Deciding on Fall beer style

J A

J A

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The heat here is finally starting to mitigate at least a little and it seems safe to start thinking about something besides a lawnmower style. I'm in the mood for something dark or amber but there are other good options. I'll be putting together a Dark Lager as soon as my Cream Ale is out of the fermenter so that'll be nice but it'll be maybe 6 weeks out. By mid-late October, I'll brew a keg or two of my Irish Stout so that'll be in the mix. I'm finishing up a keg of Amber Lager so I don't feel the need for a Marzen.

For now I'd like to put together something that's maybe intermediate in color and/or flavor and a little different from my stand-bys. It'll be a while, yet, until we get any cold or even substantially cooler weather but I'd like to head in that direction.

Here's what I've been thinking about:

Irish Red - it's usually in rotation anyway and is always a good choice and quick, easy brew but it's a little "plain", sort of...I might prefer waiting until spring to brew this one
Amber Ale - American Amber is nice and I really like the style, but maybe a little hoppier than I'm thinking for this go-round
English Porter - definitely fits the bill but maybe a little dark and heavy?
Dark Mild - could work nicely but maybe a little redundant with the Dark Lager coming up later?
Brown Ale - seems to check all the right boxes and should be a pretty quick grain-to-glass turnaround
Scottish Ale - might be just the thing - a little different character than the Irish Red or other British styles
Hefeweizen - It's definitely a fall/winter style here in Texas and with the German heritage in Texas, it's pretty common. Different enough and enjoyable...not sure I want a keg full
Wit Bier - Personally, I prefer the Belgian Wit style to a Hefe and it fills the same slot. I like having a wit on tap holiday/party season so this one will be in the mix at some point.

So...all good choices. What say ye? Which one would get your vote? Or maybe there's a good choice I'm not thinking about. Any specific favorite recipes to share? :)
 
I'm doing a California Common, American Brown, Sticke Alt - The Enforcer, and Nut Brown Ale as we get closer to Q4. I thought the Sticke Alt would be cool to brew and serve for hockey season. Lager it for 2 months. I'll also be doing a Keptinis Ale over the American Thanksgiving. The only process I'm following in that beer is to bake the grains at 375F for 3 hours and then recirculate.

All good choices and depends on taste. If I had my 2 cents, the BROWN ALE would be the way to go. Dunkelweizen wasn't listed, but that could also add something different.



The Enforcer.png
 
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J A said:
The heat here is finally starting to mitigate at least a little and it seems safe to start thinking about something besides a lawnmower style. I'm in the mood for something dark or amber but there are other good options. I'll be putting together a Dark Lager as soon as my Cream Ale is out of the fermenter so that'll be nice but it'll be maybe 6 weeks out. By mid-late October, I'll brew a keg or two of my Irish Stout so that'll be in the mix. I'm finishing up a keg of Amber Lager so I don't feel the need for a Marzen.

For now I'd like to put together something that's maybe intermediate in color and/or flavor and a little different from my stand-bys. It'll be a while, yet, until we get any cold or even substantially cooler weather but I'd like to head in that direction.

Here's what I've been thinking about:

Irish Red - it's usually in rotation anyway and is always a good choice and quick, easy brew but it's a little "plain", sort of...I might prefer waiting until spring to brew this one
Amber Ale - American Amber is nice and I really like the style, but maybe a little hoppier than I'm thinking for this go-round
English Porter - definitely fits the bill but maybe a little dark and heavy?
Dark Mild - could work nicely but maybe a little redundant with the Dark Lager coming up later?
Brown Ale - seems to check all the right boxes and should be a pretty quick grain-to-glass turnaround
Scottish Ale - might be just the thing - a little different character than the Irish Red or other British styles
Hefeweizen - It's definitely a fall/winter style here in Texas and with the German heritage in Texas, it's pretty common. Different enough and enjoyable...not sure I want a keg full
Wit Bier - Personally, I prefer the Belgian Wit style to a Hefe and it fills the same slot. I like having a wit on tap holiday/party season so this one will be in the mix at some point.

