We’re approaching ‘Autumn’ (if the seasons were to play by the god damn rules!). And that means the evenings getting shorter & that bit more brisk. Our energy levels in the evenings will taper off a bit in the next few months. This means comfortable food & comfortable beers.  I particularly like this time of year as the beers get a bit more interesting & diverse.

Typical Autumnal beer styles are:

• Red/Amber Ales
• Marzen/Oktoberfest Beers
• ESB’s
• Gourds (aka Pumpkin beers)

And they’d be all well & good as choices. But, I think that lighter-end-of-the-scale  porters are also a great choice around this time, along with Saisons or other farmhouse styled beers. This time of year for me is still Harvest time, with harvest festivals.

Red/Amber Ales

When it comes to red ales, I am super picky. Too often I find them dull, boring, purposeless & unenjoyable. They feel like a poor man’s porter to be honest. But, there are a few that are knocking about in Ireland that I do find incredibly enjoyable:

• Kelly’s Mountain Brew Revolution Red
• Brew Dog 5AM Saint (my favorite Red Ale on the Irish market by a long shot)
• McGargles Granny Mary’s Red Ale
• Kinnegar Brewing Devil’s Backbone
• O’Brother The Fixer
• Rascal’s Big Hiop Red (massively recommended beer!)
• Narpabier ZZ Amber (If you’ve not had this, GET ON THAT S**T PRONTO!!!!)

Marzen/Oktoberfest Beers

Marzen beers in Autumn are comfort personified. They give you a warm fuzzy feeling much like an Imperial Stout in Winter. Marzens have become Oktoberfest beers (or vice-versa depending on how you want to be about it!) And when they start appearing on our shelves, I’m one happy camper:

• ANYTHING by Weihenstephaner (I’m deadly seriouis here)
• Weissenoher Bonator
• Ayinger Urweusse

ESB’s

When it comes to this category (Extra Special Bitters), there are only three I have as my absolute go-to’s here in Ireland:

• Porterhouse TSB (on draught in their pubs – get thee to a Porterhouse!)
• Adnams Southwold (available in most Aldi supermarkets)
• Wychwood Hobgoblin (this is a MUST try)

Gourds

Now we get to possibly the most over-rated & under-whelming of the Autumn beers for me. I still have no idea to this day why everyone loses their s**t over Pumpkin beers. Most are grossly heavyhanded with pumpkin spice that feels like I’m chewing on a cinnamon stick, others are sickly sweet with an almost powdery finish. I’ve gotten to the point with this beer style, that my advice is simple:

Try them, but you won’t be ordering pint-after-pint of them