The 12 beers of Christmas: Silent nights and Great Divide

20 Sunday Dec 2015

Posted by totalwineandmore in Beer, Cider

Tags

Hibernation Ale, Lagunitas Brown Shugga', Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome Ale, Shiner Cheer, Widmer Brrr, Winter Ale, Winter Beer, Woodchuck Winter Chill Cider

Between applying the final tinsel to the tree and tracking down last-minute gifts, you deserve a little down time, and definitely an ale or two. Today, we’re wrapping up Total Wine & More’s “12 Beers of Christmas” series by sharing our final six selections.

If you missed Part I in this series, click here to see our first six selections.

Photo credit: Great Divide Brewing Co.

Great Divide Brewing Co. of Denver, Colorado, has received a lot of attention, and for good reason. With over a dozen Great American Beer Festival medals to the brewery’s name, it’s no surprise that Great Divide’s Hibernation Ale scored a 94-point rating from Draft Magazine. An English-style Old Ale, it has a malty richness that’s balanced by a complex hop profile. It’s a great beer that’s even better on a cold, winter evening.

It’s no surprise that Shiner Holiday Cheer holds a place in the hearts of our Texas staff. A Dunkelweizen, it offers hints of Texas peaches and pecans as well as caramelized malts, which makes it a crowd favorite at a holiday get-together.

Nearly 2,000 miles away in Petaluma, California, Lagunitas Brewing Co. cooked up a mistake that’s become a fan favorite. Brown Shugga’ began as a happy accident, a result of the brewery attempting to save a batch of their Olde GnarlyWine by mixing in copious amounts of brown sugar. Incredibly drinkable, Brown Shugga’ is true to its name to the very last drop with a caramel malt flavor accompanied by notes of dark fruit, toffee and, of course, brown sugar.

For our next selection, we’re traveling across the Atlantic to the United Kingdom. In addition to its festive, vintage-inspired label, Samuel Smith’s Winter Welcome Ale holds a Gold medal from the World Beer Championships and offers a lovely caramel malt flavor that will have you singing “’Tis the season” in no time.

Woodchuck Winter Chill Cider is a winter warmer of a decidedly different, but delightful and seasonally appropriate stripe. Aged in French and American oak barrels, it offers a rich apple flavor with hints of vanilla and oak.

Photo credit: Widmer Brothers Brewing Co.

For our final beer, we’re heading to a place that’s celebrated for its craft beer scene. Portland, Oregon, is home to many fine breweries, including Widmer Brothers Brewing Co., which helped popularize the Hefeweizen beer style in America in the late 1980s. Widmer Brrr Seasonal Ale is a bold and hoppy Red Ale with caramel and chocolate malts that produce a malty sweet flavor and smooth finish. It’s a beer deserving of a carol or two.

Take a break from decking the halls to deck out your beer fridge! Shop our winter beer selection in-store or online.

What did the Pilgrims drink?

20 Friday Nov 2015

Posted by totalwineandmore in Beer, Cider, Thanksgiving

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Cider, Pilgrims, Pumpkin beer

Only two contemporary accounts of the first Thanksgiving dinner in 1621 are known to exist. They describe the wild turkey bagged by the Pilgrims and the venison brought by members of the Wampanoag tribe. But neither answers the critical question: What did the Pilgrims drink?

There was no California Pinot Noir for the first revelers – there wasn’t even a California. Yet despite their Puritanical inclinations, the Pilgrims certainly would have been interested in having alcoholic beverages on hand. In the early 17^th century, potable water was hard to come by. Beer, cider and spirits, with alcohol levels that kept bacteria at bay, were safe choices.

Pilgrims packing for the journey on the Mayflower, which would last 66 days, had been urged to bring provisions including beer, cider and “aqua-vitae,” or distilled spirits. It’s hard to imagine those kegs and bottles weren’t drained by the long trip, the grueling winter and the busy spring and summer setting up the Plymouth Colony.

So historians assume the Pilgrims got to work brewing fresh beer. Early crops of barley, a critical ingredient in the standard recipe, did not thrive. But the settlers “were a resourceful lot and would have found ways to make fermented drinks from whatever they had available from the land,” notes Rob Hill, a Certified Cicerone™ and author of the Total Wine & More “Guide to Beer.” Happily, native pumpkin – perhaps known to the settlers as pompion – was available in abundance. Pumpkins are filled with fermentable sugars, so for Pilgrims pumpkin was not a flavoring (as it is in most modern pumpkin ales) but a substitute for malts in the brewing process.

Also growing wild around the Cape Cod settlement: apples. Cider had been a popular drink in Europe for centuries by the time the Pilgrims pushed off for North America, so they knew just what to do with the crab apples they found. Apples could be pressed into fresh juice, which could be made into hard cider. (Later, they found a way to further distill cider into the spirit applejack.)

It turns out the Pilgrims were quite the trendsetters – their table included beers and ciders that, almost 400 years later, are modern seasonal favorites. A pumpkin beer has the perfect autumn flavors to complement Thanksgiving dinner. And the refreshing effervescence and acidity of dry hard cider means it’s still a great choice to accompany a rich Thanksgiving meal.

The pilgrims didn’t have cranberry sauce (sugar was a scarce commodity) and they didn’t have pie (wheat flour, for crust, would come later), but it’s likely they enjoyed beer and cider at their first Thanksgiving. Visit Total Wine & More to find pumpkin beers and ciders that’ll add a bit of history to your 2015 feast.

