Fall begins when pumpkin beers arrive in August | Opinion

Editor’s note: This is part of The Know’s series, Staff Favorites. Each week, we offer our opinions on the best that Colorado has to offer for dining, shopping, entertainment, outdoor activities and more. (We’ll also let you in on some hidden gems).

Pumpkin beers first got popular a couple of decades ago, when some breweries, both big and small — like Coors-owned Blue Moon and Buffalo Bill’s Brewery in Hayward, Calif. — released them as a way to celebrate the fleeting flavors of the fall.

One of the first (and most popular) pumpkin beers in Colorado was Venetucci Pumpkin Ale, which Bristol Brewing in Colorado Springs first made as a fundraiser in 2007 with real pumpkins from a local farm and released in October. People would line up ar...