Beating Halloween by eight days, the 8th annual Beer Mile World Classic (BMWC) happened last Saturday, October 23, 2021 on a 400-meter track at Leigh Sports Village near Manchester, England, under a portentous blanket of clouds. As expected, the gut-defying results were downright scary.
“What’s your confidence level going into today?” Canada’s Corey Bellemore was asked just before the cult classic one-mile race—which requires runners to chug a 12-ounce beer leading into each of the four laps.
“Pretty good,” said the two-time champion and world record holder from Windsor, Ontario, who in 2017 completed the circuit in an unfathomable 4:33 (that’s with drinking four beers). That time was good enough to shave his prior world record set the year before by a full second. “Yesterday was a long travel day, so I’m just happy to be at the track ready to run and take that big cup back. It’ll be stiff competition,” Bellemore added. “We’ll see what happens.”
So What Happened?
What happened (spoiler alert if you decide to watch the occasionally stomach-churning footage) was pretty sick—in all senses.
Two heats of male competitors and one heat of female runners—mainly from the UK, Scandinavia, Canada and U.S.A. chugged and dashed their way around the oval like suds-swilling Olympians, vying for the Kingston Cup and Queens Cup respectively.
Yes, there were some “reversals” along the way. We’ll let you take a millisecond to translate that official BMWC euphemism.
Barfing during the race will cost any competitor an additional penalty lap afterwards.
Two Champions Chugging It Out
The tightest grudge match of the event was between Bellemore and U.S.A.’s Chris Robertson, last year’s champion and a BMWC co-founder. Neck and neck for most of the race, Bellemore turned out a world record-shattering time of 4:28. Robertson arrived at the finish line in 2nd place at an only slightly less insane 4:40.
Team U.S.A.’s world champion Allison Morgan won the women’s title for the third consecutive year with a stunning time of 6:32.
“I’m happy to go sub-4:30,” said Bellemore after the race. “There’s still room for improvement, but this has been a long time coming,” he added, referencing a disqualified win (and would-be world record) in 2018 after leaving half an ounce too much foam in his emptied beer. The backwash limit is 4 ounces.
“Your chugs were right on point,” Bellemore assured Robertson afterwards, who’d been on Bellemore’s heels the whole time. “I thought I was having good chugs—but you pushed me the whole way.”
In the team category, the U.S. runners defended their men’s and women’s national titles based on collective points respectively.
For more information about the Beer Mile World Championship, a list of rules, and a brief disclaimer about irresponsible behavior (“Don’t try a beer mile if it’s not legal where you are, if you’re underage, or if you’re not fit for it … Don’t be an idiot.”) visit beermile.com.
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Just like that, pumpkins have returned. While you may be OK with pumpkin made into a pie filling, roasted with vegetables, pureed into a soup, or maybe even added to a seasonal latte, it’s understandable if you think there are certain places it just doesn’t belong. When it comes to fall beers, there are two camps: Those who pumpkin and those who don’t.
But what makes for a good autumnal beer without the polarizing gourd? Chris Swersey, competition director of the Brewers Association, thinks it could be anything with a “little more malt backbone.”
“Fall beers generally have more toast, biscuit, cookie-like flavor attributes,” Swersey tells Men’s Journal. “They tend to have a bigger body, fuller flavor, maybe more alcohol. There’s a little bit more to chew on, which is nice on a cold day. They also tend to support the heavier meal choices you make in the fall, like stews and meat courses. ”
Some styles that fit within those parameters include browns, porters, stouts, Oktoberfests, Marzens, ambers, dark lagers, and Munich dunkels. Here are 12 of our favorite pumpkin-free fall beers to sip all season long.
Note: Some of the beers below have limited availability online. Click the links to the brewers’ websites to see if you can find some at a store near you.
The Best Non-Pumpkin Fall Beers
Short’s Pure Michigan IPACourtesy Image
1. Short’s Pure Michigan IPA
IPAs generally aren’t considered fall beers—their profiles often skew too citrusy or tropical to be appropriate for sweater weather. This is one of the exceptions. Short’s can only make this in the fall—it’s a harvest beer. Brewers work with local producers to secure hops and grains fresh from the fall harvest, which means it encapsulates the best of these ingredients and it’s as fresh as it gets. It marries the lightly fruity hops with rich, warming malts for a well-balanced seasonal sipper.
That’s not a typo. Firestone’s seasonal suds are aged in French oak barrels (hence the name) for a soft mouth feel and earthy flavor notes. The beer also calls upon Bavarian hops and Bavarian Augustiner lager yeast, so even if it is a bit of a change-up from a standard Oktoberfest, it’s one of the best versions you’ll get outside of Germany.
