![]() ![]() Snow Hole - Double Red Ale Winter Seasonal (8.5% ABV) ![]() It has the slow, hearty warmth of a classic English-style strong ale, but the addition of spices and cocoa nibs - plus a malt blend that utilizes chocolate and de-bittered black malts - really set it apart. But this rich, dark ale gets a bit sweeter and spicier as you continue to sample it. The thick, dark brown color of this seasonal beer makes it look like a porter, and the roasty-toasty first sip may convince you that it is. But this rich, dry-hopped heartwarmer still has good reason, in its third decade, to stay on shelves.įireside Chat - Winter Spiced Ale (7.9% ABV)Ģ1st Amendment Brewery, San Francisco, California It’s an old classic, in other words, which is probably why it takes itself too seriously (suggested pairings, according to the label, include apple crisp with ginger ice cream and aged hard Dutch cow’s milk cheese, in case you have any on hand). This mean, malty brew has a robust grip on its sharply sweet legacy as GDBC’s flagship winter ale since 1995. Rocky Mountain craft beer drinkers know how to tuck in and weather the coldest months, and I can see how this monstrously strong English-style old ale would help. Great Divide Brewing Company, Denver, Colorado If you’re in the mood, this is one of the more enjoyable ways to get that holiday spice experience while drinking local. This smooth, dark-gold concoction is essentially gingerbread in a glass, but it doesn’t carry that acrid or bitter aftertaste that follows a lot of flavored beers. Regular readers of this column know that I don’t typically skew sugary, but for whatever reason, ABC’s winter spiced ale just works, so it takes this list’s honorary sweet slot. Perfect for low-key house parties and early nights at the fireplace. This lightly spiced, copper-colored accomplishment is a bit more fragrant than its dark-malty counterparts on this list - it evokes a dash of brown sugar, and a sprinkle of cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove - but for fans of Belgian beers, this is a super local offering you can’t catch year-round. The Trappist monks at Spencer Abbey put a lot of care into this Belgian-style strong dark ale, and it shows. Wormtown has paid tribute to those harrowing three days by crafting a thick, warming beer you can nurse while you share a wild winter yarn of your own - made with fresh-roasted coffee beans from Acoustic Java in Worcester. This bold, dark-roasted beer is probably the best thing to come out of that catastrophic February storm four decades ago, which dropped 27 inches of snow on Boston and did almost $2 billion worth of damage throughout the Northeast (adjusted for inflation). These eight, on the other hand, pass the test for snowbound months ahead:īlizzard of ’78 - English Style Brown Ale (6% ABV) And Goose Island’s Festivity Ale was too festive for my tastes, overloaded with cherry notes, caramel thickness, and dark malt sugars to the point of imitating a fruitcake. Harpoon’s UFO Winter Blonde, which is a golden-colored vanilla coffee ale, reminded me of a shot of vanilla syrup in a coffee-chain latte - not good. I’m generally as optimistic about winter-holiday beers as I am pessimistic about pumpkin-spiced autumn beers (I guess October just isn’t my month), and luckily my haul this year yielded only two misfires. Sam Adams has made an enjoyable showing this year as well, with releases like the spiced wheat ale called White Christmas.īut let’s duck a little further under the radar to check out eight of the Beerhunter’s favorite holiday ales. ![]() And New England has its local winter classics, from Berkshire Brewing Company’s Cabin Fever Ale to Harpoon Brewery’s Winter Warmer to Peak Organic’s Winter Session Ale. Some of the best-known winter craft offerings, like the Lagunitas strong ale Brown Shugga’, don’t need much introduction. These days, the Nor’easter stockpile options are a bit more refined, and many newer craft breweries produce darker, spicier beers for winter - complemented by older holiday mainstays like Sierra Nevada’s Celebration Ale, first brewed in 1981 and still selling strong. When predictions of blizzards rolled into town, our parents and grandparents ran to the package store and grabbed a 30-pack of cheap lager cans (we used to call them “dad soda”) along with bread, milk, and eggs. The best seasonal beers for winter months ![]()
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