The Best Cozy Beer Flavors To Turn To This Fall, According To An Expert
If you thought the comforting, seasonal flavors of fall were limited to pumpkin spice lattes, think again. The cool weather brings an abundance of in-season produce that usher in a new season of tastes for all foods and beverages, including beer. While we might consider beer to be more of a summer drink, when you bring in hints of fall to your brew, you're left with a cozy beer to enjoy on the fleeting days of autumn. Jeff Tyler, head brewer and co-owner of Spice Trade Brewery + Kitchen, uses the season as an exciting time to introduce unique, cozy brews.
"For me, the fall is all about embracing the changing of the seasons," Tyler tells Tasting Table. "The weather is starting to cool off, there are a lot of great fruits and vegetables ready for harvest."
A seasonally flavored beer can put you in the right mood for holidays such as Halloween and Thanksgiving, plus the beers pair excellently with all the other delicious fall foods you'll be making. Next time you consider picking up a six-pack, consider going for a fall flavor for a unique and festive flair on beer. You can go for as intense or as subtle a fall flavor profile as you please to get all the cozy benefits.
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Pumpkin Spice Beer
Tyler's best seasonal selling beer is his #PSL - Pumpkin Spice Latte beer. Modeled after the famous, seasonal drink, pumpkin spice beers use warm flavors that capture that comforting flavor you'd typically get in a real pumpkin spice latte but in beer form. "Folks love pumpkin beers and that's where their minds typically go to first," says Tyler.
Pumpkin-based beers come in a wide variety of fall flavor profiles. They can be more or less sweet, depending on what you are looking for, and typically use pumpkin as part of the brew. Pumpkin brings a delicately sweet, earthy flavor to beers that give a whisper of autumn in every sip. Look for beers that reference flavor notes such as spices, brown sugar, coffee, vanilla, and lactose. These are the main flavor notes in Tyler's beer and bring in all the best parts of fall food and drinks.
Chai Inspired Beer
Tyler also brews a Chai Milk Stout, inspired by a chai latte. This beer focuses less on the earthy elements of fall flavors and more on the seasonal spices. Chai blends typically contain cardamom, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon, but chai can also feature more unique add-ins such as black peppercorn or fennel, making this a special flavor profile to pair with beer. You can elect to look for specific elements of the chai flavor if you can't find a chai beer near you.
Tyler's Chai Milk Stout is a rich, chocolatey stout that mimics a chai latte you'd find at your local coffee shop. The chocolate stout tones down the intensity of the chai spices.
If you aren't a fan of chocolate stouts you can look for less rich options that would allow for more of the chai elements to pop through. A chai-inspired beer is a great choice to enjoy on those colder fall days as the spice element brings a small kick to every sip.
Black Citrus IPAs
Pumpkins and warm spices aren't the only seasonal flavors during fall. Fall produce brings the beginnings of citrus season towards the end of October. Tyler's Moon Temple: Eclipse IPA has notes of dark chocolate, citrus, and berries. If you're a fan of high-quality pour-over coffees that allow you to better experience the tasting notes in coffee, Tyler thinks you'd be a fan of IPAs like this. Look for tasting notes such as lemon peel.
The seasonal fruits of fall tend to be less sweet and tarter, offering a brighter-tasting IPA. Tyler's IPA is a black IPA, meaning it uses darker malts in the brewing process. The result is a smooth, toasty IPA that has tasting notes similar to coffee. The slightly more bitter beer matches the waning sweetness of other seasonal flavors and pairs well with the rich dishes enjoyed at events like Thanksgiving -- not to mention the darker color matches the vibe of Halloween to a tee.
Malt Forward Beers
Beers like amber ales, dark lagers, winter warmers, Oktoberfestbiers, and dark ales are all examples of malt-forward beers. Malt-forward beers have a sweet, nutty taste that is often compared to caramel or coffee. Tyler enjoys malt-forward beers in the fall; the richness offers a comforting flavor to the beers. When looking for malt-forward beers, look for flavors such as nutty, toasty, or caramel. All these match the flavor notes typically associated with malt.
Malt also makes the beers darker, giving them a rich autumnal color theme. Malt can be found as an ingredient in all beers, but the level of malt prominence is based on how much kilning the grains receive. Kilning is the process of heating barley; this is where that sweeter, toasty flavor comes from. If you're looking for a malty beer, try looking for darker lagers instead of the pale ales. Malty beers have a similar vibe to caramel apples and pecan pies, making them an excellent fall brew choice.
Read the original article on Tasting Table.
