Now that Halloween is slowly disappearing in the rearview mirror, it’s officially time to look toward the end of fall, the beginning of winter, and the holiday season. It’s a bad time to be a leaf but a great time of year to be a beer drinker. There are bold, high-ABV imperial IPAs to be enjoyed; sweet, robust porters; roasty, coffee-filled stouts; dark lagers, and various other styles of beer. Put simply, November isn’t just for turkey and “Friendsgiving,” it’s also a great month for beer.
And while you could spend all day trying to figure out which beers to stock up on for the upcoming month (and Thanksgiving), we decided to help you out and do some of the heavy, er, lifting. We found 10 of the best beers to track down this fall. Some are new releases, some are seasonal favorites, and others are annual special releases that can’t be missed. Keep scrolling to see them all.
SKA Mexican Style Dark Lager
ABV: 5.2%
Average Price: $10 for a six-pack
Why This Beer?
If you’re a fan of crisp, refreshing lagers, you’re probably well aware of SKA Mexican Logger. And while you can drink this beer any time of year, we suggest moving over to its Vienna-style lager, SKA Mexican Style Dark Lager instead. This 5.2% ABV dark lager is known for its mix of caramel malts and bright hops.
Tasting Notes:
A nose of wet grass, caramel malts, light coffee, chocolate malts, and floral hops greet you before your first sip. The palate follows suit with sweet toffee, chocolate, vanilla, and herbal, slightly bitter hops at the finish. It’s a nice, balanced mix of malts and hops.
Bottom Line:
If you’re a big lager drinker, this is a great fall beer for you. It has the crisp, hoppy flavor of a summery lager, but the malt backbone of a dark lager.
Firestone Walker XXVI Anniversary Ale
ABV: 11%
Average Price: $12.99 for 12-ounce bottle
Why This Beer?
The holidays are all about celebrations, so why not celebrate a beer brand like Firestone Walker too? Specifically, its 26th birthday. You can do this by purchasing a bottle of its Firestone Walker XXVI Anniversary Ale. The newest Anniversary Ale, a complex blend of six different ales that were aged in brandy and bourbon barrels.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is a mix of oaky wood, cocoa powder, toasted marshmallows, vanilla beans, and rich toffee candy. Drinking it reveals a warming palate of candied almonds, vanilla beans, buttery caramel, dried fruits, and wood char. It’s a complex, warming, multi-dimensional beer for the impending cold.
Bottom Line:
If you’ve never tried any of the previous Anniversary Ales from Firestone Walker, make this the year you try one. This is a sublimely complex beer that will make you rethink everything you know about barrel-aged beers.
Hopworks Abominable Winter Ale
ABV: 7.3%
Average Price: $12.99 for a six-pack
Why This Beer?
Yes, this is a winter ale. We get that it technically isn’t winter yet. That shouldn’t stop you from enjoying this 7.3% ABV winter seasonal brewed with five different malts as well as Cascade, Chinook, Centennial, Simcoe, and Cryo Chinook hops.
Tasting Notes:
A complex nose of citrus rinds, pineapple, caramel malts, wet grass, and dank, resinous pine meets you before your first sip. The palate is loaded with sweet malts, rich caramel, tangerine, pineapple, grapefruit, and a ton of dank, herbal piney, slightly bitter hops.
Bottom Line:
This isn’t your usual winter ale. Sure it’s 7.3% ABV and warming with caramel malts, but it’s brimming with dank, piney, slightly bitter hops aroma and flavor as well.
Goose Island Bourbon County Stout
ABV: 14.3%
Average Price: $13.99 for a 16.9-ounce bottle
Why This Beer?
While many people think of Thanksgiving when the calendar turns to November, beer fans think about the release of the OG bourbon barrel-aged stout. First made in 1992, it’s aged in ex-bourbon barrels from brands like Heaven Hill, Four Roses, Wild Turkey, and Buffalo Trace.
Tasting Notes:
Robust aromas of dark chocolate, sweet bourbon, dried fruits, pipe tobacco, and rich oak draw you in before your first sip. On the palate, you’ll find notes of roasted malts, chocolate, toffee, bourbon, oak, and dried fruits. It’s a very complex, warming fall and winter beer.
Bottom Line:
This barrel-aged stout is as close to perfection as beers come. While its flavor varies each year, the quality remains the same.
Anderson Valley Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout
ABV: 5.8%
Average Price: $10.99 for a six-pack
Why This Beer?
Another beer that proves that fall was made for stouts, Anderson Valley Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout is a 5.8% award-winning beer brewed with pale 2-row, Crystal, Munich, and Chocolate malts as well as roasted barley and oats. It gets a little hop presence from the addition of Northern Brewer and Chinook hops.
