What do I love about fall?  Cool nights, changing leaves, flannel shirts, and my favorite – the fall beers.  Pumpkin beers, roasty browns, hopped up IPAs and that extra 2 to 3% ABV are just the things for a crisp fall evening.

Fall is also a time for feasting.  Pot roasts on Sunday, ribs on the smoker and of course a big fat Thanksgiving turkey.  So what beer goes best with these amazing feasts?  Here is my list of beers to try next time you gather round the table.

With the cooler weather I always seem to find time to grill spicy wings and drink an IPA.  My super-secret Chipotle Wings are pretty awesome with a big west coast IPA.  For wings I like an IPA without too much malt body, something like Pizza Port’s Wipeout.  Wipeout is an IPA that finishes clean and bitter with almost no lingering sweetness.   For the wings, I like to blend a can of chipotle in adobo sauce, three cloves of garlic, a pinch of salt and pepper, and a squeeze of lime in the food processor.  Toss your fresh from the grocery store wings in the remaining sauce and let them marinate for as long as you can, up to 24 hours.  Then throw them on the grill at a nice high heat and cook them through. Don’t forget to reserve a little of the marinade to brush on those bad boys with a few minutes to go.  Enjoy them hot and messy with a big west coast IPA and some Sunday football.  For a local Denver pairing, I suggest Denver Beer Co.’s “project T3 IPA”, Odell IPA, orWynkoop’s Mile Hi.P.A.

Now let’s talk Thanksgiving dinner. Screw the Pinot Noir, turkey and stuffing are made for beer.  Now what kind of beer you ask? For turkey I love a nice American amber, or German dunkel. Our Tiffani Amber Thiessen, orProst’s Dunkel are perfect.  For mashed potatoes and gravy, I’ll be enjoying a great brown like Upslope’sBrown or Telluride’s Face Down.   For dessert it’s a toss-up this year between our Hey! Pumpkin or Graham Cracker Porter.  Both are a great way to finish off a feast.

So here’s to fall and the great beers that come with the season!