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Best Brewpubs Serving Seasonal Beer In Sacramento

The greater Sacramento area is blessed with a good selection of brewpubs, local breweries and bars offering some terrific microbrews, so finding your favorite spot may be hard. With the arrival of fall, the decision on where to go can get even more complicated as everyone starts offering the seasonal brews. To give you a starting point, here are five Sacramento brewpubs that offer seasonal beers.

Pyramid Breweries
(credit: pyramidbrew.com)

Pyramid Breweries
1029 K St.
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 498-9800
www.pyramidbrew.com

Located in a prime spot on K Street, Pyramid Brewery is a popular stop year round. This fall, look for a number of awesome seasonal offerings including three new beers. Try the Oktoberfest, Pyramid's new Autumn Lager, featuring a strong malt backbone balanced with a hoppy bitterness that creates the deep amber color and a rich caramel flavor. Red Wheat with Fig is part of the Ignition Series and has an earthy aroma with notes of caramel and toast with lots of rich fig flavor. Pyramid's third new release is Barleywine Ale that is a rich and malty interpretation of the original classic style.

yard house
(credit: yardhouse.com)

Yard House
1166 Roseville Parkway
Roseville, CA 95678
(916) 780-9273
www.yardhouse.com

Yard House is known for its staggering list of available beers that spans breweries from nearly all corners of the globe. Yard House also offers seasonal ciders and a new item is the "Chalkboard Series" which is a rotating selection of five draft beers and large format bottle offerings. The five beers are selected monthly and offer very unique and complex options from local, domestic and imported breweries. The bottle program includes beers that are limited, seasonal or hard-to-find rarities that rotate with each season. Yard House features rotating and seasonal beers from breweries like Dogfish Head, Full Sail, Great Divide, Kona and Deschutes Bond Street.

Related: Best Craft Beer Spots

Hoppy Brewing
(credit: hoppy.com)

Hoppy Brewing Company
6300 Folsom Blvd.
Sacramento, CA 95819
(916) 451-4677
www.hoppy.com

Hoppy Brewing Company has a regular menu of its own production beers on tap and each month or so, look for one or two limited-release "Brewer's Specials" beers. Popular staples at Hoppy include the Liquid Sunshine Blonde Ale with a hefty dose of crystal hops that feature a grapefruit flavor and aroma. It's brewed with barley, wheat and rye for a nice dry multigrain complexity. Those who prefer a medium brew will enjoy the flagship Hoppy Face Amber Ale that is a bold amber ale like many of the first IPAs from the dawn of the industrial revolution. It has a blend of caramel malts and nugget, cascade and liberty hops. Those who prefer a dark beer will want to try the Stony Face Red Ale.

BJ's Brewhouse
(credit: bjsbrewhouse.com)

BJ's Brewhouse
3531 N. Freeway Blvd.
Sacramento, CA 95834
(916) 570-1327
www.bjsbrewhouse.com

Although a chain, BJ's Brewhouse offers some fantastic brews and menu items that make it one of the top spots for a good beer in Sacramento. With locations in both the Natomas and Arden Fair areas, BJ's sees a steady and loyal stream of customers on a daily basis. BJ's offers a selection of seasonal brews including Pumpkin Ale that has a spicy finish balanced by its sweet start. Another seasonal favorite is BJ's Oktoberfest which has a malty, toasty character with a mild hop bitterness in the finish. It is amber colored and has a smooth finish achieved from a long lagering process.

River City Brewing
(credit: rivercitybrewing.net)

River City Brewing Company
545 Downtown Plaza, Suite 1115
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 447-2750
www.rivercitybrewing.net

River City Brewing Company offers a great roundup of regular beers and features some seasonal brews like Maibock and Belgian White. One of the regular staples to be sure and sample is K Street Kolsch, a classic style from Cologne (Koln) Germany. If you have visited Cologne or are familiar with the beer culture in Germany, you can appreciate how fiercely defended this beer is. Also try the Black River Stout made in the Irish tradition. It is black as coal and very smooth, served with a creamy head. River City also features traditional cask beer hand-pulled on its traditional English beer engine. Each week the selection varies so be sure to ask what is currently available.

Related: Best Weekend Happy Hours In Sacramento

Erin De Santiago is a freelance travel and food/wine writer and photographer from Sacramento, California. She is a regional membership coordinator for the International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association (IFWTWA) and writes for a number of publications in addition to publishing her own blogs. She has traveled to over 40 countries on five continents in search of the best food and wine around the globe. Her work can be found at Examiner.com.

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