Five Boroughs Brewing Company - Pumpkin Ale

This seasonal beer pours a brilliant amber color topped by a cap of light beige foam. Brewed with a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove, the beer announces its pumpkin-ale-ness immediately at first sniff. Backing the pumpkin spice notes is some earthy hop character with zesty touches of citrus rind, plus a dose of caramelized malt lurking below it all. Look for those malts to form a solid underpinning in the flavor too, bringing moderate caramel and toasted bread impressions with just a dash of residual sweetness. Hop bitterness is moderate here, leaving room for the spices which work in concert with the hops to provide balancing edginess to the malt core. We enjoyed how this well-structured brew delivers enough heft to satisfy – and to support the bold flavor profile – while still remaining light on its feet and never feeling overly weighty. For pairing options, roasted turkey or other fowl, accompanied by squash, sounds pretty on point. Cinnamon pot roast would make a natural match too, as would hearty stews, and nutty dishes – even Pad Thai. Gingerbread cookies or, naturally, pumpkin pie would make obvious dessert pairings. Cheers!

Founded in 2017 by longtime friends and passionate homebrewers Blake Tomnitz and Kevin O’Donnell, Five Boroughs Brewing Company emerged with a clear mission: to answer the open question of “What is New York beer?” The team set out to build a brewery to bring together New Yorkers from all over the sprawling city. Blake – who had begun brewing in his dorm room back in college – and Kevin set out to unite their city through a shared love of great beer.

After nearly two years of searching and heavy lifting, they settled on a massive, historic steel-tie factory in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, transforming its gritty grandeur – which included 30-foot ceilings, exposed brick, and remnants of old railroad tracks – into a 12,500-square-foot brewery and taproom in the summer of 2017. In that space, Blake, Kevin, and a team of citywide craft-beer devotees set up a state-of-the-art 35-barrel brewhouse, plus the very 15-gallon MoreBeer pilot system that had fueled Blake & Kevin’s homebrewing beginnings. The latter still proudly operates to this day as the pilot system for their new beer ideas.

Five Boroughs quickly grew, with their cans and kegs soon appearing in hundreds of bars across NYC. Then, in November 2023, Five Boroughs embarked on a new chapter under the ownership of Finestkind Brewing – the parent company behind Smuttynose, a New England craft brewing icon founded in 1994. While production largely transitioned to Smuttynose's larger NH facility, the Sunset Park taproom and brewery remains intact as an innovation lab: a space for creative experimentation, community events, and small-batch showcases that keep the brand’s hometown heart beating strong. The brewery currently offers about a half-dozen year-round beers along with several seasonals and limited-run brews. For more info, visit them at fiveboroughs.com.