“Hoppy” Halloween from San Diego Beer and Wine Tours!

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October 15, 2013

Halloween is coming, so don your masks and grab your bags and get ready for some old-fashioned trick-or-treating!  If you want a real treat, though, join us on one of our many craft beer or winery events, such as one of our guided walking tours through San Diego.

There are many good reasons to learn about craft beer and local wine, not just because San Diego offers such an exciting array of both, but also because the more we learn about beer and wine, the more we appreciate them!  

This month is particularly interesting, especially in light of the great pumpkin beer debates, because the history of Halloween in the United States is also wrapped up in its long tradition of pumpkin beer.

You see, when the first pilgrims settled in the vast sweeps of what was now called New England, there were pumpkins everywhere. Green pumpkins, blue pumpkins, yellow and pink, and mottled ones littered the ground along with the traditional orange. They were so common and easy to grow in the fertile ground that they were seen as an everyday and delicious staple.

Their proliferation guaranteed that the thirsty settlers would use the sweet squash, first called pompions, to make the first pumpkin beers. A seventeeth-century poem went, in part:

If Barley be wanting to make into Malt, 

We must be contented and think it no Fault, 

For we can make liquor to sweeten our Lips

Of Pumpkins and Parsnips and Walnut-Tree Chips. 

It wasn't until the 1800s, when Irish immigrants began swelling the ranks of the American population and bringing Celtic All Hallows' Eve traditions of carving gourds with them, that pumpkins were eyed as something other than food and the makings of beer. In fact, the fat orange pumpkins you see today were specifically bred for carving, which is why they don't make for very tasty eating. If you want to taste pumpkin pie like the Native Americans used to eat, try finding the multicolored squash at farmer's markets or growing them from heirloom seeds yourself.  

But no matter what, despite how much fun it might be, don't knock pumpkin brews for being trendy. They're part of an ancient and proud American tradition! It was also considered a especially healthy drink.

So that's the not-so-scary story of pumpkin beer. You know what's really terrifying, though? Drinking bad beer in San Diego. That's why we're here, to help you get to know the craft brew scene around here.  Call us at (858) 551-5115 to book a tour with us and we'll show you what we mean. Costumes, by the way, are always welcome.

Happy Halloween!

Brooke B., Hallo-wino

Tags: all hallow's eve • gourds • Halloween • heirloom pumpkins • native americans • native americans • natives • new england • october • pilgrim • pilgrims • pumpkin • pumpkin beer • pumpkin craft beer • pumpkins • san diego craft beer • san diego halloween • san diego october • san diego pumpkin beer • san diego pumpkin craft beer • san diego theme tours