Breckenridge Autumn Ale

Looking for a fresh take on Oktoberfest beer?

Breckenridge Brewery's fall seasonal combines the malty goodness of a German lager with the clean crispness of an American ale. Brewed with Munich malts and a delicate blend of Bavarian hops, our Autumn Ale is a full-bodied treat with a nutty-sweet middle, a warming alcohol level and notes of toasted grains. A pre-winter winner.
Beer Style: Old Ale

Flavor: Full body caramel malt flavor with medium hop character

Yeast: Top Fermenting Ale Yeast

Malts: Two Row Pale, Munich, Roasted Barley, Chocolate

Hops: Perle, Hallertau

Color: Deep Mahogany

Bitterness Units: 21

Availability: Sep-Oct

3.2

382 reviews

Littleton, United States

Community reviews

3.3 Good, warm, semi-nutty. It's good. Has a sweet amber taste to it.

3.1 7%. Caramel malts, biscuits, soft earthy hops. Slightly sweet and nutty. Better than average fall / octoberfest seasonal offering. But nothing special.

3.4 12 oz. bottle. ABV 7% per the label. The recipe has evolved as the ABV is not the same. Pours a medium thick, light beige, well retained head, with moderate curtain lacing, over a clear brown red (SRM 25) body......nose is sweet malts, with light toffee/caramel, light dried fruit notes, minimal hop spice, balance to the malts,.....taste is sweet with toffee/caramel, light nuttiness, dried fruit tones, finishing with mild sweet sherry tones, minimal hop spice with cola notes, balance to the malts.........mouth feel, medium, sticky body, mild alcohol, moderate carbonation. This beer is a nice display of the contribution of Munich malts to beers. The result is a beer that meets the stated style quite nicely, as long as the drinker is not offended by a larger than average malty sweetness, and low hop contribution in both aroma and flavor. BJCP 8/3/15/4/7

3.6 DATE TASTED: December 10, 2015 ... GLASSWARE: Kisatsky pint... OCCASION: a nightcap after celebrating the season with my LVR peers... APPEARANCE: bubbly, almost totally dark body that supports a finger’s worth of brown head... the head is resilient and remains a strong ring around the glass...no lacing to speak of... AROMA: caramel, some chocolate and nut make for an autumnal bouquet; the malts are also earthy and doughy; the suggestion of fruits is faint, but appreciable... PALATE: flat, slightly carbonated at the start, with a medium body and a dry finish...drinkable, but slightly warming... TASTE: immediate experience is grape, plum and caramel, with the doughy aspects giving weight to the profile; evokes a Cabernet-like flavor, with added nuttiness, butterscotch, and toasted oats fulfilling the label’s "after rakin’" promise... OVERALL: a lot to like in this one--the Fall definitely has flavors, and Breckenridge captured a few of them here; a great fit even for this balmy December night....

3.1 Black, tan foam ring remaining. Sweet aroma, light smokey tones. Too sweet taste, some toast notes. Short aftertaste. (Davenport 201510)

3.4 Bottle from Cavalier. Home in a snifter. Poured a dark brown...looks like a porter but with almost no head No lace. Aroma is big caramel, roasted malts, toffee, and a little booze hotness. Also has like a sweet carnation milk aroma like a sweet stout. The taste isn’t bad with nice roasted and balanced malts, a sweet almost cocoa flavor in the middle, and a slight booze finish. Low carb overall and a medium to thin body. I cannot understand where they got Old Ale out of this thing though. It is kind of like a sweet stout or porter. The flavors were OK but they’d get an F in the style of Old Ale.

3.0 [Tap] Clear brown pour with about a half inch of head on top. Sweet caramel, toffee and some dusty grain in the nose. Bready notes, crisp grain, more caramel, nuts and a light alcohol kick in the taste. Faint hop notes leave this beer with a residual sweetness. Pretty pedestrian. Tasting notes from 9/2014.

