If you read my reviews you probably know that I normally review a seasonal beer in the season it is for, and I also evaluate it based upon this. There is nothing like good “summer beer” in the summer, or a warming dark beer in the winter. Given this, it may be surprising that I also enjoy drinking beers out of season – it is beer after all.

Spring and summer seasonals are difficult to come by in the winter months, so you have two choices: stock up or go with a year-round option. A lot of breweries sell white beers, light pale ales, and lighter lagers all year so these shouldn’t be too difficult to come by. The actual “only released in warm months” seasonals will probably have to be saved in the back of your fridge.

So why do I do this, and think you should too? Being able to enjoy any beer at any time is great, and I do try and not discriminate. If I’m at a bar in January and see a wheat beer that I haven’t tried before I won’t dismiss it simply because it is January. There are also times where a lighter refreshing beer is good in the winter, like when you come back from the gym, or after a long day at work. Save the warming stuff for when you come inside from shoveling snow, I probably wouldn’t be drinking a wheat beer then.

This turned into more of a PSA than I planned, but I wanted to get the message out. Don’t ignore quality beers because they don’t match the season. You may find that in some odd way a Witbier or Hefeweizen are great beers to have in the winter, if only to remind you that warmer months aren’t that far away.

Title photo from: Flickr