The 8 Best Beers For Fall 2026

In the beer world, fall is synonymous with pumpkin ales and Oktoberfest lagers (the latter of which covers both maltier märzens and hoppier festbiers). Of course, even if those styles dominate the autumn beer season, plenty of releases land outside of those categories and are still just as suited to the arrival of fall's balmier, spookier vibes. In other words, a deep, dark imperial stout may be more of a winter beer, but a porter with a Halloween-inspired label might just be perfect for the season.

For clarity's sake, this list of 2026's best fall beers isn't necessarily comprised of the eight most delicious or innovative beers in their category. Since most craft beer is regional, compiling such a list would require considerable legwork, while leaving the majority of readers unable to try its contents for themselves. Rather, my picks feature new releases that are widely available — if not nationally, then at least in sizable markets — and can be enjoyed by beer drinkers of virtually all levels of expertise. Neither approach is more correct, but I went with the latter. With those criteria in mind, I picked up everything on my list from my local Total Wine south of the Las Vegas Strip. Ahead, then, are my thoughts on why each of these eight beers rank among the very best of the 2026 fall season.

For a few years now, Sierra Nevada has produced an annual Oktoberfest beer, each in collaboration with a unique German brewery. Ranking among the 15 best Oktoberfest beers to drink that fall, the 2022 edition was a märzen, lacking an outside collaborator. Then, in 2023, Sierra Nevada switched to a festbier style, made with the involvement of Kehrwieder. The 2026 edition is likewise a festbier, and features a brewery called Hoppebräu.

I found the 2026 Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest hop-forward, but lacking the pronounced bitterness of, say, a double IPA. Rather, its prominent hop flavor was light and refreshing, providing a flavor akin to that of an orange rind — lightly bitter but counterbalanced by an inherent sweetness, albeit without veering into the orange juice territory of hazy IPAs. Underscoring that was a maltiness that reminded me of a Belgian ale, adding a subtle date sugar flavor. Its ABV is 6% and it felt like it, lacking the subtlety of some lighter lagers of a similar ABV. The combination of bitter citrus and sweet date was novel to me, matched by a satisfying heftiness uncharacteristic of a lager. Not only is Sierra Nevada's 2026 Oktoberfest brew effectively a brand new beer compared to previous years' iterations, but it's a particularly unique one too, earning a spot among the very best the fall season has to offer.

To celebrate spooky season 2026, the Shock Top wheat beer brand collaborated with Spirit Halloween on a Candy Corn Wheat Ale. As much as that may sound odd at first, candy corn has something of a history with alcohol, starring, for example, in a candy corn cocktail perfect for October that Mashed featured in 2022.

I could tell that the Shock Top Candy Corn Wheat Ale was going to deliver before I had a chance to taste it, because an identifiable candy corn aroma was immediately prominent. When I tried my first sip, then, I was a little surprised that its candy corn flavor was on the subtler end, contrary to my first impression. In other words, I could taste a very basic, lightly bitter wheat ale beneath the artificial candy corn flavor at its forefront. With that said, the fact I found it to be more of an actual flavored beer than a glorified alcopop was certainly a point in its favor. I doubt it will win any awards, but it's perfect for, say, a Halloween party of beer drinkers ranging in experience — connoisseurs may well get a kick out of the novelty, while newbies might find its existence a little extra. At the very least, it's a drinkable Halloween candy, and that's certainly not an everyday thing.

Among the most prominent fall beers that return to shelves nationwide every year is Samuel Adams' Octoberfest. Samuel Adams has bolstered its fall offerings beyond just Octoberfest in recent years, debuting a Jack-O Pumpkin Ale in 2020, a Harvest Helles in 2025, and an Apple Spice Ale in 2026. The classic Samuel Adams Boston Lager earned a high spot among classic American beers ranked worst to best, indicative of the Boston Beer Company's expertise at balancing flavor and drinkability. The 2026 Samuel Adams Fall Legends Seasonal Variety Pack includes all four of its similarly balanced fall offerings in a single package.

I chose to spotlight the Apple Spice Ale, since that's the only beer new to 2026. For what it's worth, the Jack-O tastes strongly of pumpkin spice, the Octoberfest is perhaps the best at balancing complex with refreshing, and the Helles is pretty light and drinkable. As it turned out, I enjoyed the Apple Spice Ale more than its three companions. In a year where Busch Light Apple, or Bapple, became a cult favorite, apple beers are arguably more relevant than ever before. Samuel Adams' offering is lighter on apple than Bapple, but with the added flavor of sharp fall spices for extra seasonal relevance. Its main beer component is ultimately pretty mild, lacking both bitterness and heft typically characteristic of an ale. Nevertheless, that blank slate let its apple spice flavor take over, foregrounding its most unique element.

Even if its competition is scarce, Alaskan Brewing Company has more than earned its spot as the very best brewery in the state of Alaska thanks to countless awards, including more than 70 for its Smoked Porter alone. In celebration of 40 years in business, Alaskan released a Russian imperial stout flavored with birch syrup and wildflower honey, on store shelves just in time for fall 2026.

Some of the deepest, darkest imperial stouts are defined by an intense piney bitterness, and I found that flavor in my Alaskan 40th Anniversary Ale, but to a lesser extent than I was expecting. In fact, even as I was pouring it, I could see that it wasn't as syrupy as the imperial-est of imperial stouts, evident from enough fizz for a standard level of froth. Its adjunct ingredients contributed some additional lightness, sweetening what could otherwise have been a predominately bitter brew. While I can't find official confirmation, I get the sense birch syrup and wildflower honey are local Alaskan products, and something about the combination of imperial stout-standard tree bark bitterness and that sort of artisanal sweetness came off as distinctly Alaskan to me. Thanks to a deft balance between wintery intensity and refreshing levity, Alaskan's 40th Anniversary Ale is perfectly suited to the fall season.

