BeerBorg

Seasonal Beer Brewing

For many years, I’ve wanted to do a better job of matching my beer brewing with seasons and major holidays. But I always found myself behind. When October rolled around it was too late to brew that Oktoberfest, and my green beer was always a bit too late for St Patty’s day. My stouts were always finished for the warm summer months.

To combat this, I’ve assembled a brewing schedule of sorts to help me have mature beers ready for the right holiday or season. To keep it simple, I’ve listed popular styles of beer for different seasons by quarter, and a corresponding list of which quarter you need to brew them in. The assumption here is that 3 months lead time is enough for me to assemble the ingredients, brew the beer, and have it mature properly. While I don’t brew all of these styles each year, it gives me a list to choose from.

Winter Beer Styles – Beers to Brew in Fall, Drink in Winter:

Holiday Ales
Christmas/Winter Beer
Stouts, Porters and other Dark Beers
Barley Wine (needs long aging – start a year or more in advance)
Winter Wheats
Smoked Rauchbier
Scotch Ale
Old Ale

Spring Beer Styles – Beers to Brew in Winter, Drink in Spring

Irish Ale and Irish Stout
Green Beer for St Patty’s Day
Bock/Doppelbock
India Pale Ale
Fruit Beer
Wheat Beer, Weizen and Weisse – particularly Hefeweizen
Saison
Blonde Ale
Belgian Wit/White Beer

Summer Beer Styles – Beers to Brew in Spring, Drink in Summer

Bavarian Weizen/Weisse
Pilsner
Cream Ale
Steam Beer – California Common
Kolsch Beer
Summer Ales
Saison
Fruit/Wheat Beers

Fall Beer Styles – Beers to Brew in Summer, Drink in the Fall

Marzen/Oktoberfest
Pumpkin Beer
English Pale Ale
Brown Ales
Dunkelweizen
Harvest Ale

Gymrat wrote:I always thought the beauty of home brewing is that I can have a "seasonal" beer anytime I want it

Gymrat wrote:I always thought the beauty of home brewing is that I can have a "seasonal" beer anytime I want it