Personally as fall approaches I like my beer to be more temperate, a little sweeter and perhaps spicy. It should be a beer that reminds me of the changing weather and the warmth of sitting by a fireplace that looms in the near future. With this in mind I typically turn to the toasty beers that aren't quite the heaviness of a winter stout.
In the past years I've brewed porters, nut browns and honey browns to enjoy over the fall. This year while doing my research for what to brew I came across several posts that recommended reds. This makes sense as it falls in my range of toasty darker spicy beers, but would it be a little too light bodied? I honestly haven't had a red ale in a long time, so I can't be the judge on this, but before I brew 5 gallons of it, I think I'll pick up a six pack of a decent red and see if it has the potential to make it into my fall beer rotations.
A potential option for IPA fans would be a dark IPA, essentially taking the hoppy and warming strength of an IPA and combining it with that toasty fall feeling. Another option for an IPA fan that pulls back on the roasted flavor of a black IPA and instead brings in that nutty brown flavor would be an brown IPA. Until recently I'd never even thought of doing this, but then I tried Dogfish Head's Indian brown (http://www.dogfish.com/brews-spirits/the-brews/year-round-brews/indian-brown-ale.htm) and I was surprised at how delicious it was.
Finally, there is the idea of brewing a lager which is the traditional german fall beer. This would also go perfect with football season - enjoying beers, pizza and wings with your buddies over a good game.
This year I think I'm gonna try a maple nut brown similar to a Tommyknocker, if only they had them in California. With all the beer potential out there, what is your ideal beer to enjoy over the fall?
No comments:
Post a Comment