While not new, the Sam Adams Oktoberfest is a notable Marzen-style fall beer. Smooth, roasty, and with just the right amount of biscuit and caramel, it’s very true to the genre. In fact, it’s so spot-on that it has won more than 125 awards, including some in Germany, since debuting 32 years ago.
Porters, originally from London, are named because of their popularity with street and river porters: The sweet, dark beer was robust and caloric enough to support the demands of the job. Historical porters would have been fairly basic, but this Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter from DuClaw is pure over-the-top indulgence.
There are two consumables that go best with a campfire: s’mores and beer. This milk stout from Dogfish Head serves up both. It’s brewed with marshmallows, graham crackers, cocoa nibs, cinnamon, Madagascar vanilla beans, and smoked malt. On a chilly fall night, it makes an excellent companion.
Wisconsin-based Leinenkugel’s and Munich, Germany-based Hofbrau are some of the oldest breweries in their countries (154 years old and 532 years old, respectively), so it’s safe to say they know a thing or two about making a good lager. This amber abides by Reinhetsgebot (a famous German purity law that states beers can only be made with malt, hops, water, and yeast), which translates to a clean, crisp, and refreshing beer.
Even though it’s said to be inspired by brewmaster Todd Usry’s childhood memories of fall in Virginia, this brown ale is decidedly grown-up. The nutty, dark fruit, chocolate, and toffee-like flavor attributes make for a fall beer that, as the label reads, is good for “after rakin.’”
While you may have to retire your tank tops and flip-flops this time of year, you don’t necessarily need to trade in your IPA. Bready, sweet, and piney, this incredibly drinkable and hoppy amber ale from Harpoon is perfect for hop-heads who want something with a little more autumnal oomph.
Generally speaking, if you’re craving a stout, it’s because you want something smooth. This Belgian-inspired stout from Allagash is pure silk: Caramel, chocolate, and a whisper of pine define this roasty, sweet, and super sippable beer.
Coffee, chocolate, smoked malts, and lactose dominate this full-bodied American imperial stout. But there’s one very unique secret ingredient that your tastebuds probably won’t perceive: holy water. How’s that for a spooky-season beer?
There’s a misconception in beer that anything darker than red is going to be heavy. This black lager from Jack’s Abby proves that’s not the case. While there are some toasty chocolate notes, they’re more to balance out the smokiness of the malts used. It’s complex, but isn’t something that will weigh you down.
Inspired by co-founder Jason Santamaria’s family recipe for Oaxacan-style mole sauce, this full-bodied and well balanced porter is spiced with three varieties of chiles, cinnamon, cacao nibs, and cloves.
The return of fall means many different things. For some, it means that their yards will soon have a blanket of yellow, orange, and brown leaves. It means the temperatures are growing colder and the days are getting shorter. It also means the return of one of the most seasonally specific beers: the pumpkin ale. They hit the store shelves in September (sometimes appearing in the midst of the August heat). Then they’re gone like a ghostly phantom in the night by Thanksgiving.
If it seems like pumpkin beer is a rather recent phenomenon, it’s not. When European settlers first came to North America, wheat and barley were hard-to-come-by ingredients. If you had any, you were more likely to make bread than alcohol. In place of grains and malt, native pumpkins became an important ingredient in beer. There’s even a recipe that dates back to 1771 for ‘pompion’ ale. In the case of this particular recipe, the writer wrote that due to a “twang,” you might want to wait a couple years after bottling to drink it.
Before we proceed, you should be aware that pumpkin beer is the cilantro of brews. Either you love it in all its pumpkin-y, fall spiced glory, or you absolutely loathe it and you don’t understand why beer drinkers await its arrival. If you’re in the latter group, simply stick to Oktoberfest-style beers, wet hop IPAs, and other seasonal favorites. You’ll be golden until winter. If you’re a pumpkin head like us, keep scrolling to find 20 of our favorite pumpkin beers to drink during fall.
Keep in mind, that while there are countless pumpkin beers on the market, these 20 fully embrace the pumpkin flavor. The pumpkin flavor isn’t hidden by myriad over-the-top flavors. These are pumpkin pie, pumpkin spice, pumpkin flavor through and through.
Note: Some might not be available (yet) due to seasonality.
