I’m back! I took a little break from blogging because I’ve been focusing on my study, but it gave me the time to think about beer as well. So today, let’s talk about beer per season.

I love it when people drink every beer whole year around, but I find myself not belonging to that group of people, and drinking some beers in a number of circumstances. Saisons/farmhouse ale
The name says it all, saisons were originally for a specific season, namely the summertime.

In Belgium, they made beers with a low alcoholpercentage in the wintertime, so they would be ready to drink in the summertime for the people working on the countryside. To this day, they are still not very high in alcohol and mostly pretty light, and I personally tend to drink them in the spring or summertime. They are just not meant for winter days!

Weizen:

A traditional German Weizen to me screams sunny days. It’s not that high in alcohol, has very soft tasting notes (banana!) and is super refreshing. I never drink these in the winter time and feel like it’s a beer to enjoy in the spring or summer. Most of all, I tend to pick lighter beers (colour) in the spring and summer, and darker beers in the autumn and winter, who’s with me?

Bock:

Bock beer, at least in the Netherlands, is also a seasonal beer. You have the maibock, that is paler and that people usually drink in May. Then you have a doppelbock (a strong, malty version of the original strong lager that a bock is) and an eisbock, which you can do at home to make a beer stronger and higher in alcohol. You usually only drink bock in the seasons spring (springbock/lentebock) and autumn (autumnbock/herfstbock), because it is historically associated to special occasions, like Easter and Christmas.

Stouts:

Talking about winter days, I rarely drink a stout on a summer day when I’m laying by the pool. Overall, a stout is dark and pretty high in alcohol with somewhat heavier flavours, like chocolate. I tend to stouts, especially barrel-aged ones, in the wintertime. Let’s just face it: Drinking a barrel-aged Imperial Stout by the fire on a December evening is LIFE.

Are you the kind of person who drinks every beer all year around, or does it depend on the weather or the season? Hit me up for a discussion!