The following ten beers are recommended based on style, activities/meals typically enjoyed in the Winter and national distribution availability. Drinking a beer for winter 2022 is a great way to warm up or take it easy.
It seems easy to look forward to a new start and new year beginning in 2022, due to how challenging 2021 has been. I prefer to take a peek back at 12/31/20 and wondering if fans would be allowed at sporting events. After several FaceTime calls with family members and friends, I was motivated for 2021 to be better than 2020. Little did I know that the Buccaneers were trending up, the Braves would roll to a World Series championship, and the 2020 Summer Olympics would be held a year late. College football had an incredible season in 2021 with an exciting CFP starting on 12/31/21. NBA and NHL are still dealing with Covid-19 outbreaks due to the Omicron variant. 2022 has to be one step closer to a new normal if at all possible.
Impact of COVID-19
2021 was a little easier to find and purchase good craft beer when compared to 2020. It was still a strange market to try to navigate as a consumer. All beer geeks could do was try to find new beers as long as it was safe and healthy to do so, and the price of beer was somewhat affordable. I’ve adapted to the new beer market over the past twenty-two months. I have a completely different perspective on how to kickoff 2022 with a beer in hand and being thankful for a new year that has to be improved when compared to 2021.
Beer for Winter 2022 Listing
#1 Celestial Beerworks (Dallas, TX) Kaleidoscope DIPA
Hazy IPAs are alive and well heading into 2022. Hazy DIPAs made a small comeback during the second half of 2021 and seem to be the current trend for fresh releases across the country. Celestial Beerworks celebrated their third anniversary in October 2021 and is a must stop for any beer geeks passing through the Dallas, TX metro area. Great use of Galaxy, Vic Secret and Rakau hops to create a tangerine smoothie with a soft pillowy finish. Skip on taking a trip to Orange Julius on New Years Day morning and crack open this hazy DIPA to welcome 2022. Celestial Beerworks also brews top notch sours at their laid back taproom.
#2 Guinness (Saint James’ Gate, Leinster Ireland) Guinness Draught
The most popular New Year’s resolution is to vow to get more exercise and lose weight. An easier beer drinking resolution is to vow to drink more full flavored beer over lagers. Fastest and easiest way to do that is to try the most popular beer in the world, Guinness Draught. Hard to argue with a stout that clocks in at 4.2% ABV, starts with a smooth light head and then transitions to a velvet sip that leads to the bittersweet reward. Throw in the facts that Guinness has a significant amount of folate and unmalted barley. Not to mention it is only 125 calories per pint. Your body will thank you for making more needed DNA from the folate and drinking more fiber from barley than typical malted grain. One word perfectly describes a can of Guinness Draught….brilliant!
#3 Untitled Art (Waunakee, WI) Double Blueberry Sour
Sours continue to evolve in the craft beer market on an almost daily basis. Acidity, fruit profiles and natural fermentation methods continue to push the envelope of what can be done with sour beers. I’m not mentioning the trendy sour smoothie style that has taken 2021 by storm, because I’m just not a fan yet. Untitled Art’s beer portfolio focuses on IPAs, sours and pastry stouts with new versions being released every month. Double Blueberry Sour tastes like a liquified blueberry pie minus the crust. Smooth, fruity and tart. Exactly the way a sour should taste for beer geeks who crave pure fruit.
#4 Huyghe Brewery (Melle, Vlaanderen Belgium) Delirium Red
Won the Belgium gold medal at the World Beer Awards 2021 in the United Kingdom. Distributed throughout the USA and in 7-8 variants, focus on the red elephant bottle/can that holds the desert beer recipe. Not only does Belgium have a world class men’s soccer team, they also make a lot of kick-ass beers as well.
This dark red ale sneaks up on you at 8.0% ABV, but can be a great night cap if you like the taste of mild sour cherries and subtle almond notes. Every beer geek group always has at least one person who likes Belgian beers. Delirium Red will check that person’s box at your next gathering.
#5 Bell’s Brewery (Comstock, MI) Lager of the Lakes
Lagers and pilsners made a big comeback popularity wise in 2020 due to focusing on simpler beer recipes. 2021 saw pilsners get moved to the sideline to make room for the sour smoothie style. Nothing beats drinking several pilsners during the big bowl games on 1/1/22 and enjoying your favorite chips and dips. Bell’s Brewery is famous for Two Hearted Ale and Hopslam. They show good finesse in brewing the Bohemian Style Pilsner called Lager of the Lakes. Bitter, crisp and herbal hops is an accurate description of this beer from first to last swig and is extremely crushable at 5.0% ABV. Beer geeks can and will drink a crap ton of these while watching sporting events.