2.5 Strong dark brown color with a lighter brown head. Sweet, almost yeasty/earthy aroma. Overall experience is like being surrounded by damp leaves. Strong Porter-alike dark flavor with an almost invisible sour finish. Carbonation stays in your mouth for a while after drinking. Not necessarily bad, but unfortunately the smell of it kills it for me.

3.4 Breckenridge calls this an old ale but based on taste, I’d probably call it a strong porter. It’s good, it’s just weird they decided to call it an old ale is ale. In any case, this has a thin brown head sitting on a deep brown beer. It’s got a nice roasty nose w/ a hint of raisin and a slighter hint of tart cherries. This is a medium bodied brew w/ moderate carbonation. Taste is somewhat light but w/ a nice chocolate character to give it some richness. It finishes clean w/ some lingering sweetness, roast and dried fruit. Nothing about this stands out as being particularly excellent but everything about it is solid and there’s no off flavors or anything to hurt drinkability. I could see myself downing quite a few of these w/o realizing they are a bit on the strong side so I would imagine it would do nicely to warm you during the late Autumn months.

2.5 Aroma is sweet malts. Taste is malty with a small hit of bitter hops. Overall a not bad, but underwhelming fall beer.

3.4 Good label on an embossed 12 oz longneck. Surprisingly dark brew. Rich malty aroma with some licorice and pepperoni. Tastes like a mild. Faintly roasted, a little sweet, very light creosote. Very drinkable. Lightish body. ABC Liquors, Betton.

3.4 11/01/2014: Breckenridge Autumn Ale pours an elegant deep brown color with a nice beige head of foam. The aroma is toasted German malt and bread crust. The flavor is rich and roasty with a lot of chocolate malt followed by caramelized sugar, a dap of molasses, and a good amount of nuttiness. Medium body; average mouthfeel. Overall this is a fantastic beer that really delivers on the label description of being a combination between "the malty goodness of a German lager with the clean crispness of an American ale." 12 fl. oz. bottle from Rich.

3.2 12 ounce bottle. Mahogany brown color with red highlights. Medium-sized creamy beige head. Faint toasted malt nose. Sweet toasted malt flavor is smooth and silky with dark caramel and nutty notes. Slightly resiny hops in finish, though understated. Overall, very drinkable, but unremarkable.

3.4 good flavor, easy drinking and nice finish. Just like the bottle says ’after raking’. Nice fall selection. Thumbs up

1.6 Drank from a twelve ounce bottle. Really, really disappointed with this one from Breckenridge Brewery. Aromas are very sweet with hints of caramel and roasted malts. Tastes very watered down.

3.3 Bottle-Pours a deep mahogany with red highlights. About 2 fingers of head that quickly dissipated. Aromas of dried fruit and caramel. Sweet caramel and fruit taste and a good mouth feel. Solid beer, but not my favorite style.

3.1 12 oz bottle, poured into a pint glass at approximately 40 degrees F. A: Pours a dark brown, almost exactly the color of Dr. Pepper, and forms a thin pale head which dissipates quickly. Holding the glass up to sunlight reveals a reddish hue, and one can see the shadows of their fingers on the opposite side of the glass. There is no lacing to speak of, as it falls quickly down the sides of the glass. S: A rich, toasted malt, of the caramel and nutty variety. T: Malt bitter strikes right up front, before rounding out into toasted chestnut with toffee hints in the background. Bready malt lingers after the finish. F: Medium-bodied with a watery finish, and very little carbonation. O: An enjoyable tour de malt, with the nutty and toffee flavors blending well.

3.0 Bottle. Chestnut in colour, with next to no head and slight carbonation. Dar fruit and brown sugar aroma. Flavour was much the same, with a touch of bitterness in the finish. Ok.

3.2 Pours a dark brown small off white head from a 12 oz bottle. Fairly balanced taste. Little more malty than hoppy. Medium carbonation. Easy drinking nothing special.

3.1 A nearly black pour with a tan head. An earthy, chocolate, coffee aroma, and grains. Aroma is significantly more complex than the taste. Smoky, dark cherries, coffee, chocolate. Finish is pretty smooth, a bit sticky.

