Best Fall Beers of 2023: What to Crack Open This Season
Autumn is prime time for enjoying ales and lagers, and there's no shortage of fall beers waiting to be tapped—be it while watching a football game, reading up on IPA beer history, or raking leaves (we'd also recommend hoisting lager steins at your local Oktoberfest bash). Fall’s cooler weather welcomes a bounty of fall beers.
There are plenty of heartier styles suited for taking off the chill and pairing with that bubbling pot of chili. Stouts, porters, and nitro beers are once again fair game, and coolers swell with fleeting releases such as fresh-hopped pale ales and pumpkin everything.
We welcome several intriguing ales to store shelves, including IPAs seasoned with spruce tips to ambers ales spiked with maple syrup.
Below you’ll find 24 of the best fall beers to drink during fall’s crunchy, leaf-filled glory. Try the best fall beers of 2023 before winter’s first snowfall.
The Best Fall Beers for 2023
Pumpkin Beers
Forget the Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino. Come fall, there’s no finer seasonal treat than a pumpkin beer brewed with pie spices and plenty of pumpkin too. Pumpkin beers are American brewing’s signature fall seasonal.
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- Style: Pumpkin ale
- ABV: 7%
- Brewery: New Belgium Brewing Company, Fort Collins, Colorado; Asheville, NC
New Belgium tweaks the pumpkin beer template by pairing pumpkin pie’s classic cinnamon spice with fiery habanero peppers. They give the richly malty fall seasonal an enlivening, spicy punch that distinguishes Atomic Pumpkin from the spiced pack.
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- Style: Pumpkin ale
- ABV: 7%
Brewery: Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales, Milton, DE
Since 1995, Delaware’s Dogfish Head has brewed this culinary inspired brown ale that’s packed with pumpkin flesh, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Punkin is both more warming and balanced than most pumpkin beers. “It’s the perfect accompaniment for a hearty dinner or a sunset hike,” Dogfish Head founder Sam Calagione has said.
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- Style: Pumpkin ale
ABV: 6.8%
Brewery: Two Roads Brewing Company, Stratford, CT
The Connecticut brewery takes a different path to create this cult favorite pumpkin ale. The spiced beer is aged in rum barrels by Two Roads for a spirited twist that’s not unlike boozy pumpkin pie.
Smoked Beers
A crackling backyard fire can set the stage for sipping a rauchbier, a style of beer made with smoked malts. If you like BBQ, you might love a few smoked beers.
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- Style: Rauchbier
- ABV: 6.5%
Brewery: Alaskan Brewing Co., Juneau, AK
In 1988, inspired by Alaska’s can-do brewers who once kilned their own malts, Alaskan cofounder Geoff Larson asked a salmon smokehouse to smoke some malt over alder wood. He then brewed a robust beer with the smoky malt and glacier water from the Juneau Icefield, creating one of America’s earliest and most enduring versions of rauchbier. Seek out the annual release on November 1.
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- Style: Rauchbier
- ABV: 5.4%
Brewery: Brauerei Heller-Trum, Bamberg, Germany
Bacon lovers, this beer is for you. Brewed with malt smoked over beechwood by Schlenkerla, this delightfully hammy beer is highlighted by flavors of dark fruit and even chocolate. The beer might seem intense on its own, so try drinking a bottle alongside some brisket or pulled pork. Smoke flavor will recede, and you’ll get the beer’s true flavor.
Festbier and Märzen Lagers
Whether you’re tailgating before a football game or pulling on lederhosen for an Oktoberfest party, you’ll want to stock up on these signature fall lagers. The malty and robust märzen and golden festbier lagers are a little stronger than your average light lager but no less refreshing. P.S. Oktoberfest celebrations start in September, not October.
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- Style: Märzen
- ABV: 5.7%
- Brewery: Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers, Framingham, MA
Who says you can’t get a jumpstart on fall drinking? Starting in August, the Massachusetts lager specialist unveils its annual ode to Oktoberfest imbibing. The lager’s name is truth in advertising from Jack's Abby: It’s the color of freshly minted pennies—a caramel-packed refresher that’s toasty and totally ready to drink by the liter.
