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
Brad Smith
BeerSmith Home Brewing
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