Here’s to a very happy Friendsgiving

13 Friday Nov 2015

Posted by totalwineandmore in Cider, Cocktails, Gin, Thanksgiving, Whiskey

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Friendsgiving, Punch, Recipes

The good news: Thanksgiving now comes twice a year. The bad news: Your favorite pants only have so much elasticity. Although the main event may still be 12 days away, this Thursday you can mark a new tradition—Friendsgiving. This faux holiday is an occasion for close friends to get together and mark the start of the holiday season before departing for their respective family homes. Like Thanksgiving, it involves two of Total Wine & More’s very favorite things—food and drink. To get you into the Friendsgiving sprit, we share some go-to punch recipes that are perfect for parties of all sizes.

It doesn’t get more seasonal than cider. Thanks to its sweet and refreshing apple flavor, cider is a nice complement to just about anything your friends cook up. Chilled Cider Punch, courtesy of Saveur, is a great idea for pre-dinner drinks and like the very best recipes, it’s easy to make.

Photo credit: Saveur Magazine

Chilled Cider Punch (Serves 15-20)

8 cups apple cider
1 750-ml bottle dry hard cider
3 12-oz. bottles ginger beer
1½ cups Irish whiskey
Juice of one lemon
Several dashes orange bitters
Sliced oranges, for garnish
Cinnamon sticks, for garnish

Combine the ciders, ginger beer, whiskey, lemon juice and bitters in a punch bowl. Stir. Top with orange slices and cinnamon sticks. Serve over ice and enjoy!

Gin may be a polarizing spirit, but could you think of a better time to enjoy a spirit that’s known for its “piney” profile than the start of the holiday season? Food & Wine’s Mother’s Ruin, which is aptly titled given the obstacles matriarchs face this month – from cooking a 20-pound turkey to keeping the familial peace – will convert even gin’s biggest critics.

Photo credit: Food and Wine

Mother’s Ruin Punch (Serves 8)

½ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup chilled club soda
1½ cups gin
1½ cups fresh grapefruit juice
¾ cup fresh lemon juice
¾ cup sweet vermouth
2¼ cups chilled Champagne or sparkling wine
3 sliced grapefruit wheels, for garnish

Add sugar and club soda to a large pitcher and stir until sugar is dissolved. Stir in gin, grapefruit and lemon juices and sweet vermouth and refrigerate until chilled, approximately 1 hour.

Pour punch into a large bowl. Slowly stir in Champagne and add grapefruit wheels on top of the punch. Toast to your mother’s formidable spirit and enjoy.

When it comes to food and drink, there are few as passionate as author, TV host and foodie extraordinaire Alton Brown. That’s why we follow his lead when it comes to whipping up one of our favorite winter drinks, the beloved Hot Toddy.

Hot Toddy (Serves 13)

1 lemon, sliced
½ cup natural brown sugar
4 cups water
2½ cups Scotch whisky
Nutmeg, freshly grated

Combine the lemon, sugar and water in a 2- to 3-quart slow cooker set on high. Cover and heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves completely, for 20 to 30 minutes.

Stir in the Scotch. Set the slow cooker to low, serve with lemon slice and nutmeg and return for seconds.

While we may be fresh out of nutmeg, Total Wine & More has all the spirits and mixers you need to help make these recipes a reality – and make you a Friendsgiving legend. Stop by our stores to stock up for our favorite new holiday or shop online.

Hard Cider’s Second Act

04 Wednesday Nov 2015

Posted by totalwineandmore in Cider

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Ace Cider, Crispin Cider, Samuel Smith, Woodchuck Cider

Over the past few years, hard cider—a colonial favorite and beverage of choice for our Founding Fathers—has skyrocketed in popularity. In 2014, hard cider sales reached 54 million gallons, making it the country’s fastest-growing alcoholic beverage. At Total Wine & More, we’ve been known to toast with a hard cider or two, and you’ll find our shelves are stocked with some of the world’s best ciders.

Woodchuck may be a “macro-cider” by industry standards, but that doesn’t make its Amber Draft Cider any less delicious. Slightly sweet, it’s fermented with champagne yeast, which helps maintain the big red-apple flavors. If you’re looking to really get into the spirit of the season, try Woodchuck’s Fall Harvest, which boasts flavors of nutmeg, cinnamon and a hint of American white oak.

In addition to the traditional apple ciders, we carry a variety of flavors from pear and raspberry to pineapple and apricot. The offerings from California’s Ace Ciders are sure to satisfy anyone’s taste buds. Ace Perry Cider, which has won numerous accolades, sets the standard in the pear category. Ace Pumpkin Cider and Ace Pineapple Cider have likewise attracted their fair share of attention, the former offering a taste akin to pumpkin pie.

Across the pond, Europe has been producing hard cider for centuries, with Britain’s cider history stretching as far back as a thousand years. With so much time to perfect their craft, it’s no surprise that English cider producers are doing a remarkable job. From Crispin to Samuel Smith, you’ll discover great ciders that balance the dry and the sweet.

Even if you live somewhere that may not provide the chance to wear many cozy sweaters, you can still get into the spirit of the season stopping by Total Wine & More’s local stores to stock up on some delicious hard cider.

Total Wine & More

~ Our blog for all things wine, beer, spirits, cigars … and more!

Category Archives: Cider

The 12 beers of Christmas: Silent nights and Great Divide

What did the Pilgrims drink?

Here’s to a very happy Friendsgiving

Hard Cider’s Second Act