We may not be battling blizzards, but spring is still six long weeks away — and beer can help ease the chill. Breweries have been making winter seasonals for centuries. Those brews were even used to celebrate the winter solstice in ancient times. Once European monasteries took over brewing operations, their winter beers were made to celebrate Christmas, a practice that continues to this day.
So what makes a beer a winter beer? “Winter beers are as much a state of mind as a style,” says noted beer writer Michael Jackson. The stronger alcohol in a big beer leaves you with a satisfying feeling of warmth in both the mouthfeel and the finish. Traditionally, winter beers tend to emphasize sweeter malt, but bigger hopped beers, like Double or Triple IPAs or Black IPAs, also are right at home during cold weather, because of their intensity and higher alcohol. And barley wine, old ales, strong lagers, bock and stouts, especially imperial stouts, are all perfect for the season.
Happily, California is awash in some of the best imperial stouts made anywhere, including North Coast Old Rasputin, Stone Imperial Russian Stout, Sierra Nevada Narwhal, Firestone Walker Parabola, Moylan’s Ryan Sullivan’s and Eel River’s Raven’s Eye. These beers tend be very high in alcohol, with big roasted malt notes of coffee, chocolate and tobacco.
Porters, too, are good at this time of year. High Water Brewing, for example, makes an Aphotic Imperial Porter, named for a lake or ocean zone that receives minimal sunlight. Using molasses, Muscovado sugar and star anise, along with chocolate malts, the beer is very dark, nicely sweet and chocolaty.
The strong dark ale launched by Fuller’s in England was known as an Extra Special Bitter until 1969, when it was redubbed a “winter bitter.” Two years later, it was renamed simply ESB and the brewery began producing it all year round. Today, many breweries make ESBs and it’s an ideal milder choice at this time of year.
If you see a beer labeled “old ale” or “stock ale,” chances are it’s similar to a barley wine. In the 19th and early 20th century the names used on beers, especially in England, were more complicated, and a variety of names were used to describe beers that were more alike than they were different. Try a North Coast’s Old Stock Ale, an excellent old ale, which at nearly 12 percent alcohol by volume, will definitely warm your innards on a cold night.
One of my favorite winter beers is Lagunitas’ holiday seasonal, Brown Shugga’. It was originally meant be a batch of their barley wine, Old GnarlyWine, which went awry when the brewers accidentally missed a step. To fix the beer, owner Tony Magee sent his employees out to every all-night grocery store they could find, emptying each one of their entire stock of brown sugar to add to the beer. The resulting Brown Shugga’ was no longer a barley wine — it’s something unique, and completely delicious.
But the granddaddy of winter beers, as far as I’m concerned, is a British classic, barley wine. Old Foghorn, brewed by Anchor Brewing, was the first modern example in the U.S. when it debuted in 1975. Since then, two different kinds of barley wine have emerged, the traditional English-style, and a more American, hoppier version.
Besides Old Foghorn, some of the best local, English-style versions include Firestone Walker ucaba, Auburn Alehouse’s Old Prospector, High Water’s Old and In the Way and Magnolia’s Old Thunderpussy. Some of my favorite local, American-style barley wines include AleSmith’s Old Numbskull, Lagunitas’ Old GnarlyWine, Marin’s Old Dipsea, Speakeasy’s Old Godfather and Stone’s Old Guardian.
One great way to sample an assortment — up to 50 varieties of this English-style winter beer — is at San Francisco’s annual Toronado Barley Wine Festival, which starts on Valentine’s Day. The festival runs all week, but it’s best to go early for the best selection.
Soon we’ll be trying to beat the heat with pilsners, wheat beers and saisons, but for the next six weeks at least, it’s time to revel in winter beer.