Founders Brewing Company's iconic KBS is a bourbon-barrel aged imperial stout, KBS standing for Kentucky Breakfast Stout. A limited-time KBS Iced Mocha variant that was released in February of 2026, contrary to its name, isn't actually a stout. Rather, the Iced Mocha brew is a barrel-aged imperial golden ale, featuring flavored coffee, cocoa nibs, and milk sugar. While it may not have come out in the fall, it has remained on store shelves through the latter half of the year, with a strength and depth well suited to the autumn season.

Before sipping my glass of Iced Mocha, I picked up a strong mocha aroma, comprised of not just coffee and chocolate, but milk as well. As advertised, I could pick up each of those flavors when I actually tasted it. Its golden ale base contributed a malted chocolate component, emboldened by the barrel-aging process. Naturally, the chocolaty notes from the ale nicely complemented the adjunct cacao nibs, adding up to a rich and nuanced chocolate component. At first it was hard to separate the stout my brain was expecting from the fact Iced Mocha is actually a golden ale. But once I became accustomed to it, I found it was an intriguing, genuinely unique beer, deserving of the KBS branding's prestige.

Branding-wise, almost anything from North Haven, Connecticut's Abomination Brewing could be a fall beer. From a white milk stout with a skeletal cow on its label, to a green, Cthulhu-themed double IPA, spooky vibes are plentiful at Abomination. Its Night Milk series features a sleeping skeleton on its label, surrounded by depictions of various nightmares — once again, perfect for Halloween and its adjacent months. The 2026 edition of Night Milk includes an adjunct coconut flavor, first hitting store shelves in July, just ahead of spooky season proper.

I found a coffee flavor at the forefront of Night Milk, notably free from roasted-ness, foregrounding more natural dark berry notes that might come from a light-roast coffee, rather than a medium or dark roast. For a medium-strength stout at 7% ABV, I thought that Night Milk was pretty sweet and lacking in bitterness, but not to the extent it was cloying. Contributing to its sweetness was the coconut flavor, which paired well with its coffee-like base. The prevailing flavor was like that of a quality pour-over with a couple pumps of coconut syrup. These sorts of medium-strength stouts generally feel like fall beers, and Abomination Brewing's Coconut Night Milk is equal parts spooky and delicious.

The Mashed list of 18 must-try craft beers for people who hate IPAs features a couple of hazy IPAs. That's because, whereas as a typical IPA is predominately bitter, most hazy IPAs are akin to boozy orange juice, often balancing citrus bitterness with juicy sweetness. Fat Orange Cat Brew Co.'s Pumpkin Patch Kittens — technically released in 2024, returning for the 2026 season — is a hazy IPA flavored with a fall-appropriate blend of pumpkin, spices, and vanilla.

Like most supposed pumpkin drinks, I can't say I got anything resembling a pumpkin flavor from Pumpkin Patch Kittens. That was fine, though, because I felt like its combination of a flavored, hazy IPA and pumpkin spice was plenty. To start, its vanilla component combined with its hazy IPA base added up to something akin to an orange creamsicle beer. On top of that was a pretty bold spice blend, complex enough that I could perceive individual components like ginger and cinnamon. The combination wasn't quite like any beer I'd had before. Once I felt accustomed to its pumpkin spice and orange creamsicle character, I was hooked. If the Shock Top Candy Corn Wheat Ale that's also featured on this list is pure dumb fun, the Fat Orange Cat Pumpkin Patch Kittens is its more nuanced cousin, full of artfully executed fall flavor.

Mason Ale Works' lineup of limited releases for the latter half of 2026 is divided between IPAs with purely spooky branding, and IPAs adorned with the skeletal likenesses of popular superheroes or supervillains. The Emperor Hazy Double IPA falls into the latter category, its label featuring a sort of zombified facsimile of The Penguin. Mason Ale Works introduced Emperor to its spooky seasonal lineup in June of 2026, making it a perfect fall beer for serious hopheads.

More than anything else, I felt like my glass of Emperor delivered on its dual hazy and double IPA premise. Like a standard hazy IPA, I got plenty of orange juice, but an orange peel component typical for the style was dialed up a few notches to hit a bitterness level befitting of a double IPA. That meant each sip started with a solid dose of sweet orange cream, before citrus peel took over in its finish. Each subsequent sip would start that cycle over again. Emperor's fall theming is, admittedly, more surface-level, with no impact on the flavor of the beer within. That said, it earned its spot among its more seasonally flavored companions as one of the foremost options for those that just don't enjoy fall flavors but still want some autumn theming on an otherwise straightforward, modern, and — most importantly — tasty beer.

Since my picks for the best beers of fall 2026 were meant to be relevant to as wide of an audience as possible, I started identifying the beers I wanted to include by searching the inventory of my local Total Wine, located south of the Las Vegas Strip. As a national chain, Total Wine's inventory features plenty of brands with widespread availability, and I intentionally avoided anything local to Nevada to ensure my picks would be accessible to the general public.

Once I made my selections, I picked up everything from that Total Wine store. Then I tried each beer at home, taking notes as I drank, keeping just what might make it well-suited to the fall in mind more than any other factor. To earn its spot, a beer had to be tasty in its own terms, new in or around the fall 2026 season, and somehow seasonal — that latter category including spooky theming, a seasonal beer style, or even just celebrating an anniversary that happened to coincide with the fall. My assessment of each beer is based entirely on my thoughts after trying it for this list.