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- Style: Festbier
- ABV: 6%
- Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico, California; Mills River, NC
Come fall, Sierra Nevada typically partners with a German brewery to create an Oktoberfest-friendly lager. The crisp and coppery 2023 edition version was brewed in conjunction with Kehrwieder, a modern craft brewery, and features both American and German hops for an elegant bitter pop.
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- Style: Märzen
- ABV: 5.2%
Brewery: Firestone Walker Brewing Company, Paso Robles, CA
To distinguish this fall lager, Firestone Walker finishes aging its märzen in French oak barrels. The process further smooths out the lager, adding a touch of vanilla and tannic complexity that would be welcome with a glass of good bourbon.
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- Style: Festbier
- ABV: 5.2 percent
- Brewery: Brauhaus Riegele, Augsburg, Germany
Established in 1386, family-owned Brauhaus Riegele continues to excel at making lagers like this lauded festbier that features heirloom Steffi barley, a German variety, and the brewery’s unique yeast strain. The lager is fermented cold for two-plus months to produce a snappy, floral festbier with a touch of honey.
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- Style: Festbier
- ABV: 5.8%
- Brewery: Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan, Freising, Germany
Some breweries just get better with age. The Bavarian State Brewery of Weihenstephan is reportedly the world’s oldest brewery, with beer production dating back to 1040, and its festbier remains a master class in refinement. The golden festbier is brewed with native-grown Halltertauer hops that impart a floral, spicy profile that aligns well with roast chicken.
Amber and Brown Ales
Cooler weather calls for richer beers that lean on malt character, namely the amber and brown ales. Some versions opt for a heavier hand with hops and complementary flavors such as maple syrup.
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- Style: ESB
- ABV: 5.3%
- Brewery: Left Hand Brewing Company, Longmont, CO
The veteran Colorado brewery began life in 1993 as Indian Peaks, before changing its name to Left Hand in honor of Arapahoe tribal leader Chief Niwot (“Left Hand”). One thing that’s unchanged: the brewery’s launch beer, Sawtooth, that's named after a Colorado mountain. The amber ale matches pleasant malt sweetness with an earthy, somewhat pine-y bitterness due to Willamette, Cascade, U.S. Goldings, and CTZ hops.
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- Style: Amber ale
- ABV: 5.7%
- Brewery: Harpoon Brewery, Boston, MA
Don’t wait until Friday to crack a can of this malty fall seasonal that stitches together a brown ale and red IPA. The autumnal ale from Harpoon is layered with Citra and Cascade hops for a citrusy, piney profile that’s ideal for IPA fans burned out on too much haze.
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- Style: Brown ale
- ABV: 5.5%
- Brewery: Cigar City Brewing, Tampa, FL
The Tampa neighborhood of Ybor City was once known as the cigar capital of the world. Cigar City pays homage to the incendiary past with Maduro, an English-style brown ale named after a cigar variety famed for its dark wrapper. The chocolatey, toffee-tinged brown ale is brewed with flaked oats, resulting in a silky sip that’s a solid friend to grilled steak and fireside chats with friends.
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- Style: Amber ale
- ABV: 8%
Brewery: Lawson’s Finest Liquids, Waitsfield, VT
Two of Vermont’s greatest exports are maple syrup and beer. Lawson’s unites them in this imperial-strength amber ale made with Vermont maple syrup and named after the Mad River Valley, which is home to some of the state’s top maple syrup makers. The brawny amber ale isn’t too sweet due to a pleasant but not overpowering bitterness. Partner a can with leaf peeping.
Porters, Stouts, and Schwarzbiers
When the nights grow longer, you’ll want to turn to warming porters and stouts that taste of chocolate and coffee thanks to the use of dark malts. You’ll also want to look for a schwarzbier, a dark lager that should be your go-to grilling beer.
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- Style: Schwarzbier
- ABV: 4.8%
- Brewery: Köstritzer Schwarzbierbrauerei GmbH & Co., Bad Köstritz, Germany
One of the biggest misconceptions in brewing is that dark beers are heavy. To burst that myth, try this classic German schwarzbier. The dark lager from Köstritzer drinks dry and light, and you’ll delight in the rounded flavors of roasted coffee and dark chocolate. It’s an ideal choice to drink alongside grilled sausage.