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It’s easy to overlook ergonomics when drinking a beer. That IPA’s taste and aroma might be front and center, but the drinking vessel is essential to the experience. Is it a clean pint glass? A crumpled 16-ounce can? If luck shines down, you’ll be drinking that beer from a stubby bottle. Stubbies, the classic, squat brown vessel, are the perfect size for a palm—deceivingly packing the usual 12 ounces of beer (or, occasionally, a Spinal Tap-inspired 11).
But unlike a common longneck bottle, the stockier glass feels more substantial, a nod to a bygone era of thoughtful beer-receptacle craftsmanship. And here begins the story of stubbies.
Emerging from Prohibition in the 1930s, breweries began experimenting with different packaging formats to deliver beer to thirsty drinkers. Gottfried Krueger Brewing of New Jersey sold America’s first canned beers to the public in 1935, ushering in our entrenched era of canned suds.
Not to be outdone, the glass industry responded by rolling out squat, sturdy, can-like shortneck bottles that were easy to stack and ship. Milwaukee’s Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company, makers of Schlitz lager, pioneered the practice with the introduction of its so-called “steinie” bottle, due to its resemblance to a beer stein. Bottles with stubbier necks got the “stubby” label.
The rise, fall, and rise again of stubbies
The low-rise bottles ruled until the 1950s, when bottle necks grew longer, slimmer, and increasingly commonplace. As the lager-loaded longneck entered its reign alongside cans, stubbies abdicated from store shelves—except (interestingly) up in the beer-loving North. In Canada, stubby bottles stubbornly held on for decades, remaining standard until the early 1980s, when a marketing-inspired shift to the taller, slimmer “American” bottles led to at least one fruitless, patriotism-fueled “Bring Back the Stubby” campaign.
Thankfully, all stubbies didn’t end up in the historic landfill. Today, breweries both big and small are embracing the nostalgia-fueled bottle—a point of packaging differentiation in a world full of whimsically labeled 16-ounce cans. Stubbies today are filled with throwback lagers, as well as modern IPAs dolled up with the latest hops.
Here are five glass acts that are great to grip and drink.
Courtesy Image
1. Full Sail Brewing Co. Session Premium Lager
ABV: 5%
The West Coast was once awash in stubby bottles filled with lagers such as California’s Lucky and Seattle-born Rainier. The format was essentially extinct until 2005 when Hood River, Oregon-based Full Sail packaged a full-flavored lager—the kind you might’ve found in pre-Prohibition America—in stubby 11-ounce bottles. Session Premium has since launched a line of Session beers sold in stubbies, including a hefeweizen and a hazy IPA.
First brewed in 1928, the classic Jamaican lager entered its iconic stubbies phase in 1965 and soon became a Caribbean vacay drinking institution. To this day, a cold, grippable Red Stripe goes great with hot jerk chicken and good times. Bottled Red Stripe is still brewed right in Jamaica. Meanwhile, its canned and drafted offshoots are now produced in the Netherlands.
Vermont is synonymous with hazy IPAs, but the state’s best-selling draft beer is its unfiltered Switchback Ale. The style-defying amber ale, rich in malt and redolent of fruit thanks to the brewery’s custom yeast strain, is an ideal fit for a stubby. Natural bottle conditioning (aka “refermentation”) creates a gentle fizz from first to final sip.
4. Molson Coors Beverage Company Coors Banquet Beer
ABV: 5%
Coors emerged from Prohibition with a bang-up idea: Why not package its popular lager, nicknamed “banquet beer” by Colorado miners, in stubby bottles? The Colorado mega-brewery-to-be first used stubbies in 1936, the label announcing the lager was “thoroly aged”—a whimsically simplified spelling that never stuck. Or did it? Coors revived stubbies in 2013, reviving the “thoroly aged” tag on its commemorative packaging.
Latin American culture and culinary traditions inspire the beers of Miami’s Veza Sur, where horchata-inspired cream ales are brewed alongside guava-infused sour ales and the ToronjIPA that’s packed with grapefruit. The brewery (owned by AB InBev) also packages many of its beers as stubbies, including a must-try sunny South Coast IPA that stars citrusy Amarillo and tropical Citra hops.
Those who summered on the Eastern Shore, specifically along the beach-front boardwalks of Maryland and Delaware, are intimately familiar with Dolle’s saltwater taffy. This beach-town institution has been selling the sweet treat to locals and tourists alike since 1910—subsequently becoming the bane of dentists by threatening to remove fillings of those addicted to the tasty taffy. Now, Flying Dog Brewery, known for its award-winning Pale Ale and often-outlandish sudsy brews, has teamed up with the iconic candy maker to produce a limited run of Saltwater Taffy IPA.
