10 winter beers to try
What better way to ward off the chill than with a brew or two? Lewis Ryan and Olly Morgan, co-founders of craft beer subscription service BREWSER, have collated some of their favourite beers for the colder months, from velvety stouts to barrel-aged sours and hazy golden ales, plus the best foods to pair them with.
Looking for a winter beer? Want to know the best festive tipple to enjoy over the colder months? Check out Lewis Ryan and Olly Morgan's favourites below for winter sipping, then check out the best beer cocktails, best beer subscriptions and clubs and best beer gifts.
10 winter beers to try
UnBarred Stoutzilla, £7.50/440ml, unbarredbrewery.com
This Brighton imperial stout – at a hefty 10% ABV – has evocative notes of chocolate, vanilla, whiskey and coffee.
Perfect pairing: rich cured meats and pies. Great with bold cheese like a decent blue.
Vault City Strawberry Sundae, £3.50/440ml, vaultcity.co.uk
A smooth and full-bodied strawberry sour made with Scottish strawberries.
Perfect pairing: mac ’n’ cheese topped with pulled pork for a contrast or to complement a dessert like eton mess.
Lacada Blue Pool, £18/4 x 440ml cans, shop.lacadabrewery.com
All the way from Northern Ireland, this New England IPA is hazy, golden and soft, hopped extensively with Galaxy, Citra and Mosaic. Packed with tropical fruit and citrus aroma and flavour.
Perfect pairing: samosas; jerk chicken; a spicy bean burger or a beef burger with a crispy, sharp dressed salad.
Tartarus Erebus Raspberry Chocolate Cake stout, £7.50/330ml, tartarusbeers.co.uk
A rich, thick indulgent 14.5% ABV stout brewed with nine different malts including speciality varieties to give flavours of dark chocolate and roast coffee. Raspberries were also added to give a tart, fruity kick to balance out the sweetness from the extra additions of cocoa nibs and vanilla.
Perfect pairing: Christmas cake, mince pies and tiramisu.
Holy Goat x Fierce Terrorizer, £6.90/375ml, holygoat.beer
Made in Dundee, this complex barrel-aged blackcurrant sour is made from a blend of 50% golden sour beer aged in tank for six months, brewed at Holy Goat, along with 50% rye sour aged in barrels for more than two years at Fierce Beer.
Perfect pairing: steak, game, brie and chocolate.
The Kernel London 1890 Export stout, £3/330ml, store.thekernelbrewery.com
Based on a 132-year-old recipe from The Truman Brewery, this is robust and roasty with rich malty sweetness and a balanced bitterness.
Perfect pairing: fatty and/or strong cheeses especially stilton or pitchfork cheddar. Spicy foods like a curry or some jerk chicken.
Wilderness Brave Faces, £15.50/75cl, wildernessbrew.co.uk
Brave Faces is a 6.7% pale mixed fermentation beer, which has been aged and soured in Bordeaux barrels for 18 months. It has an orange peel aroma, flavours of peaches and nectarines, and a dry, funky finish.
Perfect pairing: sausage and bean casserole or a pepperoni pizza.
New Bristol Brewery Irish Coffee & Vanilla Ice Cream Affogato stout, £4/440ml, newbristolbrewery.myshopify.com
Swap dessert for this delicious stout – decadent with notes of vanilla, coffee and Baileys.
Perfect pairing: pour over a bowl of vanilla ice cream.
Verdant People Money Space Time, £21/6 x 440ml cans, verdantbrewing.co
A sub-4% ABV soft and chuggable pale ale that has oodles of Citra and Mosaic hops seeping from all directions. It drinks way above its meagre ABV and is crammed full of tropical indulgences and citric sharpness.
You can also find all of these beers at BREWSER – a craft beer subscription service where you receive a curated box from a new brewery each month. There’s a whopping 120 to choose from, so you’ll always have something new to discover. brewser.beer
Check out more winter beers at the London Christmas Beer Festival at Tobacco Dock, 16-17 December. Get tickets here.
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