If September still feels like summer (since technically, most of the month lands in that season), October is when we notice that fall has officially arrived. If you live somewhere with seasons, you’re likely seeing leaves begin to change colors or grabbing a light jacket when you leave the house in the morning. When it comes to beer, you’re leaning toward darker, maltier, and potentially even pumpkin-flavored brews.
October is a great month for beer drinkers with a lot to offer from a sprawling variety of beer styles. Oktoberfest-style beers, Vienna lagers, pumpkin beers, and even darker, bolder beers are starting to make their respective appearances. The fact that it’s a sort of tricky weather month means it’s a great beer month. Random 80-degree day? Grab an IPA or pilsner. Cloudy, cold, and rainy? It’s brown ale, porter, or even stout time.
We decided to help map out your October imbibing by picking eight great, new, seasonal beers that pair perfectly with the season. Keep scrolling to see them all.
Allagash Haunted House
ABV: 6.66%
Average Price: $16 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
The October beer list is complete without a spooky beer, right? Well, this beer might have a Halloween-themed name but there’s nothing scary about this “hoppy dark ale” brewed with roasted barley, Blackprinz malt, and hopped with Chinook, Saaz, and Crystal hops.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is all chocolate, roasted malts, dried fruits, and light floral hops. The palate is a mixture of freshly brewed coffee, roasted malts, dark chocolate, caramel, dried fruits, and gentle floral, piney hops at the end. It’s a nice mix of malts and hops.
Bottom Line:
This black IPA is a great entry into fall. It’s bold, malty, and bittersweet. All in all, it’s a great beer for the season’s brisk days.
Grimm Ambient Fizz: Koyo Berry
ABV: 4%
Average Price: $20 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
Not all of your October beer choices need to be dark, robust, and malty. The recently released Grimm Ambient Fizz: Koyo Berry is a respite from a month otherwise dominated by those beers. This sour beer was fermented and aged in oak barrels with wild yeast and bacteria. It was fermented a second time with Oishii Koyo berries.
Tasting Notes:
Aromas of ripe berries, lemon peel, funky yeast, and oaky wood begin your tasting journey with this unique beer. Sipping it reveals a sour, tart, slightly sweet beer loaded with strawberries, raspberries, lemongrass, and oak flavors. It’s refreshing, effervescent, and highly memorable.
Bottom Line:
This sparkling, tart, refreshing beer is a great break from the inevitable Marzen-style beers, Vienna lagers, and darker beers that make an appearance in October.
Bronx Brewing Das Bronx
ABV: 5.9%
Average Price: $15 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
Brewed with Pale and Munich malts, Bronx Brewing’s annual take on the classic Oktoberfest beer leans toward the Marzen-style side of things. It’s known for its mix of sweet, caramel malts, roasted flavors, and floral, earthy, herbal hops. It’s a very well-balanced fall sipper.
Tasting Notes:
A nose of roasted malts, biscuit-like malts, caramel, and floral, earthy hops begins everything off right. A palate of bready malts, toffee, roasted malts, and more floral, herbal, noble hops rounds everything together nicely. All in all, a great example of an American-style Oktoberfest beer.
Bottom Line:
After you’ve enjoyed traditional Oktoberfest beers, try an American craft version like Das Bronx. You’ll be happy you did.
Tröegs Master of Pumpkins
ABV: 7.5%
Average Price: $13 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
This annual pumpkin beer begins with 3,000 pounds of locally sourced pumpkins. It’s spiced with cloves, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and French Saison yeast. While spiced, it’s known for its light, pumpkin-forward flavor profile that sets it apart from the other overly sweet, spiced beers on the market.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find notes of roasted pumpkins, caramel malts, nutmeg, cinnamon, and other spices. On the palate, you’ll find a ton of toffee, ripe pumpkin, cinnamon sugar, and nutmeg. It’s sweet, spiced, and surprisingly well-balanced.
Bottom Line:
In a market of over-the-top pumpkin beers, Troegs’ Master of Pumpkins is a well-balanced, flavorful option that will make you rethink the style.
Cellarmaker Brass Boots
ABV: 5.5%
Average Price: Limited Availability
The Beer:
Brewed with Dark Crystal, English Maris Otter, and Honey malts, this ESB (extra special bitter) is known for its mix of bready malts, toffee, and dried fruits. It’s malty, sweet, and well-balanced. Perfect for a chilly fall day.
Tasting Notes:
A nose of bready, caramel malts, and nutty sweetness greets you before your first sip. On the palate, you’ll find notes of freshly baked bread, sticky toffee pudding, candied almonds, dried fruits, and gentle herbal hops. Overall, this is a malty, sweet beer well-suited for fall weather.
Bottom Line:
While well-balanced, this is a malt-forward beer that drinks perfectly on an unseasonably cool fall evening.
Harpoon Flannel Friday
ABV: 5.7%
Average Price: $11 for a six-pack
The Beer:
When it comes to cool fall days, we can get behind the idea of having a flannel Friday even if it’s just in beer form. It’s listed as a “hoppy amber ale”, but it seems more like a mix of a red IPA and a brown ale. It’s known for its roasted malts, caramel, and floral hops.
Tasting Notes:
Complex aromas of sweet caramel, candied orange peels, roasted malts, and floral, piney hops start everything off on a perfect foot. Drinking it brings forth notes of roasted malts, toffee candy, orange peels, and resinous, piney hops.
Bottom Line:
This malty, citrus-filled, piney beer is like the beer equivalent of pulling on a soft, warm flannel shirt on a chilly fall day.
Ska Brewing Double Modus
ABV: 9%
Average Price: Limited Availability
The Beer:
If you’re an IPA fan, you’ve probably enjoyed a pint (or two) of Ska Brewing’s flagship IPA Modus Hoperandi. Recently, the well-known Colorado brewery decided to turn things up to eleven with its new Double Modus DIPA. This imperial version of the well-known IPA is 9% and is known for its dank pine and ripe citrus flavors.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is an aromatic mix of tropical fruits, tangerine, lime peels, and dank, resinous pine. The palate is a symphony of pineapple, caramel malts, lemongrass, orange peels, and a wallop of dank, spicy, piney hops. The finish is loaded with citrus and pleasantly bitter, biting pine needles.
Bottom Line:
If you already enjoy Ska Modus Hoperandi, you’re going to love this elevated, 9% double IPA version. It’s every flavor you enjoy, heightened.
von Trapp Vienna Style Lager
ABV: 5.2%
Average Price: $11 for a six-pack
The Beer:
You might have heard of Stowe, Vermont’s von Trapp Brewing, but did you know that it’s the same family so famously portrayed in ‘The Sound of Music’? Well, not only do they sing, but they also make flavorful, award-winning, European-style beers. One of their best is its Vienna Lager. Brewed with German-sourced malts and hops, it’s a great American take on the classic beer style.
Tasting Notes:
This beer starts everything off right with a nose of freshly baked bread, roasted malts, wet grass, and floral, herbal, earthy hops. The palate continues this trend with a ton of biscuit-like malt sweetness followed by freshly cut grass, toffee, and a ton of noble, floral, fresh hops. The finish is sweet and lightly bitter.
Bottom Line:
As American-made Vienna lagers go, you’d have a tough time finding one better and more authentic than von Trapp’s version.