Suck’s a strong word, but we, like many, don’t really enjoy pumpkin beers all that much. But here are five that could potentially win over even the most jaded pumpkin beer hater.

Elysian Great Pumpkin Imperial Pumpkin Ale

Elysian credits Great Pumpkin as the world’s first Imperial Pumpkin Ale, a beer designed to take everything about the style and turn the volume up to 11.

Brewed with pumpkin and roasted pumpkin seeds, Great Pumpkin clocks in at a formidable 8.4% ABV. Bigger, richer and more intense than Elysian’s Night Owl, it helped establish the idea that pumpkin beers can be unapologetically aggressive

Two Roads Roadsmary’s Baby

We might have picked Stratford Connecticut–based Two Roads Brewing’s fall seasonal for its clever name alone, but their pumpkin beer’s awesome taste more than validates our enthusiasm.

Two Roads Roadsmary’s Baby is aged in seasoned rum barrels. But Unlike Avery’s now sadly retired pumpkin ale, Two Roads’ traditional pumpkin ale is a relatively low octane offering (6.8% ABV) that delivers buckets of flavor without that high alcohol heat.

(Courtesy Tröegs Independent Brewing)

Tröegs Master of Pumpkins

Hershey, Pennsylvania’s  Tröegs Independent Brewing has returned a perennial fall favorite that’s now available in 16oz cans. Made with more than 3,000 pounds of locally grown Pennsylvania longneck pumpkins, a hearty heirloom variety similar to butternut squash, Tröegs Master of Pumpkins is a subtly spiced 7.5% ABV Pumpkin Ale with notes of nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla, backed by caramel malt.

Saint Arnold Pumpkinator

When you take a gold medal at the GABF beer competition, you’ve got something going on, and Houston, Texas-based Saint Arnold Brewing most certainly does…

The most expensive beer that Saint Arnold brews, Pumpkinator is a big, black, full of spice, full of flavor 19.5% ABV Pumpkin Stout. Originally released in 2009 as Divine Reserve No. 9, this is an imperial stout that’s informed, rather than overpowered, by the addition of fresh pumpkin.

Voodoo Ranger Atomic Pumpkin

New Belgium’s Voodoo Ranger Series has produced some of the brewery’s most exciting releases and  its annual fall offering rethinks the whole ‘pumpkin beer’ thing brilliantly.

Brewed with fresh pumpkin juice, Saigon cinnamon, Habanero, Aji and Del Arbol peppers, Voodoo Ranger Atomic Pumpkin is a medium-bodied 6.4% ale that pours bright autumnal orange with a light white lacing, and a spicy, warming mouthfeel.

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