First Posted: 9/16/2014

Chilly nights sitting home under a blanket or spent encircling a warm campfire are upon us and as we enter the fall season our beers tend to transition as well. While there are many great beers to try this fall here is a simple list of 5 absolutely must try fall beers.

1. Southern Tier Brewing- Warlock: Southern Tier’s Pumking may get a lot of the love this time of year but do not forget its darker and richer counterpart Warlock. This imperial stout has rich roasted malt notes of chocolate and coffee blending perfectly with the creamy taste of Pumking for an extremely enjoyable experience during cool fall evenings.

2. 21st Amendment Brewery- He Said Pumpkin Baltic Porter: The 21A Brewery teamed up with Elysian Brewery, quite arguably the leading brewery when it comes to pumpkin beers, to create this deliciously creamy pumpkin beer. The roasted notes from the malt combined with the pumpkin and spices are unbelievably delicious and create a must have pumpkin beer. It also comes in a great 4 pack that features 2 of these beers along with 2 Pumpkin Belgian Tripel beers; it doesn’t get much better than that for the fall.

3. Sierra Nevada- Flipside Red IPA: While most breweries start to brew darker beers for the fall Sierra Nevada instead unveils this delicious ruby red IPA with delicious citrus characteristics balanced against a sweet malt bill. Flipside is a great beer to both welcome the cool fall evenings and bid farewell to the warm summer days with a fantastically sweet hop bite.

4. Clown Shoes- Pecan Pie Porter: This is a beer whose name perfectly summarizes the beer. The rich roasted pecan notes blend perfectly with the spicing and subtle hints from the bourbon barrels, 25 percent of this beer was aged in bourbon barrels and blended back with the base beer. The 8 percent ABV also provides some great warmth on a cool autumn evening!

5. Ballast Point Brewing- Victory at Sea: This imperial porter is released during the fall each year and was brewed with cold winter evenings in mind, but trust me you will want to drink as much of this beer as you can while you can. The 10 percent ABV is hidden behind flavors and aroma of fresh roasted coffee, vanilla, and decadent chocolate. If you have not had this beer yet, go find it now while you still can.

There are also endless arrays of Oktoberfest and pumpkin beers to try, but whatever you decide raise a glass and toast to the chilly weather. After all without it, we wouldn’t have these delicious beers available.