Remedies to Warm the Soul
Whether it’s snowboarding, ice fishing or any other wintertime activity, we usually seek some type of remedy to warm us up. My personal favorite is a nice strong beer, one that makes you feel as warm on the inside as you wish you were on the outside. In my opinion, a stout is a perfect winter beverage, but it’s also the kind of beer that polarizes people. You either love or hate them.
Stouts can be tough, I’ll give you that, but the variety they offer leaves room for even the pickiest beer drinker. Depending on your mood you can get a stout that’s as light as 5% or some that range way up to around 15%. I know that sounds hefty as hell, but one of my all-time favorite stouts is in that range and, honestly, it is one of the smoothest beers I have ever had.
I am biased toward Southern Pines. You’ll see proof of that in my list at the end. My goal here is to encourage you to try them because you might find, like I did, that a beer like Southern Pines Blonde Vanilla Latte may be in the 8% range, but it tastes like you’re drinking a coffee from your favorite local coffee shop. Dangerous, but amazing.
Similar to when we discussed fall and pumpkin beers, stouts also come in some different flavors offering hints of coffee, hazelnut, cocoa, or peppermint. I lean more toward the chocolate/coffee side of things but around the holidays, a mint stout is a wonderful option.
I realize that wandering out of your comfort zone is hard. Be it choosing a new drink or trying something new off a menu, you want to stick to your comfort choices. You want something you know you’re going to like and you know is going to bring you the feel-good sensation that you have been waiting for. But why not try something new? If you go to a tap room that offers samples, pick something you may never have thought to try before. If you’re in a bottle shop or the local gas station to pick up your normal Friday night favorite, maybe reach for a single can on top of what you normally get. Take it home, pour yourself a glass, be mindful of the flavor, and see what you think. If you feel stuck on what to pick you can try my method, much to the chagrin of most beer snobs, of just picking a can with a pretty label. It hasn’t failed me yet. Who knows, you might find yourself a new favorite. And if you hate it, well at least you tried something new, and that’s all we can ask!
Stouts that I stand behind:
- Southern Pines
- Salted Caramel Machiatto (10%)
- Blonde Vanilla Latte (8.8%)
- Drunken Vigils (14.9%)
- Booneshine
- Old Man Maple (10.7%)
- Professor (5.1%)
- Burial
- The Bedlam In A World Of Endless Nonsense
- Edmund's Oast
- Cereal After Dark (5%)
- Dragons Milk
- Salted Caramel (11%)
- Wicked Weed
- Milk and Cookies (8.7%)
- Deep River
- Collaboration w/o Representation Peanut Butter (12.8%)
