Fall Time Brews

Summer brews get a lot of hype.  Those thirst quenching, fruity wheat beers are easy and fun to drink while at picnics, parties and around the fire pit.  I love a good Bell's Oberon or Dogfish Head Festina Peche.  Christmas beers, with their spices, and winter warmers, with their high abv, get the attention of those looking to sip next to the chestnuts roasting on an open fire.  Packed in between those two beer seasons, are Oktoberfest beers.

I like a good malty Oktoberfest Lager.  I did my best to brew an oktoberfest ale for my wedding, it wasn't the same, but it was good. For the pure German in you, you can drink some Spaten or Paulander- easier to find German Oktoberfest beers. For the domestic side, I enjoy Flying Dog Dogtoberfest and Sam Adam's Oktoberfest.

But what else do people drink in the Fall?  I have a couple ideas of what I like.

Bring on the IPAs. Many people think that they summer is too hot to drink the hop bombs. The high IBU beers get drowned out by the Christmas beers, so drink them while you can.  It isn't quite cold enough to need the high abv beers, but the 6-7% beer might cut through the fall chill.  A perfect beer to grab would be the Sierra Nevada Estate- the freshest of the fresh, all locally grown ingredients. Grab a jacket and head outside.

The darker beers also work well when it starts to get dark earlier.  The porters, stouts and brown ales all work well.  The beers with a little extra body can carry you through the tail gate.  Picking up some Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald would impress a newcomer to craft beer or the seasoned mustached CAMBRA member.

Fall has unique beers too.  Pumpkin beers are in season.  I am not the biggest fan of them, but there are enough people that cannot wait.  Dogfish Head Punkin, Southern Tier PumpKing, Heavy Seas Great Pumpkin and (if you need some warming) Weyerbacher's Imperial Pumpkin are all great beers that give a fresh dose of pumpkin.  Goes great with corn field mazes.

Finally, find some of the unique seasonals.  First one that should come to mind is The Bruery's Autumn Maple.  This perfect for Thanksgiving beer is brewed with yams, maple syrup and other spices that would accompany a Turkey dinner. Check with the local brewpubs to see what unique ingredients they are throwing in their beers, and take home a growler.

Hopefully, you can embrace Fall beers.  They are versatile and easy to drink.  What are your favorites?

Tuesday Beer Social

The fiance is in Reno this week (hopefully I can get her to pick me us some beer), so I was able to head down to Max's for the Tuesday night beer social.  This was one social that I was looking forward to.  If you follow the blog at all, you might notice that I do not feature stouts very often.  It isn't that I do not like stouts, but I prefer lighter ales, especially Belgians.  Well, this week has been for stouts.

Sunday night, I cracked open my bottle of delicious Southern Tier Mokah.  A mix of the Chokat (chocolate) and the Java (coffee).  This beer gives a great mixture of both of the beers, smooth and delicious.

Tonight, the beer of choice was Heavy Seas Siren Noire.  I preceded that beer with Oliver's Bishop Breakfast.  Both of the beers were delicious, but I would have to give the Siren Noire the edge, due to it being from a firkin and the lack of carbination really developed the beer into something that was extremely drinkable.  Both were beers that I would drink in a heartbeat.

The other beer that I sampled tonight was the BrewDog Tokyo, an 18% stout that doesn't show its strength.  I could taste the raisons and other dark fruits, but the high abv was well masked.  This is a beer that would get me in trouble if I didn't know what I was getting into.  Try it, you will like it.

What did you have tonight?

Snow, Snow, Go Away (Heavy Seas style)

I decided to fight the storm with a Clipper City, I mean Heavy Seas, Mutiny Series, Yule Tide.  I took the picture next to the "fire".

I really like this beer, and wish that I had picked up a few more bottles.  It isn't anything wowwing, but it is good.  Mild spices, with a lot of sweetness to it.

What are you drinking on this blustery, winter day?