Making it through winter: seasonal booze sampling

I made a pledge to not turn into a crabby old man this winter and think I’ve been doing rather well. Balanced with a lot of really good food, I’ve also been partaking in some really great beer and wine.

I’ll start out with a few favorite new lagers.

Henniger Lager was mellow and super delicious. This one comes in a pint and would actually be a great one to keep on hand in the summer. It’s not a lawnmowing beer, but definitely something you’d enjoy on a warm day (it just snowed a food when I drank this one).

A bit of history, Henninger Brewery (see the awesome tower) was a notable brewery in Frankfurt, Germany. It is now distributed by a Greek brewery called Mythos, a subsidiary of Carlsberg (another long-time favorite).

Staropramen Lager. This one takes everything you like about Pilsner Urquell and takes at a few steps further. Buy this one for your homebrewing friends who don’t have any cold-lagering equipment.

Staropramen is the second largest brewery in the Czech Republic. With socialism after the Second World War, all Czechoslovakian breweries were nationalised, including Staropramen.

Au Naturale Organic Blonde.

Okay, I saw this in the “build your own sixpack” isle, and told myself not to be tricked by bottles with naked women on it. But I bought it anyway. It was kind of alright, but in the end all that was good about it was the naked girl on the label.

This begs another question. Why can’t I find any organic beer or wine that really knocks my socks off? If you know of one, please recommend one in the comments.

Okay, on to Schell’s Snowstorm. I first had this one over at Justin’s house and have been hooked on it ever since. Schell’s is one of those brands that I find kind of underwhelming unless I find it on tap somewhere. Snowstorm doesn’t fit that pattern. Though it’s kind of sweet, I find it very drinkable and not overtly filling.

There’s a lot of winter beers that I grow tired of quickly, but this one isn’t it. It even pours nice. Tip: Serve with cookies.

On the tail of Snowstorm is Goose Island’s Mild Winter. Goose Island is another one of those that I only get excited about when I find it on tap. This one wasn’t bad, but Snowstorm is the clear winner in this winter beer tasting.

Schell’s Firebrick. You’re another one of those beers that gets drank last in the sample pack. Sorry, but that’s the best way I can put it.

I’m going to finish up this beer tasting with Bell’s Winter White. This one is kind of sweet, and I couldn’t drink more than one or two at most.

Everyone loves Bell’s. Surely a great one to buy when friends of varying tastes are coming over.

Okay, onto the wines. We’ve been drinking a ton of malbec lately, enough that I’m going to brew some of my own this spring (I’ll post about that later).

Maipe Malbec. This was a pretty fresh wine (2009) that was really good. I look forward to buying this one again.

Here’s some cool photos of the Argenenian winery where it came from.

Iluminado Malbec. Drank this one during the Winter Olympics. It kind of activated my heartburn alarm, unfortunately. Those close to me know I’m kind of sensitive to that. Wouldn’t likely buy it again, even if it was on sale.

Emiliana Natura Carmenere. This one is a 2008 and got a little more time to age than some of the other $10-ish malbecs we’ve picked up. Was decent and mellow, and I wold totally buy this one again.

Andean Ridge. I didn’t have much, but Sarah says it was really decent and she would definitely buy it again.

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Did you make any personal winter booze discoveries?

Please share.