So...all good choices. What say ye? Which one would get your vote? Or maybe there's a good choice I'm not thinking about. Any specific favorite recipes to share? :)
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Did you do @Minbari 's sweet stout when it was one of the "Q" beers? Might be a good choice if you didn't. If you did maybe wait and see what @Josh Hughes has in store for us for the Q4/2025 brew.

My vote on above would be the Porter though.
 
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vinobrew said:
I'm doing a California Common, American Brown, Sticke Alt - The Enforcer, and Nut Brown Ale as we get closer to Q4. I thought the Sticke Alt would be cool to brew and serve for hockey season. Lager it for 2 months. I'll also be doing a Keptinis Ale over the American Thanksgiving. The only process I'm following in that beer is to bake the grains at 375F for 3 hours and then recirculate.

All good choices and depends on taste. If I had my 2 cents, the BROWN ALE would be the way to go. Dunkelweizen wasn't listed, but that could also add something different.



View attachment 33127
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I can't like that 5-0 Habs score...
 
Craigerrr said:
Did you do @Minbari 's sweet stout when it was one of the "Q" beers? Might be a good choice if you didn't. If you did maybe wait and see what @Josh Hughes has in store for us for the Q4/2025 brew.

My vote on above would be the Porter though.
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That's right...I missed the zoom meet-up. It might be nice to do another Community brew. :)
 
I'd like to make a nice fall beer sometime at the end of October, maybe early November. It is my favorite time to drink beer. I'd be interested in making someone else's recipe if several people want to make a fall community beer.
 
I'm planning on a Nut Brown as well, maybe closer to Thanksgiving. I'm also planning a Munich II smash amber lager with a light lagery hop. I have some Triumph that would work well
 
Sunfire96 said:
I'm planning on a Nut Brown as well, maybe closer to Thanksgiving. I'm also planning a Munich II smash amber lager with a light lagery hop. I have some Triumph that would work well
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I'm just in the process of re-working my Butthead Brown Ale (my butthead brother really liked this beer when I first brewed it... :D ).
It's a good candidate for my fall beer, though I'm not sure if it's the final answer.
If others want to brew a brown ale, it might be fun.
 
I vote for a Brown Ale. Perfect Fall beer. I’ll be making one soon enough.
 
I’m hopping on the brown ale train as well as I’ve decided that’s where I’m going to add some of my free mango honey.
 
Funny, I have the ingredients for a brown, just need to brew it. Soon.
 
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Donoroto said:
Funny, I have the ingredients for a brown, just need to brew it. Soon.
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I thought I might get to it today but a bit of work came up so I'll have to wait until Wednesday. :)
I have to say, I'm getting pretty excited about it. I realized that I hadn't brewed this particular beer in many years. I've brewed my Irish Red and Guiness-style stout a number of times and those have been sufficient. This will be a nice style to revisit and mix things up a little. :)
 
An ESB is a nice beer for the cooler months. I also do my Game day Alt when football season starts
 
I love my Alt. I did play around with something close to a Festbier last year. I have done a Pumpkin Ale. I have done a Sweet Potato Brown. I like my Oatmeal Porter recipe, and I keep it in the 4s and 5s.
I had done some research before about doing a Dark Pre-Pro. I was wrong in translating the style, but I did come up with something that I very much liked. I called it "Mutt" because it was kind of a mix of styles, and I am going to make it next. It is basically my Porter recipe, but I substitute Flaked Corn for Flaked Oats. I substitute 34/70 yeast for WLP004, I do a 2 Row/6Row mix instead of Maris Otter, and I substitute Crystal hops for Fuggle.
One of the breweries that I frequent does a Kentucky Common that they call a "Dark Cream Ale". That would also be wonderful for the fall.
 
i love german styles so i currently have on a Dunkel(that has rye), Schwarzbier, fest bier, and essentially a helles/pils bastard golden lager. just brewed an oyster stout
 
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Bryozoans said:
I made an Earl Grey Cream ESB last weekend! Hopefully it will go well with all the Football, soccer, hockey and curling we're watching haha
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what is that? I'm curious
 
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