Photo by Jordan Palmer
As the days grow shorter and nights get colder, the bite in the air invites us to turn from the lighter, maltier beers of fall to the bigger, richer beers designed for winter and to be sipped by the fire. Winter beers, or “winter warmers” as they are often called, tend to be higher in alcohol, bigger in body, and fuller in flavor. You will find several beer styles falling into this category, notably stouts, porters, brown ales (and keep an eye out for such keywords as “imperial” or “bourbon barrel-aged”). All are keywords to describe these seasonal brews. While the following are what you might call traditional styles of winter beers, there really are no right or wrong beers at any time. Have fun exploring, and when you find a beer that feels right, stick with it. You may find the flavors sometimes even change year to year.
Stouts
Among the most popular styles of beer in the world, stouts are known for their rich darkness and a roasty flavor. They're brewed using roasted malts, barley, hops, water, and yeast. What happens to these ingredients during the roasting process is what gives stouts their dark, rich hue. There are multitudes of style off-sets to please any palate, and most vary based on the ingredients. Among the most popular styles are dry, milk, oatmeal, coffee, chocolate, vanilla, and stouts aged in bourbon barrels. Stouts tend to be on the higher end of alcohol content. The ABV will tend to range from 6–15 percent. St. Louis area breweries are embracing this style, and Each winter, we are rewarded with the return of old favorites and new beers as well. Here are five other noteworthy stouts from St. Louis breweries.
Side Project Brewing's Beer: Barrel: Time 2020: Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine recently named this 15 percent ABV brew among the 20 best beers of 2020. On its project, the Maplewood brewery notes, “We believe BBT 2020 showcases the rich chocolate and sweet coconut notes of this massive style while also providing the needed roundness and integration of the bourbon barrel and oak vanilla characteristics to produce a rich and luxurious experience.” Finding it may be the issue, as most of Side Project’s stouts sell out fast. Get acquainted with their Instagram page to keep up to date with new releases.
Perennial Artisan Ales' Abraxas: The barrel-aged brew is an Imperial stout with ancho chili peppers, cacao nibs, vanilla beans, and cinnamon sticks aged in whiskey barrels. It’s a big beer at 14.5 percent ABV. This beer is released in November and includes variants on the original beer. This year's variants included Abraxas Coffee and Abraxas Vanilla.
4 Hands Brewing Co.'s Absence of Light Peanut Butter Chocolate Milk Stout: Pairing 4 Hands’ Chocolate Milk Stout with peanut butter resulted in one of the most popular beers in St. Louis. “It’s like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup in a glass,” director of operations Martin Toft says of the 7.1 percent ABV beer.
Schlafly Beer's Coffee Stout: Now available in 12-packs of 16-ounce cans, this 5.7 percent ABV stout combines a traditional English-style stout with French roast beans from Kaldi’s before blending it to create a smooth, slightly sweet beer with notes of roasted barley, chocolate, and coffee.
O'Fallon Brewery's Dad's Oatmeal Cookie Stout: If you've ever eaten a Dad's Oatmeal Cookie, then you'll love this beer. It's a fun stout, and the 5.9 percent ABV makes it a bit more approachable. You'll get exactly what you expect here: hints of chocolate, cinnamon, caramel, oat, raisin, and vanilla. It really is like a cookie in a glass.
Porters
Like a stout, porters tend to skew dark, almost brown flirting with black in opacity. They present a more chocolate, roasty character and can exhibit more pronounced bitterness. Unlike stouts, porters are usually on the lighter side in terms of ABV, between 4 and 6 percent, though you can find some over 10 percent.
Courtesy Charleville
Charleville Brewing's Whiskey Scented Santa: This imperial porter is a biggy at 10.5 percent ABV, so take your time. The beer is aged with whiskey-infused oak stave or chips inside stainless-steel tanks, which allows for more beer to be produced. You'll get big bourbon flavor and hints of raisins, figs, dates, and chocolate.
Third Wheel Brewing's Saint Peters' Porter with Coffee: As the weather began to cool, Third Wheel released a coffee variant. Head brewer Abbey Spencer uses the Saint Peters’ Porter as the base and then cold steeps freshly ground coffee from La Cosecha Coffee Roasters for the finished, 6.8 percent ABV beer.
Petrichor Brewing's Vanilla Porter: Similar to stouts, vanilla is a popular ingredient. Petrichor Brewery takes its base porter, aged on vanilla beans. This vanilla porter stands out because of its balance with the hints of coffee and cocoa already present in the original. Nothing is lost for this 5.6 percent ABV brew.
Rockwell Beer's Moonbase: Similar to stouts, porters tend to be full-bodied and a bit creamy. You'll notice these characteristics during your first sip of Moonbase, along with subtle tastes of coffee and cocoa. For porter newbies, this 6.6 percent ABV brew is a nice introduction.
Old Bakery Beer's Porter: A take on the classic English-style porter, brewed exclusively with organic American malts and hops, this 5.6 percent ABV porter offers notes of chocolate, nuts, and a pleasant roast flavor.
Brown Ales
There is more of a difference between brown ale and porter than stout and porter. Brown ales should be sweeter and not have much of a roasted malt flavor. Flavor-wise, brown ales are nutty leaning toward chocolate. It’s all about the number of roasted malts used and where the flavor profile lands in that spectrum of malty-nutty-chocolaty-roasty.
Civil Life's American Brown: For many St. Louis beer lovers, the 4.8% percent ABV American Brown has become a local staple. Among the first brews created by the Civil Life team, this beer is smooth and explodes with notes of malt, toast, and a tad of citrus.
Heavy Riff Brewing's Vanilla Coffee Underbrown: This 6.5% percent ABV beer has a rich, chocolaty base and sweetness that's accompanied by a soft roast character from the coffee and a smooth vanilla finish. Originally a one-time variant of the Velvet Underbrown, Vanilla Coffee Underbrown has become Heavy Riff’s most highly acclaimed beer.
Modern Brewery's Clandestine: Out of the tap, this fantastic 6.7 percent ABV Belgian-style brew pours a rich brown with a nice head. On the tongue, you'll get nice coffee hints and a bit of caramel.
Ferguson Brewing's Pecan Brown Ale: Brewed with seven different malts, this 5.5 percent ABV beer is dark brown with a tan head. You'll find pecans on the nose and on the first taste, though they drop off nicely so not to overpower the beer and has a nice, nutty, roasty, sweet finish.
2nd Shift Brewing's Bruce's Best Brown: One of the finer brown ales, this approachable 4.3 percent ABV beer is brewed with English malts and offers hints of caramel and even chocolate mixed in. It stands out, though, due to its bitterness—nothing too overwhelming, just a pleasant kick.
Jordan Palmer worked as a producer at KSDK from 1995 to 2020 and runs a local blog that focuses on the responsible-drinking community of St. Louis, Drink314.