Tasting Notes:
First, there’s a nose of oatmeal, caramel, vanilla beans, and roasted malts. This is followed by a palate of roasted coffee beans, toffee, vanilla, dried fruits, oak, and slight licorice. Malty, sweet, robust, and highly memorable.
Bottom Line:
When it comes to fall stouts, Anderson Valley Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout is a highly underrated pick. It has everything a stout fan could look for. It’s malty, sweet, and highly flavorful.
Boulevard More S’More
ABV: 11.8%
Average Price: Limited Availability
Why This Beer?
Summer might be long over, but that doesn’t mean s’more season is done. Luckily, even if you don’t want to sit around a campfire on a cold night, you can drink it in beer form thanks to the folks at Kansas City’s Boulevard Brewing. More S’more is a limited-release, 11.8% ABV seasonal barrel-aged imperial stout that tastes like the beloved toasted marshmallow treat.
Tasting Notes:
Toasted marshmallows, almond cookies, dark chocolate, bourbon, and vanilla are prevalent on the nose. Drinking it brings forth more toasted marshmallow sweetness, melted milk chocolate, coffee beans, rich oak, and sweet bourbon. It’s as close to a boozy s’more as any beer could ever be.
Bottom Line:
This barrel-aged stout is nostalgia in a bottle. It’s rich, sweet, and boozy, but tastes enough like a s’more to make you feel warm inside and out.
Bell’s Hopslam
ABV: 10%
Average Price: $18.99 for a six-pack
Why This Beer?
Get excited, Bell’s usually doesn’t release its beloved Hopslam until January. But this year the Michigan-based brewery was feeling generous, so it released it in October instead. So now you can drink this 10% double IPA throughout the holidays.
Tasting Notes:
This beer starts off with classic IPA aromas of citrus zest, grapefruit, pineapple, caramel malts, and dank pine. The palate continues this trend with tangerine, grapefruit, more caramel malts, and resinous, dank, slightly bitter piney hops. The finish is a nice mix of sweetness and bitterness.
Bottom Line:
While this IPA is bursting with fresh hop flavor, it’s clear that this is a cold-weather IPA because of its sweet, caramel malt backbone. It’s an ideal beer for IPA drinkers during the colder months.
Sierra Nevada Narwhal
ABV: 10.2%
Average Price: $10.99 for a four-pack
Why This Beer?
If you didn’t know any better, you’d think the Narwhal was the unicorn of the sea. This magical creature was the inspiration for this bold, robust imperial stout from the folks at Sierra Nevada. Available from September through December, this popular beer is known for its rich, complex malts and light hops.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is loaded with aromas of dark chocolate, coffee beans, caramel, and roasted malts. The palate is centered on coffee, bitter chocolate, toffee, roasted malts, and light piney hops. The finish is a mix of sweetness and bitterness, with a dry ending.
Bottom Line:
If you’re looking for an imperial stout that isn’t barrel-aged to drink this fall, buy some Sierra Nevada Narwhal. You’ll be happy you did. It’s robust, rich, sweet, and slightly bitter.
Dogfish Head Wake Up Worldwide Stout
ABV: 16-18%
Average Price: Limited Availability
Why This Beer?
With everything going on in November, who wouldn’t want a breakfast beer every now and then? Dogfish Head Wake Up World Wide Stout definitely fits that bill, with flavors like dark roast coffee, chocolate, maple candy, and sweet honey.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find a heavy dose of roasted coffee beans, dark chocolate, cinnamon, caramel, and oak. Drinking it reveals hints of roasted malts, freshly brewed coffee, cocoa powder, wintry spices, dried fruits, and butterscotch. It’s warming, boozy, and loaded with coffee.
Bottom Line:
If you’re anything like us, the daily grind of work and life keeps you eternally tired. That’s why an imperial stout loaded with coffee is so great. Especially when it’s as well-made as this one.
Harpoon Flannel Friday
ABV: 5.7%
Average Price: $9.99 for a six-pack
Why This Beer?
Regardless of when and if you wear flannel this fall, you’ll want to drink Harpoon Flannel Friday any day of the week. This amber ale is known for its mix of roasted malts and bitter hops.
Tasting Notes:
Caramel, roasted malts, toffee, and slightly bitter, earthy, piney hops greet your nose prior to drinking this seasonal beer. On the palate, you’ll find flavors like dried fruits, caramel malts, and dank, earthy, herbal pine. It’s like a mix between a dark lager and an IPA. Perfect for fall.
Bottom Line:
With a mix of sweet malts and bitter, piney hops, Harpoon Flannel Friday is a great beer for a warmer-than-expected fall day.
