From traditional German Oktoberfest beer, or Märzenbier, celebrating the beginning of the brewing season since the 16th century, to Native Americans seeking out gourds for beer fermentation, fall and harvest seasonal ales have been around for centuries. Today, local breweries are still crafting fall beers to celebrate the change of seasons and fall harvest, and demand is rising.

Todd Mott, head brewer for the Portsmouth Brewery, said the brewery’s rotation of seasonal brews has grown more popular over the six years he’s been there, adding depth to the beer lineup, which he is always trying to expand. He said their Octoberfest has a huge following and described it as an approachable amber lager made from all-German malt, yeast and hops that comes out toward the end of September.

The Portsmouth Brewery also brews 1,400 barrels of gently spiced pumpkin beer in October, made using 200 pounds of organic sweet Dickinson pumpkins from a local farm in Greenland. For the past six years, Mott said, the brewery has also typically put out an Imperial IPA in late Fall, which, at upwards of 9 percent alcohol, is a strong beer suitable for the cooler months.

Mott said these beers are usually only around for two to three weeks and says tradition plays a key role in their popularity.

Moat Mountain Smoke House & Brewing Co. in North Conway also offers an Octoberfest, which it has been brewing since it opened in 2000. Head brewer William Gilson described the beer as a smooth, intensely malty lager that strikes a nice balance between hops and malts and is brewed using traditional German techniques. Gilson said lagers improve over time, aging very gracefully and becoming smoother. He said Octoberfests, in particular, go well with cheeses and other foods. The beer is not spiced and leaves a malty, creamy feeling in the mouth. Gilson described it as a “session” beer—you can drink more than one in a sitting.

Octoberfest is The Moat’s most popular seasonal brew. It brewed approximately 70 kegs of Octoberfest last year and will brew about 112 kegs this year. The company also brews a 7 percent alcohol I.P.A. and a highly limited Bock beer later in the season.

“We make as much (Octoberfest) as we can and we’ve made more and more every year and still sell out really quickly,” Gilson said.

“It is common for restaurants to have a rotating tap that time of year. They want to bring in something different and fresh,” he said.

Gritty McDuff’s Brewpub, Restaurant and Microbrewery in Portland, Maine, offers a Halloween Ale, which brewmaster and founder Ed Stebbins said was the company’s first and single bestselling seasonal brew.

“The fall is a shorter beer season, but you wouldn’t know it by the volume of Halloween Ale we sell,” he said. “We begin brewing it in August and will brew almost nothing else until (Halloween) itself.”

Stebbins said Gritty’s sold about 300 barrels of Halloween Ale over the course of two months last year, which is a large amount for a small brewery. The company’s second bestselling seasonal, the summer Vacationland variety, sold about the same volume in twice the amount of time. Thomas Wilson, marketing manager for Gritty’s, said the company brews 20 percent more Halloween Ale every year and still runs out.

After a summer of drinking pale and fizzy beers, Stebbins believes consumers enjoy stronger, hoppier, more assertive beers in fall. Halloween Ale is an extra special bitter, featuring English pale ale malt, generous amounts of crystalmalt and caramalt, which give it a chestnut color and caramel and toasted flavor, balanced with Whitbread Golding Variety (GWV) hops from England. The beer contains 6 percent alcohol, suitable for sipping on a cool fall evening.

“No pumpkins were harmed during the brewing of this beer,” Stebbins said. “There are no fruits and spices in Halloween Ale and never will be.”

For those who prefer something sweeter, Shipyard Brewing Company, in Eliot, Maine, offers Pumpkinhead, a filtered, 4.7 percent alcohol wheat ale flavored with pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg and other spices. Some describe it as pumpkin pie in a glass. Shipyard has been producing the beer for 10 years, and brewmaster and cofounder Alan Pugsley claims it was one of the first pumpkin beers in New England.

Pugsley said Pumpkinhead grows more popular every year. Shipyard sold 14,000 barrels of it in 2009, compared to only 8,000 barrels of Summer Ale. Pugsley credits this to the ability of Pumpkinhead to capture the imagination of a certain sector of beer drinkers who love spice and the beer’s high drinkability. Pubs, bars and restaurants also tend to offer fun specialties around the beer, including dipping the rim of the glass in sugar and cinnamon and using the beer in mixed drinks.

Last October saw the release of Shipyard’s Smashed Pumpkin Ale, which Pugsley described as similar to Pumpkinhead but with 9 percent alcohol. The higher alcohol content somewhat mutes the flavor of the spices. Pugsley said Smashed Pumpkin enjoyed a successful first run and he introduced it earlier this year, in mid-August.

The Redhook Brewery in Portsmouth offers a Late Harvest Autumn Ale, using four different malts to produce a robust flavor that pairs nicely with tailgate fare. They’ve offered the 5.9 percent-alcohol brew since 2005.

Smuttynose Brewing Company in Portsmouth, sister to the Portsmouth Brewery, has produced Pumpkin Ale since 2003. “Minister of Propaganda” JT Thompson said the brew is less sweet, heavy and filling than most pumpkin beers. He said it’s “freakishly popular,” with sales more than doubling that of Smuttynose’s next bestselling seasonal, the Summer Weizen. Pumpkin Ale is 6.3 percent alcohol, made with natural pumpkin puree and cinnamon and nutmeg cloves. It’s bright orange in color, with a relatively light body.

Smuttynose shipped a cask made out of an actual pumpkin filled with Pumpkin Ale to the Barley Pub in Dover last year. The brewers cut open the pumpkin top, scooped out the pulp, seeds and other mushy bits and caramelized the inside with a blowtorch, attempting to seal off the flesh from the beer. They then added unfiltered, uncarbonated Pumpkin Ale with a tiny bit of priming sugar to kick start a secondary fermentation that would give the beer a mild level of carbonation. Once the pumpkin was filled, the lids were screwed on and sealed with wax to trap the carbonation inside and the beer was left to set for a week before shipping. Thompson said this cask gave the beer a slightly more vegetal pumpkin flavor and was mildly successful.

Thompson attributes the success of fall ales partially to autumn in New England, with its bonfires, cool nights, and pumpkin-related activities.

Gilson from Moat Mountain said the tradition of enjoying fall ales extends to other parts of the world, as well.

“The German brewing tradition and its festivals, including the yearly Octoberfest in Munich, have been synonymous with the harvest season, cooler temperatures and beers with more character as compared to summer seasonals,” he said. “Many brewers . . . have jumped on this traditional bandwagon with creative beers, ingredients and marketing to go along with them.”