9 beer styles for autumn

Autumn arrives, and with it everything around us changes. The sweltering heat disappears, the trees color their leaves, and a light jacket becomes an increasingly essential accessory. So why wouldn’t our beer diet change too? We leave behind the light summer lagers and the fruity, indulgent IPAs. We go back to work after the holidays and need to prepare for the freezing winter. There’s nothing for it but to crank up the beer reactor, so here are nine styles to enjoy while the leaves inevitably drift from the trees.

• Golden Strong Ale: don’t be fooled by its harmless blond appearance. This is not a simple lager. It’s a Belgian trickster with 8% alcohol and a burst of fruity and spicy sensations thanks to the esters and phenols from its rich yeast. As easy to drink as a butterfly, and it hits like a wasp.
• Märzen: this is the beer served at Oktoberfest. Isn’t it enough that this is the style Germans choose to celebrate their most important festival? A low-alcohol lager (6%) with all the flavor of a beer matured over the summer at low temperature. This style is all about balance with a malt-forward profile and one clear goal: drinkability.
• Dubbel: continuing along the Belgian branch, these are dark beers with an even more pronounced malty component, also rich in yeast-derived flavors. They are the second strongest category of monastic beers in terms of intensity.
• Barley Wine: the equivalent of a wine made from barley, as the name suggests. Sweet, dense, and silky. You either love them or hate them. Pure harmony in the right glass. Sometimes barrel-aged. It’s something you simply have to try. High in alcohol, but perfectly justified by a body, flavor, and nuances that move you.
• Rye Ale/Lager: simple—beers with rye. It’s not very common, but it’s interesting. Rye gives a spicy character and bready notes.
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• Rauchbier: smoked beers that pair perfectly with the collective imagination of barbecues and fireplaces. Rumour has it they resemble bacon because of the smoked malts, but that is their main appeal. They are unique beers. The smoke imparts rich flavour profiles, and if they are well made they will not feel heavy. A good example is the German Schlenkerla, which smokes its malts over beechwood.
• Pumpkin Ale: pumpkin beers are popular in the United States as Halloween approaches. They are seasonal beers with delicious sweet, caramelized, toasty and also spicy notes thanks to the addition of various spices.
• Porter: a classic among classics. This is a dark beer that’s not too aggressive, with chocolate notes and countless versions; the traditional British interpretations are less strong and more sessionable.
• Schwarzbier: this is the dark, bottom-fermented beer. All the roasted character of toasted malts without the fruity side of ale yeast. It is a dark lager, equally rich and easy to drink, but with a more autumnal profile.

While some of these styles can be found year-round, they are beers you’ll especially enjoy in autumn because of the context and conditions that go with them. Like everything in life, they’re best at the right moment. Are you in?