After 23 years, Dogfish Head's Punkin Ale finally gets six-packs

There's something different about Dogfish Head's Punkin Ale this year. 

It's not the taste. It's not a shortage. (Thank God.) And, have no fear, it has not been discontinued.

In fact, there's more of it than ever.

For the first time in nearly a quarter century, Punkin Ale is now sold in six-packs.

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While the news may not seem big to some, the graduation of Punkin from its original four-packs was a surprise many never expected to happen.

Years have passed since Dogfish Head founder Sam Calagione's Punkin Ale with a hand-drawn label won the World Championship Punkin Chunkin homebrewing contest in 1994 — a year before he would launch his brewery. 

Since then, Dogfish has grown to be the 14th largest craft brewery in the United States, according to The Brewers Association, and Punkin Ale bottles have only been sold four at a time, just like Dogfish beers with high alcohol by volume.

There were a couple of reasons for the change, according to Calagione and Neal Stewart, Dogfish's vice president of marketing.

The first came from Dogfish drinkers themselves, pushing for the beers to be sold in six-packs like just everything else.

"For brands that are not as high in alcohol by volume, they were looking for a six-pack, so we made that switch," Stewart says.

Also, since four-packs only make up about 2 percent of the market, the unusual packaging created irregular price points for retailers, some of whom put them in a higher pricing tier, Calagione adds.

So what does this mean price-wise?

The suggested retail price for the four-packs was $9.99 last year and six-packs are now $14.99 -- meaning it's the same price per bottle. However, brewery officials say you should be able to find it at $13.99 in some stores, making it slightly cheaper than in the past.

While Dogfish Head's Punkin Ale may be the original pumpkin beer, still ranking as Dogfish's sixth best-selling brew even though it's only available September through November, there are plenty of other Delaware pumpkin and fall brews out there as Halloween approaches.

We've compiled a list of 20 different seasonal fresh beers on tap at local breweries across the state -- every one we could track down:

Argilla Brewing Co. (2667 Kirkwood Highway, Milltown) —- Boogsley's Pumpkin Ale (6.5% ABV), an ale brewed with fresh shredded pumpkin, along with cinnamon, nutmeg and clove spices.

Bellefonte Brewing Co. (3605 Old Capitol Trail, Unit C8, Prices Corner) — Oktoberfest Märzen (4.8% ABV) and Perils of Punky pumpkin ale (6.7% ABV).

Big Oyster Brewery (1007 Kings Highway, near Lewes) -- Shuckin Pumpkin (5.7% ABV), a dark pumpkin ale, and Oystoberfest (6.7% ABV), a traditional Oktoberfest Märzen.

Blue Earl Brewing Co.(210 Artisan Dr., Smyrna) —Body & Soul wee heavy/Scotch ale (7.7% ABV).

Brick Works Brewing & Eats (230 S. Dupont Blvd., Smyrna) —The Wait Octoberfest Märzen (5.6% ABV), Brick Works' first lager, and S'mores Brown Ale Brown Ale (6.1% ABV), which blends malts, cinnamon, marshmallows and chocolate. 

Crooked Hammock Brewery (16989 Kings Highway, near Lewes) —  Jav-O-Lantern Pumpkin (7.4% ABV), a dark ale with pumpkin smoked over cherry wood with a balance of smoke, spices, dark malts and dark roasted coffee beans.

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery (6 Village Center Blvd, Milton) — Punkin Ale (7% ABV), full-bodied brown ale with pumpkin, brown sugar and spice.

Fordham & Dominion Brewery (1284 McD Dr., Dover) —  Dominion Octoberfest (5.5% ABV), a traditional Märzen, and Fordham Spiced Harvest Ale (6% ABV), a medium-bodied ale spiced with cinnamon, ginger, honey, allspice, clove and pumpkin.

Gary's Dewey Beach Grill (2000 Del. 1, Dewey Beach) -- Sweet Potato ESB (4.6% ABV), made with pureed sweet potato and a pound of pure molasses.  

Iron Hill Brewery (Newark and Wilmington locations) —  Oktoberfest (6% ABV), a traditional German festival beer, and Pumpkin Ale (5.5% ABV), a medium-bodied copper ale.

Revelation Craft Brewing Co. (19841 Central St., Rehoboth Beach) — Smorter Porter (5.5% ABV), a porter with cocoa nibs, grated cocoa and vanilla beans, Revelation Oktoberfest Märzen (5.5 % ABV), which was lagering for six weeks, and Pumpkin Saison (5.8% ABV), made with brown sugar, cinnamon, clove and nutmeg.

Stewart’s Brewing Co. (219 Governor’s Place, Bear) —Oktoberfest (6% ABV), a Bavarian-style amber lager cold-conditioned for six weeks.

Volunteer Brewing Co. (120 W Main St., Middletown) — Volunteer Pumpkin Ale (6% ABV), which will be available at the end of the month, was brewed with local Autumn Buckskin pumpkins from Filasky’s Produce in Middletown. Pints and crowlers will be available at the brewery during its annual Trick or Treat on Main event Oct. 26 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).