What's on tap: All hail the Southern Tier Pumking
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After several months of speaking to bartenders about some of their favorite beers, we've decided to tweak the focus of What's On Tap. We want to speak to the people for whom beer is life—brewers, bar owners, writers, and others who have devoted their time and energy to elevating the wondrous nectar—about a specific beer, be it one they've made or one they just happen to enjoy. Up now is Paul Cain, head brewer of Southern Tier Brewing Company in Lakewood, N.Y. The subject: one of Southern Tier's most renowned beers, Pumking.
"We didn’t really ever expect the Pumking to be as popular as it is. We wanted to make not just a pumpkin ale, but a strong pumpkin ale. If we make a hoppy beer, it’s going to be the hoppiest thing you’ve ever tasted. if we make a chocolate beer, you’re going to taste chocolate right away. We knew we needed to follow through on that.
At first, we ran some test batches through a homebrewing set-up, which we usually don’t do. But for this one, there were so many extra ingredients. We put tons of pumpkin flesh in the kettles, and we used a lot of spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and a few others. We start brewing in September; we have to freeze pumpkin from the previous year, because you have to start it before the pumpkins ripen here. It takes about 14-16 days. Brewing only takes a day, and then it has to ferment and cold-condition.
As soon as we released the beer, it shot to the No. 1 position for pumpkin ales on BeerAdvocate. That was a surprise, and then people started calling to ask if we were making more. So the capacity’s changed—this year we made 1100 barrels, compared to last year when we made 800. We’re actually going through an expansion right now.
To me, the base of the beer is a lot of caramelized malt, even though people don’t focus on it when they’re drinking it. That’s important for the texture of the beer. And the way the spices work with the pumpkin. It’s a strong beer, too—about 9 percent alcohol, which its name suggests."
Southern Tier Pumking can be found at a number of bars in New York, including The Diamond in Greenpoint (43 Franklin St., Brooklyn, 718-383-5030), Rattle 'N' Hum in Murray Hill (14 E. 33rd St., 212-481-1586), and Stanton Public on the Lower East Side (17 Stanton St., 212-677-5555).
