"It's winter, time to curl up by a crackling fire with a blanket and a hot cup of cocoa. Or if you happen to be a beer lover, perhaps a glass of pitch-black, high-octane beer - peanut-butter stout, maybe, or oak-smoked doppelbock - that will warm you from the inside out. The coldest months are peak season for winter beers, a slightly amorphous category defined by production date, alcohol content and spice flavors that can resemble a mincemeat pie."
"Enjoyed hundreds of years ago in societies such as English and Norse, these tipples fell into a lag only to see a resurgence in the 1970s as "winter warmers" or "Christmas beers." They became a hit in the U.S. after San Francisco's Anchor Brewing released its Christmas ale in 1975, and today include the likes of Sierra Nevada's Celebration IPA, Allagash Brewing's Ski House and Deschutes Brewery's Jubelale."
"Thomas is a former sensory-research analyst at Firestone Walker Brewing Co. who now works at Abstrax Hops, a company that develops flavor and aroma extracts for the beverage industry. He lives in Templeton, near Paso Robles. In 2023, Thomas made beery history by earning the title of Master Cicerone from the Cicerone Certification Program. It's the fourth, and final, tier of the program; of the 150,000 people worldwide who've successfully ranked as a Cicerone, only 28 (including Thomas) have made it to this highest level."
Winter beers are seasonal, often high-alcohol, spice-forward brews that range from pitch-black peanut-butter stouts to oak-smoked doppelbocks and flavors like dark chocolate, gingerbread, or peppermint. These beers were enjoyed in English and Norse societies centuries ago and reemerged in the 1970s as 'winter warmers' or 'Christmas beers.' Anchor Brewing's 1975 Christmas ale helped popularize them in the United States. Contemporary examples include Sierra Nevada's Celebration IPA, Allagash Brewing's Ski House and Deschutes Brewery's Jubelale. Craig Thomas, a former sensory-research analyst at Firestone Walker who works at Abstrax Hops, earned the Master Cicerone title in 2023, one of only 28 people worldwide.
Read at The Mercury News
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