New Belgium Brewing challenges craft brewing brethren to a carving contest

With fall officially here and pumpkin beers flying off the shelves, New Belgium Brewing Co. decided to challenge other pumpkin-beer-making craft brewers to a carving contest. New Belgium and six seven craft breweries have put their knife skills to the test and the final pumpkins for The Big Craft Carve Off are on display at www.NewBelgium.com/CraftCarveOff. Public voting for the favorite begins Oct. 3 and runs through Oct. 15 at Eater.com. New Belgium will donate $5,000 to a charity of the winner’s choice.

“There’s a proud tradition of pumpkin beer brewing every fall among craft brewers, and we figured a great way to celebrate the change of seasons is a good old-fashioned carving contest” said New Belgium Spokesperson Bryan Simpson. “Several of our brewing buddies jumped on board and did amazing, magical feats to transform simple gourds into works of art.”

New Belgium’s carved entry celebrates its current seasonal release, Pumpkick Ale. Pumpkick is brewed with plenty of pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice, but it is the healthy dose of cranberries that really makes it stand out. Other breweries participating in the carving contest include: Dogfish Head Craft Brewery; Brooklyn Brewery; Cigar City Brewing; Cambridge Brewing Co.; Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales; Schlafly Beer; and (just added) Saint Arnold Brewing Co.

“It was a little tricky for some breweries to find pumpkins this early in the season, so we actually had to ship some from Fort Collins,” Simpson said. “The results speak volumes as to how many creative folks we have in our industry. Pretty inspiring. ”

To keep up with the contest, you can follow the hashtag #CraftCarveOff on Twitter and Instagram. New Belgium will also post updates at www.newbelgium.com/CraftCarveoff, on Facebook and on Twitter. If you have a pumpkin you’d like to show off, use #CraftCarveOff to post your pumpkin pictures on Twitter and Instagram.