Fall beer styles and beer fests

Autumn may be the best time of the year for beer festivals in West Virginia. The weather is pleasantly cool. And the hills are alive with fall colors, which are also perfect colors for fall beer.

Autumn is the time that malty beers show their best. After a summer of lighter, pale, dry beer styles, autumn welcomes the richer, more intense, toasted-bread flavors—often accented by a touch of sweetness— from the kilned malts that make fall beers so popular.

Sure, during autumn you can still get the pale, ever-popular hoppy or juicy/hazy IPAs. And you’ll still find plenty of fruited-up quick sours, if that’s your thing. But our recommendation today is that you seek out at least a few of the beers that truly complement the West Virginia fall experience.

Amber Ales

We’ll start with the simple Amber Ales. It’s a style that pushes malt forward and gives your tongue a caress. They can be either more hoppy or less hoppy, but should always have good balance between the caramel malts and hops. The malt flavors should always shine through.

Some West Virginia brewed Amber/Red Ales to look for include:

• My Friends Call Me Red by Short Story Brewing
• Roedy’s Red by North End Tavern Brewery
• STOP! Amber Time by Fife Street Brewing
• American Amber by Berkeley Springs Brewing

American Browns and Porters

Next, seek out the Brown Ales and Porters, which take amber to a darker level. These brown colors come from the malt’s hotter/longer kilning methods. They should be richly malty with light to moderate hopping for proper balance.

Some West Virginia brewed American Brown Ales and Porter include:

• Cell Block 304 by Parkersburg Brewing
• Wild & Wonderful Brown Ale by Brew Keepers
• Porter by Big Timber Brewing

Märzen-style Oktoberfest Lagers

These traditional German-inspired fall lagers are richly amber in color and feature the luscious Bavarian-style kilned malts. These malts give them a richer profile than the pale lagers, but they remain clean, mostly-dry, easy-drinking beers, and fairly light on the palate.

Some West Virginia made Märzen lagers to seek out include:

• AJ’s Festbier by Weathered Ground Brewery
• Forestfest Oktoberfestbier by Big Timber Brewing
• Famous Monster by High Ground Brewing
• Oktoberfest by Bridge Brew Works

Pumpkin Spiced Beers

The pumpkin harvest is underway at farms and fields across our Appalachian region. Brewers take this opportunity to brew beers with that gorgeous gourd and complement it with fragrant spices of cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and more. Usually with a touch of sweetness to round it out.

Some West Virginia made pumpkin beers to seek out include:

• Gourdy Pleasure: Pumpkin Pie Spiced Porter (6.4% ABV) by Weathered Ground Brewery
• Ya Basic! Pumpkin Spice Latte Golden Stout by High Ground Brewing

So enjoy of the beers above or try another WV-made fall beer that is not on our list. Either way you’re enjoying a beer perfect for the autumn season.

Fall Beer Festivals in WV

West Virginians so enjoy hanging out and drinking beer outside on a crisp autumn day. It’s such a great time to relax with friends, while imbibing a creamy-bodied, malt-forward fall beer.

There’s no better place to enjoy these fall beauties than at a beer festival. Towns and cities in our Mountain State offer several of them this year. Also, be on the lookout for autumn fest events at your local breweries and taprooms.

On the list of West Virginia’s major fall community beer festivals are:

Saturday, September 30

OktoberWest
Charleston, WV

Oktoberfest in the Park
Bluefield, WV

Saturday, October 7

Chili’N on the Elk
Clendenin, WV

Corks and Kegs
Barboursville, WV

Saturday, October 14

Hops on the Mon
Morgantown, WV

Saturday, November 4

Wagging Tails & Nitro Ales (tentative date)
Nitro, WV