Fall beer 101

September 11, 2014Sarah Parniak

Stout

Now a term for silky (often nitrogenated) ales of British origin made from heavily roasted malt, the term “stout” was once liberally used for any stronger-tasting beer. Explore sub-styles like creamier, nuttier oatmeal stouts, full-bodied lactose-laced milk stouts and old-school Irish stouts: whatever you choose usually has a distinct coffee character ending in an acidic snap. Dry stouts are a great (and traditional) excuse to get your oyster on – the brininess of those mollusks pairs magically with this creamy, bitter beer.

Drink:

Beau’s Tom Green Beer (milk stout) (LCBO 365627, 600 ml/$4.85)

Keefe’s Irish Stout, Granite Brewery (available at the brewery and on tap around T.O.)

The Poet Oatmeal Stout, New Holland Brewing (LCBO 381145, 4 x 355/$13.95)

Brown ale

We’re barrelling toward sweater weather, so take note: few pints are as comforting on a chilly day as brown ale. Yeah, the colour isn’t brilliant, but in this case brown is far from boring. These nutty, malt-forward brews are considered by many flavour experts – brewers, chefs and cicerones – to be among the most food-friendly.

Drink:

Black Oak Nut Brown Ale (LCBO 362806, 650 ml/$4.95)

Left Field Eephus Oatmeal Brown Ale (available on tap)

Newcastle Brown Ale (LCBO 12047, 500 ml/$2.90)

American pale ale

Crisp, hoppy and distinctly Murcan (as opposed to sweet and malty British-style), APAs are all-weather brews that work nicely as a seasonal bridge. Fragrant and quenching, APAs typically aren’t as aggressively hopped as their West Coast IPA counterparts.

Drink:

Collective Arts Rhyme & Reason (LCBO 363465, 6 x 355 ml/$13.95)

Muskoka Harvest Ale (LCBO 173641, 750 ml/$8.95)

Anchor Liberty Ale (LCBO 270454, 6 x 355 ml/$14.15)

Pumpkin beer

Burning leaves and heavy knits, harvest vegetables and Oktoberfest – it’s pumpkin beer time! Festively tailored, autumnally spiced and (dare I say) successfully gimmicky, pumpkin brews utilize the abundance of the season. Ranging from reservedly vegetal to over-the-top supermarket pumpkin pie, they all cut straight to the core of our North American nostalgia like a small child carving her first jack-o’-lantern.

Drink:

Great Lakes Brewery Saison Dupump (LCBO 362814, 650 ml/$5.95)

Grand River Brewing Highballer Pumpkin Ale (LCBO 132753, 500 ml/$3.95)

Southern Tier Pumking (LCBO 182287, 650 ml/$7.65)

Porter

The distinction between porter and stout, as with many beer styles, is open to interpretation. Porters are generally brewed from less heavily roasted malts than stouts, with a higher percentage of chocolate malt – less bitter coffee, more mocha. Porters originated in 17th-century London, where they were supposedly the preferred beer of those indispensable individuals who carried stuff from point A to B.

Drink:

Bellwoods Lost River Baltic Porter or Bounty Hunter Strong Porter with coconut and vanilla (available at the brew pub and occasionally in the bottle shop)

Indie Ale House Breakfast Porter (available on tap at the brew pub and around town, occasionally in the Indie bottle shop)

Les Trois Mousquetaires Porter Baltique (LCBO 244376, 750 ml/$9.15)

Barrel-aged beer

Barrel-aging remains a tradition essential to styles like Flanders Red and cask-conditioned ales, but craft brewers have recently begun experimenting with resting beer in barrels that once contained wine, spirits or cider, as is the case with the Great Lakes-Amsterdam collab EZRA farmhouse ale. Results vary from rich and whisky-tickled to tartly infected (in a good way).

Drink:

Cameron’s Deviator Doppelbock Bourbon Barrel (LCBO 363887, 650 ml/ $10.95)

Amsterdam Brewery releases special brewer’s reserve casks all week, including the Full City Double Tempest aged in Buffalo Trace barrels with Hawaiian Kona coffee, and a two-year-old batch of Goedemorgen Golden Ale (aged with brett in Flat Rock Chardonnay barrels).

Ola Dubh Special Reserve 12 Years Old (aged in Highland Park single-malt whisky casks) (LCBO 107672, 330 ml/$6.20)

Oktoberfest

Ah, lager, the golden child of the critical beer-drinking masses. Traditionally cellared to undergo a second, cool-temp fermentation with lager-specific yeast (distinguishing it from the ale clan), the classic Bavarian style bestowed its cool storage formula on the Märzen. Brewed in March, this sweet, malty but crisp fall beer is traditionally the first to be guzzled at Oktoberfest, Germany’s famous celebration of sausage and lederhosen.

Drink:

Beau’s Night Märzen, part of the Oktoberfest mix pack 2014 (LCBO 399089, 4 x 600 ml/$24.00)

Mill Street Oktoberfest, part of the Autumn Harvest Sampler (LCBO 313916, 6 x 355 ml/$13.45)

Hofbräu Oktoberfestbier (LCBO 84889, 500 ml/$3.10)

Bock

Historically hailing from the medieval German town of Einbeck (which developed a reputation for its strong beers), these dark, malt-driven lagers are made for cool-weather sipping. Their pronounced caramel character is mediated by hops and softened by a portion of wheat. Once used as liquid bread by fasting monks during Lent, bocks end up on the stronger side due to their high malt content. If you like your beer extra-strong and rich, reach for a doppelbock – the traditional goat logo on both is usually a dead giveaway.

Drink:

Cameron’s Rye Bock (LCBO 374736, 650 ml/$4.95)

Aventinus Ice Bock (LCBO 58875, 500 ml/$5.60)

IPA

Easily the most coveted craft beer style, India pale ale has an infinite number of spinoffs – IPAs of every shade (black, white, red), flavour and strength. Once upon a time in the 18th century, boatloads of beer were exported to colonial India from Britain to quench East India Company staff. It’s speculated that brewers favoured well-hopped, higher-alcohol pale ales because they wouldn’t spoil as quickly in the heat. (Let’s hear it for hops, nature’s preservative.) Be they face-eviscerating West Coast styles with astronomical IBUs or of the milder, more balanced British variety, IPAs are everywhere, all the time.

Drink:

Keep an eye out for Great Lakes’ Thrust!, not yet at the LCBO but at various venues through the fest

Black Oak 10 Bitter Years (LCBO 337014, 650 ml/$6.50)

Sawdust City Lone Pine IPA (LCBO 339531, 650 ml/$5.25)

Barley wine

Seasonal fortification can come in many forms – strategic extra-strata of fat, overpriced downy parkas or rib-sticking, off-the-hydrometer brews. With an ABV hovering around 10 per cent, it’s no mystery why this complex, burly British ale has been making a comeback – especially in the colder months. So when the north starts to show its true, hideous colours again, curl up on a bearskin rug in front of a crackling fire (or simulation of such) and pop a bottle of barley wine.