Three seasonal beers worth earning

By Derrick Peterman

California beer lovers rejoice in the numerous winter offerings from West Coast breweries. The dark, rich malts and the spices many brewers use in their winter releases create deep, complex flavors. Here are three notable winter beers and a few words from the brewmasters behind them.
iStock_000028601796XXLarge
Gordon Biersch: WinterBock

Winterbock_BottleWinter beers are often associated with the modern craft brewing revolution, but they actually originated centuries ago. Gordon Biersch WinterBock was inspired by the monastery breweries in Munich that developed the beer in the 11th century as a way to stay โ€œhappyโ€ during lent. Dan Gordon, Brewmaster at Gordon Biersch discovered this style in 1980 when he was an exchange student in Germany. A few years later, he returned to Germany to spend four years at the Technical University of Munichโ€™s brewing program learning traditional German brewing techniques he would bring back to the United State to co-found the Gordon Biersch brewpub in Palo Alto in 1988.

โ€œWe first brewed WinterBock at the Palo Alto brewpub in 1992,โ€ recalls Gordon. โ€œIt was a style we were required to master when studying brewing engineering in Munich.โ€ WinterBock is a dark, strong bock beer with Munich malt, pilsner malt, dark roasted caramel malt, and black malt with very little hop presence. โ€œThis is a rich malty beer,โ€ explains Gordon. โ€œThe sign of a great brewed double bock is a big rich malty flavor without any burnt or stringent aftertaste. It is very difficult to get this flavor and black color using dark roasted malts and not have a burnt or coffee aftertaste. A great double bock should have a white creamy head, never brown and never a burnt taste to it.โ€

Despite the rich malty smoothness, WinterBock registers 7.5% alcohol by volume, which Gordon warns โ€œsneaks up on you.โ€

21st Amendment: Fireside Chat
Fireside-Chat-3d-CanBack in the 1930โ€™s, President Franklin D. Roosevelt would issue his โ€œFireside Chatsโ€ on the radio to rally the country during the Depression. They quickly became popular since it was the first time the President spoke directly to the people. In a similar fashion, Fireside Chat is 21st Amendmentโ€™s twist on the traditional winter beer.

โ€œLike all of our beer, it originated out of our brewpub in San Francisco in 2002,โ€ describes 21st Amendmentโ€™s Co-Founder and Brewmaster Shaun Oโ€™Sullivan. โ€œOur brewpub is like a laboratory for all of our beers. Back in the day, we brewed an English style warmer and called it Holiday Spiced Ale. I would go the nearby Rainbow Grocery, to find spices to add to the beer.โ€ 21st Amendment renamed the beer Fireside Chat and packaged it in cans with quirky artwork showing FDR cheerfully chatting away with a holiday elf.

As for the beer itself, Fireside Chat changes each year with Oโ€™ Sullivan tweaking the recipe with different malt and spice additions. โ€œI donโ€™t like to use too much nutmeg. It can easily overpower the beer,โ€ explains Oโ€™ Sullivan of the process. โ€œOne thing we use every year is Ghanaian cocoa nibbs from San Franciscoโ€™s Tcho Chocolate.โ€ In this yearโ€™s version, the dark roasted malts and spice combine to give the brew a savory character, with a noticeable bitter chocolate finish from the Ghanaian cocoa nibs. As for what spices are in this yearโ€™s version, thatโ€™s a secret, but Oโ€™ Sullivan was willing to give a hint. โ€œIf you smell it, youโ€™ll detect cinnamon and nutmeg and a few other spices.โ€

Ninkasi Brewing: Sleighโ€™r
12oz-Bottle-Seasonal-SleighrAn homage to the thrash metal band Slayer, known for songs about pain, death, and carnage, is an unlikely inspiration for a Christmas themed-ale, but thatโ€™s the way Ninkasi does things. โ€œWe have always loved beer and music and named beers after music references,โ€ says Ninkasi co-founder and Brewmaster Jamie Floyd. โ€œTroy Potter, one of our oldest employees came up with the name but we changed it to reflect the Sleigh part and we love Santa sporting the devil horns.โ€

In 2007, Ninkasi released Believer Double Red as its Winter Seasonal and it became so popular they kept it flowing year-round. The same thing happened the next year in 2008 when they released Oatis Oatmeal Stout as their Winter Seasonal and, due to its popularity, also moved it into their yearly line-up. โ€œIn 2009, we decided we wanted a Winter Seasonal that remained a seasonal,โ€ recalls Floyd. โ€œWe wanted to do a really malty, rich beer with the crisp fermentation from an Alt style yeast, and Sleighโ€™r was born.โ€

With Sleighโ€™r, Ninkasi Brewmaster Jamie Floyd took a traditional German Alt and โ€œImperializedโ€ it with extra malt additions. Anย  Alt is a dark ale fermented in colder temperatures to give it crisp lager-like flavor than traditional dark ales. โ€œThe motivation for creating Sleighโ€™r was to make a beer that was different than other Northwest winter beers that feature big hop profiles and rich caramel flavor,โ€ explains Jamie Floyd. โ€œThis beer has rich toasted malt flavor with hints of vanilla, roast and toffee with a creamy mouth feel that finishes with lager-like crispness from the cooler fermentation of an Alt yeast.โ€

—————————————————————————————————————

Have a favorite winter beer besides these three?ย  Email us at asjstaff@adventuresportsjournal.com for consideration for future beer editorial.ย 

IMG_1859 01-F02A1321