Now Beer This: What Should You Be Drinking This Fall?

Pumpkin beers are not, contrary to popular belief, the ultimate in craft beer options for the Fall. Many of my beer-obsessed brethren would agree that most pumpkin-themed beers are not really worth the effort; instead of getting something interesting, you essentially get an amber with too much pumpkin pie spices thrown in to it. Not terribly artful — and not terribly drinkable, frankly. So what else is out there? I’m sooooooo glad you asked!

RED IPAs!

These are my jam! I’m an IPA guy to begin with, so you had me with that. But Red IPAs are slightly more balanced cousins of my hop-forward favorites. Reds add a bit of Amber/Biscuit malt, and often a touch more Crystal/Caramel malt, to impart some more robust and toffee-like malt flavor to these ales. When done right, you’ll get almost candy-like malt sweetness balanced by dank hop bitterness. These things are a treat! Locally, you can find a Red IPA on draft at Craftboro in Carrboro. And the Big Boys at Stone, Sierra Nevada, and Founders also distribute a Red IPA. Give ‘em all a try.

BLACK IPAs!

Same argument as above…you’ve got great hoppiness, but more interesting malt character. Instead of the ale being an IPA soliloquy, it’s more of a malt and hop dialog, which is way more fun. Instead of focusing on sweeter malts, you get more robust chocolatey flavor, with a touch (but preferably not a lot!) of roast malt character. This a very enjoyable style, and a persuasive introduction to IPAs for people that don’t generally like them. Give these a whirl, for sure.

ESBs!

The Extra Special Bitter might be the pinnacle of English brewing. A well-balanced, but probably slightly malt-forward (pay no attention to the name) classic pub offering, this beer is designed for drinking while surrounded b y friends and warmth, which sounds like a perfect Fall day to me. ESBs highlight the premium malts (often using Maris Otter, an heirloom barley malt, as its base malt) with a touch of wheat and crystal to sweeten the mix. Woven amongst that basket of malt goodness are English hops – most often East Kent Goldings and Fuggles – that provide a much different hop character than American hops. Think grassy fields, woodland aromas, and a touch of spiciness. If you aren’t already loving ESBs, you should be.

Ze Germans!

Yes, yes. There are German beers out there, too. I know. I know. So before anyone yells at me for writing a beer column about Fall beers and not mentioning German beers (“I mean, they invented Oktoberfest, man!”) you are welcome to try a Marzen, the Oktoberfest beer style. This is a lager that, like the Red IPA, has a more interesting malt bill, but they use Munich malt for a much deeper, more bready flavor, but also with a touch of caramel, too. This is a great beer style, and for many it’s the prototypical Fall beer. But you can also try Dunkels for a little more malt action.

But I want PUMPKIN!

If you absolutely HAVE to have a pumpkin beer, the ONLY one I recommend is the Warlock by Southern Tier. This is generally available in the bigger/better bottle shops and is the only pumpkin beer I can remember ever truly enjoying and seeking out. It’s done with an Imperial Stout base, and instead of the pumpkin flavor coming off as an overpowering addition, it works instead as a graham-crackery partner with that powerful roasty ale. I think of this is a good beer, period. The fact that it happens to be a pumpkin beer is just amazing.

So go out there and try some stuff, and let me know what you think!

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Now Beer This: My Top 5 All-Time Favorite Beers

Over the holidays I was discussing favorite beers with friends and I thought about if I was pressed to name my Top 5 beers what would make that list. That sounds like a pretty simple thing. But it ain’t. I’ve had A LOT of beers in my time. TONS. I’ve gone out of my way […]

Now Beer This: No Tricks, All Treats - Halloween Candy & Beer

Halloween Candy and Beer! You might have access to A LOT of Halloween candy come November 1, and somebody’s got to do something about it. So why not try some candy and beer pairing experiments? There are WAY too many candy varieties out there to make for a concise article, and I’m old enough that […]

Now Beer This: Beer-Related Travel Bragging

Maybe it’s poor form for me to tell you I got to go somewhere really cool and try some unusual, delightful and rare beers – but don’t think of it as travel bragging. Think of it as me sharing my experiences in the international craft beer world for your enjoyment. There! Isn’t that better? Last […]

Now Beer This: Coffee Beers, 'Tis The Season

I am a study in contrasts, to be sure. On the one hand, I love traditional beer styles and brewing methods and curl my lip at new-fangled, fabricated styles. On the other hand, you throw some coffee into ANY beer style, and I mean ANY beer at all, and I’m probably going to like it. […]

Now Beer This: The Beer Nerd Preaches on Berliner Weisse

If you had asked me six or so year ago, what European beer style is least likely to become popular in America, I’d have told you “Berliner Weisse, almost certainly.” Why? Back in the day, there were two things that drove beer popularity: hoppiness and ABV. The Berliner Weisse does neither of those things well. […]

Now Beer This: Weiss Guys

Before the Hazy IPA became a thing, before there were sessions, and maybe even before there were Radlers, the summer beer of choice was often a wheat beer. The German Hefeweizen (“yeast wheat”) is probably the most ubiquitous of these sweeter, lighter brews. With a grain bill consisting of about 50% wheat, this one is […]

Now Beer This: Differentiating Between Ales and Lagers

What makes Ales “Ales” and Lagers “Lagers?” When people find out I’m a Professor of Beer-ology, I almost always get this question from them. It’s a great question, and I’m happy to answer it. I can give you a short answer, but the long answer is SOOOOOO much more informative, and helps you to understand […]

Now Beer This: Beer Humbug! My Beer-Related Pet Peeves

I get all crotchety during this time of year. All of the forced cheeriness and murdering of trees for decoration — “destroyers and usurpers!” as Treebeard would say. I normally write a lot about what I like about craft beer and the beer world, but today, Mr. E-beer-neezer Scrooge is going to let you know […]

Now Beer This: Thanksgiving Day Beer Pairing Ideas

First, I should admit that we don’t do a traditional Thanksgiving Day dinner at my house. Years ago we all admitted that the thing we looked forward to the most was pies — so we decided to only serve food in pie form, changed the name of the celebration to Pie Day, and we’ve been […]

Now Beer This: What Should You Be Drinking This Fall?

Pumpkin beers are not, contrary to popular belief, the ultimate in craft beer options for the Fall. Many of my beer-obsessed brethren would agree that most pumpkin-themed beers are not really worth the effort; instead of getting something interesting, you essentially get an amber with too much pumpkin pie spices thrown in to it. Not […]

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