Best Bars for your First Pumpkin Beer of the Season
Philadelphia has a habit of taking its time letting go of summer, but the calendar doesn't care, and neither do the beer menus. Pumpkin beer season is well underway, and after a few years of the style quietly falling out of craft-beer fashion, it's back in a real way this fall. Distributors are stocking more varieties than they have in years, and the city's best beer bars are already rotating them onto their taps. Here's where to get your first one of the season.
Sourced via Local 44
Prohibition Taproom
Prohibition Taproom just added Downeast Pumpkin cider on draft alongside a rotating lineup of festbiers and Pennsylvania craft beer. It's a smaller, more low-key spot than some of the city's beer-bar institutions, but the tap list turns over constantly enough that it's worth checking back throughout the season if pumpkin's not your only fall craving.
Evil Genius Beer Company
Right now, this is the most reliable pumpkin beer bet in the city because it's brewed in-house: Evil Genius's Trick or Treat Chocolate Pumpkin Porter is available at the taproom now, both on tap and in six-packs to go. It's dark, roasty, and genuinely built around chocolate and pumpkin spice rather than just pumpkin-flavored syrup, which is worth the trip to Fishtown on its own.
Local 44
An easy-going neighborhood spot with a well-curated bottle shop attached, Local 44 is a place where the beer list actually changes with the seasons instead of sitting static year-round. The outdoor seating with heaters means you can still get a patio pumpkin beer even once the nights turn properly cold, which is a nice bridge between summer patio season and full indoor hibernation.
Brauhaus Schmitz
Not exactly a pumpkin beer specialist (German beer halls tend to stick to traditional styles), but with 34 beers on draft and over 50 in bottle, plus a full month of Oktoberfest programming on South Street this fall, it's worth a stop here if your crew is torn between someone who wants a classic Oktoberfest lager and someone chasing a pumpkin ale. There's enough range here that everyone leaves happy.
So Basically...
Pumpkin beer earns its reputation as a punchline as much as it earns its cult following, but a genuinely good one is totally worth seeking out. Philly's beer bars have the selection this year to back that up.
Speaking of fall drinking, if you're headed to Brauhaus Schmitz for a pour, don't miss their South Street Oktoberfest this Saturday. We put together a full guide to it: South Street Oktoberfest at Brauhaus Schmitz.
