Hey Y’all, Been a while, about a year or so. I’ve been doing very intensive research on beer, including but not limited to brewing it, sipping it, gawking at it and on rare occasions spitting it out all over the kitchen sink. Now that the fall is in full swing, the time is nigh to reveal my findings to you, few loyal Beer-hubbers. These beers, although not all necessarily “seasonal” are my favorite cold weather beers, and are perfect for the ever encroaching winter weather.

1. Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale

This beer, is definitely one of my all time favorites, not just for the fall, it has a certain simplicity to it, not too dark, not too malty, not too strong, not too bitter, but just right. At first I tried this beer years ago in Buffalo as I found the labeling beautiful, it was much cheaper up there than it goes for down here in NYC, however it is totally worth the 4-5 bucks per bottle in my humble opinion. The aromas are mostly yeast, toasted malts, slight sour notes, and a bit of caramel. The Flavor profile is more complex, yet not too busy, biscuits, toasted malts, toffee, almonds and pecans, with a slight light hop bitterness yet hardly noticeable. The blend of caramel sweetness with the toasted malts make for a really awesome traditional British Brown sipper. All the flavors are blended so perfectly and with such attention to detail, that the beer just sort of feels right. The alcohol content at a suitable 5% ABV makes this beer not only delicious but also session-able, which is the fancy word that beer snobs use to mean you can have more than one per night without waking up feeling like a salted slug. Samuel Smith’s Brewery has been using there special brewing techniques with “Stone Yorkshire Squares” since 1758, with the same sunken well water too, so it’s no wonder this beer is so damn good.

4.5 Yorkshire Squares out of 5

2. Davidson Brother’s Oatmeal Stout

Davidson Brother’s is a small Brewery located in Glens Falls, Upstate NY, and despite it’s size it pumps out a large amount of high quality brews. Their harvest brown ale I tried this summer was absolutely incredible, however as it’s not available in stores near the NYC area I decided to share their equally tasty oatmeal stout. This stout is chocolate, roasted malts on the nose, with a flavor profile of dark roast coffee, raisins, dark malts, chocolate and a slight chewy oats aftertaste. The body is very rich, super thick with an awesome creamy texture. If you’re into Guinness, This is like a Guinness on crack, super flavorful and enjoyable. The ABV is a low 4.5% so feel free to enjoy a couple of these guys at your leisure.

4.5 Guinness on Crack out 5

3. Druthers Fist of Karma Brown

Druthers Brewery, Operating out of Saratoga Springs, NY, is a grand little brewery with a great variety of awesome fermented malts, including a German Gose style beer that won gold at the world beer competition in 2014. I’d like to recommend their Brown ale however, it’s a bit hop-forward yet the great blend of amber and roasted malts make for a well balanced ale. There’s piney hops on the nose, slight toasted malts, and the flavor profile is a nice mix of citrus and earthy hop flavors, followed by a sweet and full malt profile. Not too much of any one flavor in this American brown ale, which usually tend to be way too hopped nowadays, so Cheers to Druthers for not following the Hopped to death trend among microbrews over the last 6 years or so. You can grab one of these brews in the upstate region of NY, or if you visit their brewery.

4 Druthers (What does that mean??) out of 5

4. Sixpoint 4Beans Baltic Porter

This beer is just plain good. It is available across the country. Sixpoint is a well-respected brewery with consistent offerings. It smells like chocolate and coffee. It tastes like fists full of vanilla, raisins, dark roast coffee, bitter chocolate and love. It is 10% alcohol by volume. Just drink one. That is all you need. Don’t be an idiot. This is all you need to hear. ‘Nuff Said.

4.8 fists full of flavor out of 5



5. Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter

This Beer might be my favorite of all time. It’s damn good. I love this brewery, I’ve never had a bad brew from these guys. Named after a legendary Freighter that sunk. It’s dark on the nose, with coffee and roasted malt aromas. It’s rich on the palate with dark chocolate, dark malts, coffee, roasted chestnuts, figs and a slight hop finish. The body is surprisingly light, higher carbonation, which makes this beer go down smoothly. I highly encourage you to drink this offering from Great Lakes, Best damn porter around. 6% ABV, they’ll sneak up on ya, Cheers.

5 Fallen Freighters out of 5

Thanks for reading, Check out these breweries websites for more information, listings and stores where you can get ya hands on em’.

https://www.greatlakesbrewing.com/

http://sixpoint.com/

http://www.druthersbrewing.com/

http://www.samuelsmithsbrewery.co.uk/site/

http://www.davidsonbrothers.com/

Cheers ya Dinguses.