3.1 Aroma: malty, vanilla. Appearance: dark brown, small, creamy, beige head. Taste: light bitters. Palate: smokey, grain malts. Overall: OK Ild Ale, but does not make me jump up and down. Pint at Big Brew, Morristown. (3.1) Sweet, toasted, dark grain malts, dark molasses, caramel. Hazy, dark brown, small, creamy, beige head. Medium sweet. More dark, sweet toasted, dark molasses, soft carbonation, full bodied. Alright, bit simplistic. Keg at Cantina, Denver. (3.2)

3.0 From the 12 fl. oz. bottle.. It pours medium to dark amber with a long lasting off-white head. The aroma is a straight forward mix of malts and hoops but nothing overdoes the other. Medium body, Medium body. The flavor emphasizes the malts with a subtle hop note. But overall this is nothing extraordinary although it is quite easy to drink.

3.0 Bottle thanks to Craig. Poured dark with light tan. Aroma of caramel malttts. Light carb med bod. Sweet malty taste. Meh

3.3 Bottle. Dark brown-black color. Toasted malt nose with a touch of licorice. Thin mouthfeel. Toast; touch of caramel; slight hint of licorice. Malty, thin finish.

3.1 Transfer from BA review on 10-16-13- Served on tap in a pint glass Appearance – The beer is served a deeper brown color with a one finger of just off white head. The head fades relatively quickly leaving a lighter level of foamy lace on the sides of the glass and a film of foam on the surface of the brew. Smell – The aroma is rather strong of a chocolate and a caramel smell. Mixed with these aromas are some other light brown bready smells and some notes of brown sugar. Some nuttiness rounds out the aroma producing an overall sweet and roasty smelling brew. Taste – The taste begins with a roasted brown bread taste mixed with a fair level of caramel sweetness. As the taste advances some flavors of cocoa and a little bit of nut comes to the tongue along with the arrival of a cola like flavor. Some lightly hopped flavors of a grassy and earthy nature come to the tongue more toward the end of the taste balancing out some of the sweet. In the end with the bitter coming to the tongue, a rather roasty and lightly hopped cola cocoa flavor is left to linger on the tongue. Mouthfeel – The body of the beer is on the average to slightly lighter side for a darker harvest ale of its style with a carbonation level that is on the slightly higher side. A slightly thicker body and lower carbonation may have been a bit nicer for the roasted flavors of the brew as the somewhat watery nature of the brew really didn’t support the flavors well. Overall – Not really the best harvest ales I have even had. The flavors never really complement each other well and the weaker body only further diminishes the impacts of the taste. Nothing too special here.

3.3 A dark brown ale with a thin mocha head. In aroma, sweet caramel malt with light grassy hops, dark fruits, nice. In mouth, a nice sweet fruity caramel malt with light chocolate, plums, licorice, nice.

3.1 12oz bottle to kick of the 12K joint milestone tasting (Lubiere gets most of the credit with 10K, I only get 2K). Dark mahogany with light beige head that almost completely disappears. Malty and nutty, some sweet caramelised malts, plum. Moderate carbonation and mild+ body. Semi sweet, somewhat dry, malty, bit of spice, not bad.

3.7 Aromas of caramel, nutty, coffee, grassy hops. Hazy brown with decently retaining off-white head. Savory malts, subtle smoke, earthy hops finish the flavor profile. Very smooth.

3.4 Draft @ Cuban Burger, Harrisonburg VA: Charcoal nose. Ruby black, medium tan head. Charcoal and cherries flavor, dry. Nutty pecan finish. Medium body. Not overpowering, but still enough flavor, good transitions. Color and body are atypical for the style.

3.8 Bottle - Dark cola pour with a bubbly ring of tan head. Nose is dark, rich bready malt, a bit of milkiness, and some nuttiness. Taste is a nice blend of lightly spicy grain, chocolate, dark bread, and a hint of herbal hops. Finishes with a bit of milky sourness. Medium-bodied and slick, with mellow carbonation. Really understated, but man, this beer pretty much epitomizes fall. I’m not a huge fan of the milkiness, but the rest I like quite a bit.