Fall Craft Beers: What Local Breweries Are Offering Up This Season

A crisp autumn evening. A cozy flannel, a roaring fire and an ice-cold craft beer.

If this sounds like your kind of evening, then you’re in luck because Cape Cod’s many local breweries are offering up some can’t-miss brews this season that are bursting with fall flavors. Any season is a good season to enjoy craft beer, but fall is when you can finally indulge in heavy-bodied brews without feeling bogged down by the summertime heat. Though darker beers like stouts and lagers tend to steal the spotlight this time of year, there are plenty of innovative craft beers brewed on the Cape that are worthy of sipping this season.

Most people associate the fall season with a sense of coziness, and that’s exactly what you’ll find at Naukabout Brewery, located on the edge of Peters Pond in Mashpee. Their lush outdoor beer garden embodies the rustic outdoors aesthetic that perfectly complements any fall day and is the perfect spot to kick back, relax and crack open a can of their Camp Fire Double New England IPA. Its tropical spiciness is the perfect kick to brighten up any autumn night and is sure to warm you from the inside out, fireside or not.

For those with a sweet tooth looking for a more traditionally flavored fall drink, Naukabout’s Pumpkin Spice Milkshake IPA might do the trick. Light and sweet, it’s sure to satisfy the pumpkin craving you’ve secretly had since March. Indulge in a sugared rim to get the full experience!

And if sweets aren’t your thing, you can grab some to-go cans of Naukabout’s popular Y’all Open New England IPA. This brew has a spiced haziness to it, with a slight citrus kick. A striking resinous finish brings the whole thing together for a strong brew with an unforgettable flavor.

Fall on Cape Cod is a special experience—where else can you admire how the New England foliage falls against the coastal backdrop?—and your beer should be too. At Bad Martha Farmer’s Brewery in East Falmouth, you’re bound to find a brew that caters to your palate, no matter how niche. New coffee-flavored and infused beers have been on the rise over the past few years, and Bad Martha put their own dark twist on it. They now have a rare black beer on tap called Sinister Siren, which is a cross between a traditional IPA and a coffee porter. Hopped with Styrian Wolf hops, this Cascadian Dark IPA has a great floral aroma with guava and passionfruit flavors that mix deliciously with the dark, roasted, chocolaty malt.

“This is kind of a meshing of those two worlds of IPA and darker beer,” said Joshua Flanders, general manager at Bad Martha Farmer’s Brewery. “That’s a fun one. [It’s the] first time we’ve done that style. Personally, it’s one of my favorites. I don’t drink much these days, but if I did, that would be my go-to.”

Bad Martha isn’t the only brewery on Cape that’s experimenting with coffee and beer. Cape Cod Beer is based in Hyannis, but their brews are spread far and wide across the region and are available at many local stores and establishments. Last year, they produced their very first pumpkin beer: a special Pumpkin Coffee Dunkel-Weizen, a delightful coffee blend with flavors of banana bread, cinnamon, nutmeg and pumpkin that was quite popular with customers. Beth Marcus, business manager at Cape Cod Beer, said they are hoping to recreate that buzz with their Weizenbock special brew this season.

“At the end of the summer, we take the last pitch of the last batch of summer and we typically make a Dunkel-Weizen or a Weizenbock; we switch them off year after year,” Ms. Marcus said. “It has that very same banana-clove flavor. The real difference between Dunkel-Weizen and Weizenbock is that Weizenboack is stronger and it has a little more of a boozy flavor.”

Cape Cod Beer is brewing a Pumpkin Coffee Weizenbock in addition to their traditional Weizenbock this fall season. At 8 percent alcohol by volume, this brewery’s bocks will keep you warm on the chilliest of autumn nights.

Another beer of note that will be available this fall is Cape Cod Beer’s Harvest Ale, their traditional autumn brew. This mild, straw-colored ale is effortlessly drinkable and has twice earned the first place award at the Great International Beer Festival for Best German Alt Bier.

For those looking for a more full-bodied sip, their popular Shucker’s Reward Oyster Stout will be on tap and in cans by late September. Brewed with over 20 pounds of whole oysters sourced from 14 different Cape Cod towns, this beer has a distinct black color and features a delectable roasted malt character with flavors and aromas of coffee and chocolate. Talk about a treat!

To round out the season, Cape Cod Beer will release their Cranberry Harvest on November 1. This beer is produced using hundreds of pounds of fresh cranberries and is the result of a collaborative effort among Cape Cod businesses. Made from the same fresh cranberry juiced infused into their award-winning Harvest Ale, this fruity beer is a tart bite topped off with a malty finish, perfect to ease the drinker into the colder months ahead.

Now that many breweries and taprooms now offer order-ahead pickup in addition to a sit-down dining and drinking experience, premium craft beer is more accessible than ever before to be enjoyed anytime, anywhere. So no matter what or when your craving is, the many breweries of Cape Cod are guaranteed to have something for everyone. Cheers!

Originally published in The Enterprise’s Fall Home & Garden 2021 Magazine