Awesome autumn drinks: beer, ale, cider

The ground is awash with leaves all hues of red and gold, the clocks will be changing soon, and our evenings are already getting dark. All perfect reasons to gather friends for Sunday roasts or hearty home cooked meals.

Step away from the light lagers and move on to more comforting brews; think barrel-aged beers, amber ales and stouts. The perfect pints for cosy nights at the pub.

Here’s part two of your two-part guide to the best booze for autumn; a handpicked selection that will help you slurp through the season.

Hiver, The Honey Ale

Craft beer Hiver is owned and run by Hannah Rhodes, who specialises in producing a small but perfectly formed range of beer and ale using 100% British ingredients, including honey from both urban and rural bees. The Honey Ale is fermented with raw blossom and heather honeys that complement and add depth to darker roasted malts – this attractive ale has a rich chocolatey nose, a honey aroma and roasted malt flavours.

Currently £2.40 at Ocado

Wild Beer Co, Modus Operandi
Wild Beer Company are advocates of alternative style beers made with wild yeasts, wild hops and a whole lot of wild attitude. They have a whole range of weird and wonderful blends, but their Modus Operandi is just made for autumn. This barrel aged beer has a smooth, rich, full body and bags of flavour of vanilla, berries, cherries, leather and tannins. Complex and sexy, it’s the perfect match to red meat and game dishes such as duck or venison. The bottle looks great, too!

Currently £4.09 at Beer Hawk

Brewdog, Pumpkin Beer
While there are a few full-on pumpkin ales around, we wanted a hint, rather than an entire pumpkin to the face. So we've gone for Bird Brewery's Miss Scarecrow. It's an amber beer which is the perfect colour for autumnal evenings. The beer has caramel tones, with herby and pumpkin notes. It's relatively sweet, with a long, pleasant spicy aftertaste. Yum.

Currently £2.89 at Beer Wulf

Bedlam Brewery, Benchmark
This amber coloured ale is the natural next step up from the pale ales of the summer months. Crisp and refreshing at first, with a finish of rich malted flavours and a hint of chocolate.

Around £2 a bottle, with information of all the stockist on the Bedlam Brewery site.

Gosnells Mead
Mead, one of the oldest alcoholic drinks on the world, may have been at its peak in medieval times, but it’s making a hipster comeback. Made from sugar and honey, Tom Gosnell uses a Spanish orange blossom honey for a more citrusy flavour, and the end result is light, semi-sweet and slightly bubbly.

Currently £3.50 at Master of Malt.

Harviestoun, Ola Dubh 18
If there’s one drink that goes well with the darker nights, it’s a darker beer, and Ola Dubh 18 is a great example. It starts out as the rich, dark 'Engine Oil' beer, which is then aged in old whisky casks, taking on a fruity, whisky character. With sticky toffee sweetness, wood and smokey notes all tied in with vanilla and dried fruits, this is a beer to be sipped on by the bonfire.

Currently £5.19 from Beer Hawk

Henderson’s Spiced Cider
Autumn is apple season and so of course we have to celebrate that by drinking some stonking cider. Henderson’s Spiced Cider is sweet and has a touch of warming spice to help blast away the chill of the autumn evenings. Flavoured with cinnamon, cloves and ginger, it’s perfect for the season. They also do a toffee apple cider for those with a sweet tooth.

Currently £25.00 for 5 litres at kentcider.co.uk

What are you drinking this autumn? Let us know on our Facebook or Twitter page.