Part of Flying Dog’s Brewhouse Rarites collection, the new IPA is based on the flavors of Dolle’s lemon saltwater taffy—freshly squeezed lemons and citrus hops with rich notes of vanilla—and packs 7.6% ABV (alcohol by volume).
“Our team loves coming up with surprising flavors to wow consumers and when we can do that while partnering with local legends like Dolle’s, it makes it that much sweeter,” said James Maravetz, VP of marketing at Flying Dog Brewery. “This innovative IPA has a perfect balance of creamy taffy and bright citrus notes to blow your flip-flops off.”
And if you still allow yourself to chomp down on some saltwater taffy, Dolle’s also created a beer-flavored version of its seaside treat using hops from Flying Dog.
“Just in time for the sounds, smells, and tastes of summer, Dolle’s is extremely excited to pair with Flying Dog Brewery in Dolle’s first brand collaboration,” said Anna Dolle Bushnell, president of Dolle’s Candyland, Inc. “Taste tests were enjoyed thoroughly between both Maryland businesses as we developed an IPA that invokes fun and summer with inspired flavors of Dolle’s lemon saltwater taffy.”
You’ll be able to enjoy 6-packs of the candy-inspired brew the first week of June (find it at flyingdog.com), and the taffy will be available online at dolles.com and in its Ocean City, MD, retail locations.
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Across the country, government officials are looking for innovative ways to encourage people to get COVID-19 vaccines. In Erie County, NY, home to Buffalo, they’ve started up a new program that combines COVID-19 vaccines with free beer. Appropriately enough, they’re calling it “Shot and a Chaser.”
The first pop-up Shot and Chaser clinic will be held May 8 at the Resurgence Brewing Co. in South Buffalo. Attendees can get their first dose of the Moderna vaccine in the parking lot, then head into the brewery for a beverage of their choice. At Resurgence, they can pick from beers like Cosmic Truth or McKinley’s Revenge. There will be 300 slots available for sign up. And, after that first shot and beer, people can come back four weeks later for their second dose and second beer.
“We understand our constituents. We know, especially with our younger constituents, they need a little incentive,” says Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz.
For the county, which announced their program on social media with a Homer Simpson “MMM…BEER” image, it’s a way to help local businesses and keep citizens healthy.
“We believe we can support our local brewers, who had a tough year last year, as well as get people vaccinated,” Poloncarz says.
Erie County is not the first to offer a vaccine bonus, as across the country, businesses and brands are giving away everything from free Krispy Kreme donuts and Samuel Adams beer to marijuana edibles and vaccination card lamination.
“We just saw the state of West Virginia is doing a $100 savings bond,” Poloncarz says. “Good for them.”
The county has also signed up Flying Bison Brewing Company for a vaccine pop-up, but no date has been set. Poloncarz says they are looking for more breweries to take part in a program that’s perfectly suited to the area.
“This is Buffalo. We love our beer.”
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Cooking with beer isn’t novel. Stouts make regular appearances in recipes for hearty stews and chilis. Beer cheese soups and beer-battered onion rings, fish tacos, shrimp (everything, really…) are staples on brewpub menus. Of course, beer can chicken is a fun trick to perform on the grill during backyard barbecues. But why stop here? Considering the impressive breadth of craft brews available these days, it’s a shame we don’t experiment cooking with beer more often.
Beer recipes are super versatile: Use brews in to bake, braise, and simmer; they can add flavor and depth to sauces, marinades, and brines. A lager can stand up to rich meats, while a stout can add a subtle hint of chocolate to desserts. To put it another way, beer is bidding to go beyond soups and batters.
“For us, cooking with beer is all about exploring great beers and their flavors in new ways—bringing a beer’s complex flavor profile into food,” says Warren Berkey, the co-founder of Beer Belly. The Instagram account is devoted to the art of cooking with beer, spiking chorizo queso with a hazy IPA and drawing on the roasted caramel flavors of a porter for the base of slow-braised short ribs.
Here, chefs and recipe creators share with us their favorite beer recipes. These dishes range from chicken wings marinated in a citrus IPA to pork chops brined in a hefeweizen to a sour beer compote perfect for drizzling over ice cream.
Beer Recipes That Use Your Favorite Brews in Creative Ways
1. The Hef Brined Pork Chop
The natural sweetness of a classic hefeweizen is a perfect match for the pork and brown sugar in this beer-brined pork chop recipe created by chef Justin Brunson, the owner of River Bear American Meats and Culture Meat & Cheese in Denver. “The key to this dish is getting a good char when grilling and adding the cooling herbs as the finishing touch, which really brings the whole dish together,” Brunson says.
