Massachusetts microbreweries spreading from Cape Cod to the Berkshire Mountains jump on board with the pumpkin train as well.

Although there is an abundance to choose from, the Food Network ranked this Massachusetts beer as their top choice for pumpkin beers in 2023.

Massachusetts Brewery Home to One of the Best Pumpkin Beers in the U.S. for 2023

Sam Adams Jack-O Pumpkin Ale

Beating pretty much every other pumpkin beer to market this year, Jack-O beat most of its competitors onto this best-of list, as well. With notes of nutmeg on the nose and soft cinnamon on the swallow, this Sam Adams seasonal oozes warmth and comfort on every sniff and sip. While some pumpkin beers get heavy-handed with the seasonings or specifically put forth a gourd-forward flavor, this one wraps a drinker up in just the right balance of sweet and spice that, together with a crisp mouthfeel and low ABV, makes it oh-so-easy to cozy up to the next one and the one after that.

Food Network

 

The Food Networks digital team analyzed internet data and tasted their way through several dozen different beers, the traditional flavor combination of malty and spicy rose above others in search and production trends.