Fall Is Here: 5 Fall Beers I've Enjoyed This Season

Fall has always been one of my favorite seasons. The cooler weather, football weekends, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and, of course, all those fall seasonal beers—it’s just a great time of year. There’s something special about sitting by a firepit, beer in hand, enjoying a crisp festbier or a pumpkin ale. I know pumpkin beers can be pretty divisive among beer fans, but I’m all about that pumpkin spice life. So, I thought it’d be fun to share five fall beers I’ve really enjoyed this year. Before we get into that, though, let’s break down what makes a festbier, a märzen, and a pumpkin beer.

Oktoberfestbier, also known as Festbier, is a traditional German lager served at Munich's Oktoberfest, characterized by a rich, malty flavor with bready or toasty notes and a subtle hop bitterness to balance the malt. While historically associated with the Märzen style, Festbier is the modern, official beer of the festival, known for its golden color, crisp finish, and high drinkability, making it perfect for pairing with German foods.

Märzen is a traditional German amber lager beer style characterized by its rich, toasty, bready malt flavor and restrained bitterness, with a clean and well-attenuated finish. Historically, it was brewed in March (März) and lagered in cold caves to be ready for fall festivals like Oktoberfest, though it's now enjoyed year-round. The name Märzen can sometimes be used interchangeably with "Oktoberfest-style beer" in the United States, as it's the classic amber lager associated with the celebration.

Pumpkin beers are a popular fall-seasonal beer style that incorporates pumpkin, pumpkin puree, or pumpkin flavoring into a beer, often an ale, to create flavors and aromas of pumpkin pie and warming spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove.

Alright, let's get into it! Here are 5 fall beers I've really enjoyed this fall!

Parish Brewing Octoberfest- Marzen-style Lager

Gnarly Barley Festbier

Ecology Brewing Acorn Thief Octoberfest

Miel Brewing Festbier

Rally Cap Brewing Pitchin' Pumpkin

Let me know what local fall beers you've been enjoying this year! Now it's time to go watch these New Orleans Saints! Let's hope they beat the Giants!