Toast the season with these local brews

Fall seasonals many choices offer something for everyone.
Fall seasonals many choices offer something for everyone.

Aside from football and foliage, among fall's most highly anticipated happenings is the arrival of autumn's seasonal brews. A variety of options start flowing from the taps of local breweries this month, so put down that pumpkin spice latte and get ready to satiate your thirst for fall flavors with our roundup of Scenic City seasonals.

* "Our No. 1 seasonal is our Oktoberfest, and it's also the one we're most proud of," says Kane Weathers, assistant general manager at Big River Grille & Brewing Works. He describes it as an easy-drinking beer with a nice amber color and, most importantly, the perfect balance of malt and hops. Joining in mid-September will be the brewery's blood orange cream ale. The unique, light-bodied ale made with - you guessed it - blood orange juice, has an unexpected a hint of vanilla and a nice hue. Weathers says both fall brews will be available through the end of October.

* Chattanooga Brewing Company's Oktoberfest sold so well last year that founder and owner Mark Markum says the brewery will be making twice as much, going from 75 barrels to 120. Aged in a Chattanooga Whiskey barrel, the sweet, malty German-style marzen has an alcohol content of 6.3 percent, "as high as you can make it in Tennessee without going to jail," he says. The brew is released in mid-September and Markum expects it to last about six to seven weeks.

* Two German-style wheats signal the start of fall at Terminal Brewhouse, says head bartender Justin Egbert. With a hazy amber hue topped with creamy white head, the medium-bodied Hellbender Hefeweizen is a blend of sweet and fruity banana and clove tinged with the tart taste of wheat. Carrying craft beer fans from the fall into winter is the darker, stronger Dunkel Sam, the brewery's take on a dunkelweizen, with similar notes of banana and clove complemented by the earthy, chocolate flavors of darker malts used.

* Through the end of September, stop by Moccasin Brewing Co. to sample its Smokey Mountain Porter, an American porter made with malt smoked by Moccasin Bend owner and brewer Chris Hunt, which lends the dark brew its smoky, almost bacon-like flavor with hints of chocolate. Or, stick with the more familiar flavors of St. Elmo Fest, one of the brewery's first beers when it opened in 2006, now produced in partnership with Chattanooga Brewing Company. A German marzen similar to an Oktoberfest, St. Elmo Fest has a hint of smoke with lots of malt character and a full body. Hunt describes the unique lager as a comforting "meatloaf of beer." "It fills people up, makes them happy."

* Hutton & Smith Brewery makes just one batch a year of its Hadrian Harvest Ale, a pale ale dry hopped with whole coneflower hops grown at the home of owners Joel and Melanie Krautstrunk. The brewery's other fall selections include the full-bodied Munter Hitch Milk Stout, with notes of chocolate and coffee, served using nitrogen and beer gas; Hutton's Scotch Ale, the brewery's 70 shilling-style beer, which has a subtle smoky taste and very little bitterness; and Smith's Extra Special Bitter, which features a bitter finish, its "noble hops" setting it apart from American-style bitters.

* Starting in mid- to late September, Big Frog Brewery - which offers only ales, says brewmaster Carter Wexler - is featuring Frogtoberfest. The German marzen ale, the brewery's version of an Oktoberfest brewed at a higher temperature than an ale, is available only in the Big Frog tasting room.

* McHale's brewmaster Adam Hale brings the heat for fall with his Ghost Pepper Amber brew, a custom pale ale infused with the essence of locally grown ghost peppers.

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