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- Style: Stout
- ABV: 7.5%
- Brewery: Allagash Brewing Company, Portland, ME
Allagash is among America’s best Belgian-inspired breweries, full stop. This lustrous stout is brewed with Belgian yeast for a subtle fruitiness that plays well with the roasty, chocolaty character. North Sky is warming enough for chilly fall nights, and it makes a great adult dessert when paired with several gooey s’mores.
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- Style: Stout
- ABV: 6%
- Brewery: Bell’s Brewery, Comstock, MI
It’s tough these days to find a stout that’s not been loaded with candy, breakfast cereal, or other sweet treats. This blacktop-colored stout is testament to the fact that sometimes simpler is better. First brewed in 1988 by Bell's, the classic Kalamazoo is a smooth operator that tastes of dark chocolate and roasted coffee, along with a bit of anise from brewer’s licorice.
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- Style: Russian imperial stout
ABV: 12%
Brewery: Surly Brewing Company, Brooklyn Center, MN
Since 2006, Surly Brewing has celebrated spooky season with the October release of Darkness, a monstrously strong imperial stout that tastes of cherries, raisins, toffee, and chocolate. Each year’s release features a different label, and Surly regularly releases special editions aged in different bourbon barrels and dosed with special ingredients like cold-smoked cherries.
Pale Ales and IPAs
In the fertile fields of the Pacific Northwest, late summer is harvest time for hops, the little green flowers that add aroma, flavor, and bitterness to beer. Most hops are dried and packaged for later use. But some freshly picked hops are rushed to breweries to create a fleeting taste of the harvest season: freshly hopped pale ales and IPAs.
1. Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale
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Style: American IPA
ABV: 6.8%
Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, Chico, CA
This seasonal treat is brewed during the hop harvest, with cones rushed straight from the farms to Sierra Nevada's brew kettles. The result is heady perfume of citrus- and pine-forward American hops over red-hued malt bill that's a touch ier than the average IPA.
2. Other Half Space Diamonds
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Style: Hazy IPA
ABV: 8.5%
Brewery: Other Half Brewing Company, New York, NY
This modern classic exemplifies the hazy IPA, packed to the can seams with the peach and passionfruit flavors of Galaxy hops. The flavor is big—massive really—but a smooth, not quite sweet malt backbone balances out the bold hops for a surprisingly balanced, pleasantly warming IPA.
3. Three Floyds Broo Doo
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Style: Harvest Ale
ABV: 7.0%
Brewery: Three Floyds Brewing Company, Munster, IN
This modern classic exemplifies the hazy IPA, packed to the can seams with the peach and passionfruit flavors of Galaxy hops. The flavor is big—massive really—but a smooth, not quite sweet malt backbone balances out the bold hops for a surprisingly balanced, pleasantly warming IPA.
Non-Alcoholic Beers
Perhaps the greatest advancement in beer of the last decade is the elevation of non-alcoholic beer to a beverage that indeed tastes like beer. We admit they're not all winners, but the best ones are practically indistinguishable from their full-strength peers.
1. Guinness 0.0
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Style: Irish Dry Stout
ABV: 0.0%
Brewery: Guinness & Co, Dublin, IRE
It tastes just like Guinness—can there be higher praise than that? Overthink this beer and you might notice the body is a touch thinner, but otherwise it feels like a clone. It features the same nitrogenation, snappy bite, and roasted barley.
2. Partake Brewing Oktoberfest
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Style: Oktoberfest
ABV: 0.5%
Brewery: Partake Brewing, Calgary, CAN
Partake recalls the classic amber lagers of Oktoberfest with this crisp, quaffable beer. Toasted barley dominates, but isn't overwhelming, and is balanced by a kiss of spicy German hops. Pair with a giant pretzel and you're ready to fest.
3. Athletic Brewing Free Wave
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Style: Hazy IPA
ABV: 0.5%
Brewery: Athletic Brewing, Milford, CT
With a little more body and a ton more hops than most non-alcoholic IPAs, Free Wave satisfies and feels substantial—like a good hazy IPA should. Athletic brews Free Wave with a trio of crowd-pleasing American hops—Citra, Mosaic, and Amarillo—that bring bold juicy citrus flavors and aromas.
