Beer drinking is widely considered warm weather activity; its natural thirst-quenching abilities extolled by brewers everywhere. Light beers, American lagers, Pilsners and wheat-based brews are great for Summer imbibing, but for those who drink beer for the sheer enjoyment of consuming malted beverages, twelve months a year are not enough.
The worldwide brewing industry produces a very wide variety of beers, many of which would not be aptly described as thirst-quenching. These palate-coating brews are thicker and richer than their lighter weight, lower alcohol counterparts. They are designed to be consumed at times when the weather is chillier and a little throat warming is appreciated.
Barleywine
Barleywine is a classic English style of old ale with a huge body and almost overwhelming malty flavor. These complex and alcoholic brews pack a one-two punch of flavor and strength. With approximately twice the strength of a European Pilsner, these potent potables are not intended for summer consumption.
The nose is pungent; an olfactory cornucopia of fruits and malt aromas, ethanol and hop bouquet. In order to properly balance the bold malty character of this style, copious amounts of hop bitterness are required. The finish is always long, complex and warming in the throat.
Trappist Dubbel, Tripel and Quadrupel
According to European Union law, a Trappist beer can only be made at one of six Trappist Abbey breweries that exist in Europe (5 in Belgium and 1 in the Netherlands).
The beers made by these Cistercian monks vary in style but they all feature high gravities, warm fermentation, top fermenting yeast and bottle conditioning. Some brewers add candy sugar to the brew during the boiling process. The high fermentation temperatures produce a full range of fruity and buttery aromas and flavors.
Some Abbeys produce ales of three graduated strengths. The dark dubbel is similar to a German bock beer, the golden colored Tripel is a stronger version of the Dubbel, and the very rare Quadrupel is the most potent.
Eisbock
Bock beer is fairly well known in the beer world. The traditional style is rather dark in color, quite malty and sports an elevated alcohol content. The style's popularity has inspired many derivations, among them, doppelbock, Maibock, helles bock, weizenbock and Eisbock.
Long before North American brewers jumped on the ice beer bandwagon, German brewers had been producing an eisbock. The method of partially freezing the beer and straining out the ice crystals leaves behind a maltier, more alcoholic product. This "revolutionary" process has been in use in Germany since the dawn of artificial refrigeration.
English Old Ale and Scotch Ale
English strong ale was the standard drinking-man's beer in the 1600's and 1700's. Because these beers were particularly robust, high hopping rates were needed to offset the cloying nature of the malt. The resulting beer had natural hop preservative resins and a high alcohol content to stave off any contamination that was likely to occur during the long aging process.
Old Ales are full bodied brews with a nutty, grainy malt character, balanced by a fair amount of hop bitterness. Vigorous fermentations give the beer a noticeable fruity-estery nose resulting in a robust, complex and slightly vinous beer overall.
Scotch ale is the Caledonian equivalent of English Old Ale. Traditionally known as a “wee heavy”, the main differences are that Scotch ales are generally darker, maltier and softer on the palate. The slightly lower hopping rates contribute to this softer, malty character.
Russian Imperial Stout
Guinness Stout is probably the standard-bearer for this style in the world but it is, more correctly, just one of the five stout styles produced around the world. The rarest among these is strongly associated with pre-Bolshevik Russia. British brewers found favor among the Czarist rulers of Russia, particularly for their brand of stout. Unfortunately, the English-made stout did not travel well to St. Petersburg and other points east. To compensate for the short shelf life of their beer, the British brewers raised the gravity and increased the hop content. This complex brew with resulting high alcohol was deeply admired by the Russian Rulers. The style has since come to be known as Russian Imperial Stout, or simply Imperial Stout.