#6 Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. (Chico, CA) – Celebration Fresh Hop IPA 2021
Ken Grossman is one of the craft brewing pioneers, as the founder of Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in 1978. The other two pioneers are Sam Calagione at Dogfish Head, and co-founders Kim Jordan and Jeff Lebesch at New Belgium Brewing Company. I can only dream of having a happy hour with those four industry leaders that opened the entire country to craft beer. Celebration Fresh Hop IPA 2021 is a reminder that red IPAs can still hold their own flavor profile compared to hazy and west coast IPAs. Fresh Cascade, Centennial and Chinook hops create an IPA that welcomes you to winter like a wool sweater and says “stay awhile” until you’re warm and ready to deal with the cold weather.
#7 Fair Isle Brewing (Seattle, WA) – Eugene (Batch 2)
Fair Isle Brewing opened their doors in January 2020 in the craft beer heavy Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, WA. Focusing on farmhouse ales and saisons only, Fair Isle has had a remarkable two year run due to using local ingredients and producing complex beers. Eugene (Batch 2) tries to play a trick on your palette by using Mosaic and Nelson Sauvin hops, to create a farmhouse ale with no funk, but a ton of hops aroma and flavor. Is it a farmhouse ale, an IPA, or a hybrid? Any time a beer makes me think about new hybrid brewing styles and being creative at the same time, that’s a sign to pay attention to that brewery. Fair Isle is worth researching and tasting during 2022.
#8 American Solera (Tulsa, OK) – Handsome Brothers Session IPA
I sometimes miss the craft beer market before hazy IPAs took over nationally, due to seasonal beer releases. Winter was dominated with porters and stouts. Spring was a mixture of pale ales and IPAs. Summer would highlight shandys and lagers. Lastly, fall would be pumpkin beers and winter warmers. Session IPAs looked like they might make a trendy entrance to the beer market in Spring 2013. And then they disappeared quicker than a 1990s Top 40 pop music hit. That disappearing act could have been due to buyer trends of DIPAs and triple IPAs, or the slow growth of sours. There’s a handful of session IPAs in the market now, but they are very hard to find.
American Solera is located in Tulsa, OK and they have a large portfolio of beers. Heavy focus on hazy DIPAs and stouts, but have started branching out to sours and seltzers. Handsome Brothers weighs in at 5.1% ABV which is considered strong for a session IPA, but the aroma, flavor and finish hit the sweet spot. Full citrus aroma transitions to a tangerine fruit salad, and a perfect cedar note finish with just a hint of cream aftertaste. Currently on a mission to buy as many cans as possible to survive the NFL playoffs in January 2022.
#9 Goose Island Beer Company (Chicago, IL) – Bourbon County Brand Stout 2021 (14%)
For those who want to kick off 2022 in a slow and deliberate way, start by lighting up a cigar, seriously consider how the SEC conference continues to dominate the CFP each season, and crack open a bottle of this stout that is consistent year after year. This bourbon barrel aged stout is simply one of the best and the 2021 batch is significantly better than the 2020 batch. It ages incredibly well for 1-5 years, if you want to lock away all memories of 2021. Best suggestion is to share a bottle of this with a loved one or cherished friend. Remember to discuss how the simple things in life are important again.
#10 Toppling Goliath (Decorah, IA) – Digital Dawn DIPA
2021 has been a bumpy year with a tendency to blend into 2020. It is simply time to kick it to the curb and move on with 2022. Digital Dawn DIPA has a busy hop profile with Nelson Sauvin, Simcoe Cryo, Mosaic, Sabro and Amarilllo being used. That hop combination shouldn’t work, but a magical mystery ride from your tongue to your stomach happens for sixteen memorable ounces. The can art causes my brain to think about the Grid in Tron and Tron:Legacy. The Tron movies were very underrated and make for great late night entertainment. Can’t wait to grab a beer in the Grid and see if my light cycle can hold up during the elimination round.
No matter what activities you decide to try or do on 1/1/22, please be safe, be healthy, take care of your families and be ready for a brand new beer for winter 2022 adventure! All of the lessons learned and applied in 2021 could make buying beer easier (no long special beer release lines), more interesting (talking to the curbside pickup reps is how you get the water cooler talk at most breweries), and most importantly the use of social media and beer geek conversations to find that special beer you want to get to make 2022 more memorable than 2021!
Check out our recommendations and usage for Growlers if any beer for winter 2022 happens to be available on tap!
Cheers and keep it classy everyday!
