My International Stout Day List

Welcome to November 3rd, or as we are supposed to refer to it, International Stout Day.  This is a day to celebrate the dark goodness of some perfect winter beers, but in autumn.  As the leaves are changing, so must the taste buds.  No longer are crisp pilsners required for weekend picnics, lawnmowing is done- so no more light wheat beers (Dunkelweizens still are welcome), pumpkins beers are getting harder to find on the shelves (since they are starting to make their appearance in July) and winter warmers have yet to show up.

What ends up being the best beer for the changing of the seasons is the Stout. Pushed onto American palates by Guinness- hey I started there, you probably did too- the rich, roasty goodness can get you through the cooler nights.  So grab a dark one, and enjoy.

Here happen to be a few of my favorite stouts.  Some good beers to have one of or more than a few. (I am trying to stay away from one-offs and special releases, and focus on beers that many can actually obtain.)

1. Guinness (4.2%)- seriously, you have to give it props (Foreign Extra, if you can get it)
2. Sierra Nevada Stout (5.8%)- a highly underrated stout that has the malty sweetness, but also the bitterness that is expected from Sierra Nevada.
3. Founder's Breakfast Stout (8.3%)-the younger brother of the uber-popular Canadian and Kentucky Breakfast stouts can hold his own in any line up.  A coffee lovers dream.
4. Great Divide Yeti (9.5%)- I prefer the Oak-Aged Yeti, but the regular, belgian, chocolate, espresso, and vanilla are all very good (I didn't have the Brett Yeti, but I would imagine it was good).
5. Southern Tier Mokah (11.2%) - what tastes like a blend of the Java and Choklat, perfect balance between coffee and chocolate make this a great cold weather beer.  Delicious as a dessert (If you can't find Mokah, check out the Creme Brulee if you truly want dessert).
6. BrewDog Tokyo*- this 18.2% (yes, 18.2%) beer tastes like it should only be about 7%, dangerously drinkable. They say it was brewed with Jasmine and Cranberries, but I think they added a bit of black magic. Expensive, but worth every penny. (This was introduced to me by Mr. Mitchell of BeerInBaltimore.Blogspot. I have to credit him for my addiction to it.)

Honorable mentions go to Bell's Expedition, Troeg's Java Head, Rogue Shakespeare and Oskar Blues Ten Fidy.

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?

Max's

Clay Pipe Hopocalipse was the pint tonight. Nice beer. It is a basic IPA with a great name. It was a bit "coppery" or metalic, but the hop/malt was able to make it good enough. I would give it another go/

Next, I had the Southern Tier Mokah. The Mokah is a 50/50 mixture of ST's Javah and Choklat beers. The beer was very chocolaty. The Belgian Chocolate that was placed in the Choklat beer is a bit overpowering the Javah, but you can pick that out. Very light beer to drink compared to other chocolate beers.

I spanned the globe on beer styles as I finished with a Victory 8 (their belgian double). Very nice, drinkable beer. I got a lot of bready taste as well as raisons. Still I think it is very drinkable and delicious.

What did you have lately?