And you wonder why I shy away from pumpkin ales...

Fall and winter bring with them a plethora of seasonal beers: Oktoberfest, pumpkin ale, Christmas ale, and all the hybrids in between. Most of them I view sourly as marketing stunts to take up more shelf space to sell more of the brand. Rather than bitter prematurely, though, I tasted a sample of fall beers to try to prove myself wrong.

Oktoberfest, as a style, is synonymous with the Märzen style. Märzen is German for March, which is around when this style is typically brewed. Back in the days before refrigeration it was too difficult to brew in the summer, so this beer was brewed in early spring, stored in a cool spot over summer, and brought out in time to celebrate Oktoberfest. How better can one celebrate the approach of winter than by getting blitzed?

Oktoberfests are known for their full-bodied, roasty toasty-ness. I often find the American take on them too malty or sweet, but lucked out with two excellent examples recently. Fat Head’s Oktoberfest and Victory Brewing’s Fest Beer are both lagers and both a gorgeous shade of carmely brown. Both also have a quality the popular lagers in America fail to achieve, in that they both taste really good.

I don’t know how far afield Fat Head’s distributes, but if you ever have a chance to pick one up, do so. Their Oktoberfest had a serious hop finish that was in no way bitter, but rather cleansing. (Ben noted that the beer was quite nutty, opening wide the opportunity for me to explain that that’s how I like ‘em.) The nuttiness was balanced though, leaving a rich, almost marzipan-like fullness in the middle. The complex malt base was well-balanced by the hops, revealing a full, smooth character one doesn’t find in run-of-the-mill lagers.

Victory’s Fest Beer was similarly delicious. It shared the same nutty lager nose as Fat Head’s, though it was not as full. Instead it bounced on the tongue as a much brighter beer. Ben liked this one best while I liked the fullness of the first. Now who’s the nut?

We also tried Sierra Nevada’s Tumbler, mostly because I love their beers and was curious about this fall seasonal. The first taste surprised me with its smokiness. I believe we’ve discussed before my love of smoke beers. This was certainly not as overwhelming a flavor as a Rauchbier, but still delightful. It was well-balanced with the hop brightness. Overall a big round flavor that reminded me of campfires and burning leaves and all the good parts of fall.

Lastly, a pumpkin ale. I am generally quite wary of pumpkin ales because I have ordered so many pints of the stuff only to be totally turned off by overwhelming spices or pumpkin pie sweetness. This time I chose a brewery I highly respect in hopes of finding some balance: Weyerbacher. Their Imperial Pumpkin Ale clocks in at 8%, and I found it refreshingly balanced. It was not over-sweet, though it did have a cidery aspect to it. Cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, and cloves were used to spice it, and they added an essence of fall to it that I didn’t find cloying as is true of so many beers in this style.

So, there. Fine. Proved myself wrong. What other fall beers out there do you recommend?