It has been officially winter for a couple months now, but beginning with last month we’ve really been feeling the deep freeze that the season brings. With cooler temps, most beer drinkers gravitate toward darker heavier beers, beers that feel like a meal when you drink them with heavier malts, spices, oh and most importantly more booze to warm you up. When we think of winter beers, Stouts and Winterwarmers usually come to mind but those aren’t the tip of the iceberg. Beers like barleywines, Doppelbocks, and Quads also are perfect for the colder temps with complex flavor profiles and higher abvs. Here are a few of my favorite winter beers to keep you warm this season.
Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock
Ayinger Privatbrauerei
Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock is a German Doppelbock, a beer style characterized as being malty, full-bodied, and bready, with some coffee and toffee tones. All of these elements make this beer perfect to pair with food, especially a hearty meal you would eat during a celebration, hence the name Celebrator. Celebrator Doppelbock is award winning and one of my favorites of the style. This beer clocks in at a 6.7% abv and is available year around. Even with the availability, I prefer to sip this beer in the cooler months because of its heartiness.
Appearance: pours a dark brown color with a ruby tint, and is finished off with a thick creamy head.
Nose: burnt, roasty, carmel, and dark fruit nose.
Taste: pretty much follows the nose with a pallet of dark fruit and caramel. Roasty and malty…. your taste buds will rejoice.
Mouthfeel: thick and malty mouthfeel.
Overall: I see why this beer has picked up so many awards. It is a perfect representation of the style.
Ratebeer Score: 100
Great Lakes Christmas
Great Lakes Brewing Company
Christmas may be over, but it is still the season for this delicious Winter Ale. Great Lakes Christmas is Holiday Ale brewed with honey and notes of cinnamon and ginger flavors. Most Christmas Ales are a miss because a lot of them are either too spice forward or too bland. Great Lakes created a perfectly balanced Christmas Ale that has tons of caramel notes that balance out the spices. The 6-time medal winning ale comes in at a 7.5% abv and is available for the season starting in November.
Appearance: pours rich copper color with thick white head
Nose: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, honey, caramel, and toasted bread.
Taste: the taste is less spice forward than the nose, with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, caramel, and honey. Spicy and malty upfront with a sweet finish.
Mouthfeel: medium with a silky finish.
Overall: my favorite Christmas/Holiday/Winter ale. Very tasty and balanced.
Ratebeer Score: 99
Bourbon County Brand Barleywine
Goose Island Beer Co.
Bourbon County Barleywine is an English style Barleywine that can also be classified as a Strong ale or an Old Ale. Barleywines have a heavy malt character and hop bitterness and are widely aged to bring out toffee and fruit flavors. Goose Island’s Bourbon County Brands of beer are definitely their highest trim level of their lineup, mostly known for their different variations of their Bourbon County Brand Stout. The Barleywine fits in well with this exclusive bunch, with its complex malt character, hop profile, sweetness from dark fruits, and comforting mouthfeel and warm finish.
Appearance: pours a dark rich ruby color with a light tan head.
Nose: notes of toffee, oak, candied fruits, bread, and alcohol.
Taste: follows the nose with sweetness from the candied fruits and caramel/toffee upfront, with malt and booze in the finish.
Mouthfeel: medium to a heavier body, lightly carbonation, silky and oily on the tongue.
Overall: The most well rounded beer of the style that I have tried. It has the perfect amount of hops, sweetness, and malt. The 14.4% abv is like a teddy bear hug.
Ratebeer Score: 100
Big Bad Baptist
Epic Brewing Co.
Big Bad Baptist is an imperial stout with cocoa nibs and coffee beans added and then aged in whiskey barrels. With this stout, the coffee which is a different roast each season, is what steals the show. The heavy coffee forward stout is balanced by the addition of cocoa nibs that bring through rich chocolate notes and an oaky vanilla flavor from the barrel. The 12% abv imperial stout packs big flavor, but is still smooth and balanced despite the high alcohol content. With the popularity of this beer, Epic Brewing decided to release variants of the beer including Big Bad Baptista and Quadruple Barrel Big Bad Baptist. All of the variants are available on tap and in 22oz bombers.
Appearance: pours very dark brown almost black with a light brown head.
Nose: tons of roasted coffee, chocolate, and vanilla oak.
Taste: bitter roasted coffee upfront with luscious chocolate notes, and a hint of oaky vanilla in the finish.
Mouthfeel: Full body with a smooth finish.
Overall: one of the most balanced coffee stouts out there, if it’s available I’m getting it.
Ratebeer Score: 100
Trappistes Rochefort 10
Brasserie de Rochefort
Rochefort 10 is a Belgian Quad as well as a Trappist Beer, catigotized as beer brewed by Trappist Monks. It was brewed in the 1950s as the 3rd installment of the Rochefort series, which includes Rochefort 6, a Belgian Dubbel and Rochefort 8, a Belgian Strong Dark Ale. Rochefort 10 is the most sought after of the bunch, notably recognized by its blue seal and cap. It features very rich flavors, a malt backbone, and high alcohol content while remaining to be very well balanced. I’ve noticed that a lot of Quads can be simply too sweet or don’t have enough malt or carbonation, while this beer was crafted perfectly. Rochefort 10 is available in 11.2 oz bottles and carry an 11.3% abv.
Appearance: pours dark brown with a minimal head that disappears instantly.
Nose: toffee, caramel, dark fruit, and complex malt.
Taste: toffee and caramel with dark fruits including raisin, cherry, and plum. Sweetness and booze in the finish.
Mouthfeel: medium body with high carbonation.
Overall: my favorite quad by far. This is a beer that I often find myself craving.
Ratebeer Score: 100
