Winter Drinks

[woody2846]

So as the weather turns colder what drink do you change to if at all?
I go from drinking Cider to Guinness with the occasional Doom Bar.

I also seem to enjoy red wine with dinner as opposed to a can of something wet.

[donaircooleone]

You could try a more sophisticated winter spec drink. i.e some kind of porter.

[mattdaniels]

I love Winter Pimms but it always seems a challenge to get hold of in the shops and I have to order it online. Which reminds me - must check stock levels.

[woody2846]

donaircooleone said:

You could try a more sophisticated winter spec drink. i.e some kind of porter.

Never tried a porter- will give it a go.

[Ultuous]

donaircooleone said:

You could try a more sophisticated winter spec drink. i.e some kind of porter.

Totally agree - there's some lovely Porters and Stouts around these days that go relatively unnoticed compared to the likes of Guinness and it's a huge shame!...

(By way of an example/ recommendations, I picked up the following bottles in the supermarket last week):

• London Meantime Stout (already a favourite of mine on draught in one of my local haunts)
• Fullers London Porter (never had it before and thought it was fantastic - shame I've worked late all week and have run out!!)

(I stand to be corrected by someone but AFAIK there's not really a lot of difference between a Porter and Stout - other than stouts tend to be a little stronger! )

Edited by Ultuous on Thursday 7th November 20:51

[nagsheadwarrior]

Porters were stouts housed in Port kegs or something like that i think?
They seem to be making a comeback now,my old local in Adlington always had 1 or 2 when i moved oop norf 10yrs ago,hadnt tried one before.

[Rawwr]

Cadburys Fudge hot chocolate!

Am I doing this right?

[PedroB]

Ultuous said:

• London Meantime Stout (already a favourite of mine on draught in one of my local haunts)

Ooh, where is your local haunt? I'm only interested as I work for Meantime.

[opieoilman]

I tend to drink the same stuff - mainly cider and rum, although in the winter a drop of mulled cider and less/no mixer with the rum go down well.

[Gold]

nagsheadwarrior said:

Porters were stouts housed in Port kegs or something like that i think?

Nope, just named after the London porters who used to be fueled by the stuff.

If you're sad like me there's an excellent read available here - http://zythophile.wordpress.com/2010/11/22/the-ori...

[Mobile Chicane]

I tend to ditch cider / white wine in winter in favour of red wine.

I also go for 'chai spiced' varieties of tea, and add ginger / chillies to my morning orange juice.

[PedroB]

Gold said:

nagsheadwarrior said:

Porters were stouts housed in Port kegs or something like that i think?

Nope, just named after the London porters who used to be fueled by the stuff.

If you're sad like me there's an excellent read available here - http://zythophile.wordpress.com/2010/11/22/the-ori...

I am sad, and Martyn Cornell is just about the best writer when it comes to beer history. Ron Pattinson's Blog is quite interesting and beautifully researched too: http://barclayperkins.blogspot.co.uk/

[Afanc]

mattdaniels said:

I love Winter Pimms but it always seems a challenge to get hold of in the shops and I have to order it online. Which reminds me - must check stock levels.

Waitrose generally has it in. And on offer as well...

[Arun_D]

PedroB said:

Ultuous said:

• London Meantime Stout (already a favourite of mine on draught in one of my local haunts)

Ooh, where is your local haunt? I'm only interested as I work for Meantime.

Much the same experience as Ultous here, too. Had it on draught at a bar in Brighton. Great stuff, though my fave of yours remains the London Pale Ale.

[PedroB]

Arun_D said:

PedroB said:

Ultuous said:

• London Meantime Stout (already a favourite of mine on draught in one of my local haunts)

Ooh, where is your local haunt? I'm only interested as I work for Meantime.

Much the same experience as Ultous here, too. Had it on draught at a bar in Brighton. Great stuff, though my fave of yours remains the London Pale Ale.

Ah, good stuff, the Pale Ale is my favourite too. We are making some inroads to the home counties now, generally our supply has only been inside the M25. A big expansion in the brewery last year now means we can make way more beer!

[Bill]

I tend to default to red wine or bitter unless it's particularly hot, but I am struggling to find a winter replacement for a G&T. Maybe rum/whisky and ginger beer, but they don't feel like aperitifs

[Bill]

This thread has started me thinking again and I've found this which suggests sherry

[RizzoTheRat]

Red wine, sloe gin, reasonably strong darker ales like Hobgoblin or Old Thumper.

M&S mulled wine is pretty good too.

mattdaniels said:

I love Winter Pimms but it always seems a challenge to get hold of in the shops and I have to order it online. Which reminds me - must check stock levels.

We had it at our wedding reception, which was a bit of a risk as we'd never tried it before and couldn't find it in the shops to try. I'll give waitrose a try on my way home.

[Arun_D]

PedroB said:

Ah, good stuff, the Pale Ale is my favourite too. We are making some inroads to the home counties now, generally our supply has only been inside the M25. A big expansion in the brewery last year now means we can make way more beer!

Great news thanks. The local Waitrose to me in Sussex stocks the big IPA bottles, but that's about it that I've seen locally in the stores. I only get my London Pale Ale (& London lager) fix when I'm visitng the folks in Essex.

[Cheese Mechanic]

For a big heavy stout, then Robinson's Old Tom fits the bill. Cracking stuff.

As for other winter tipples, it has to be a dram or two, a huge great ashtray of an Islay, Lagavulin , Laphroaig in my case.

Having said that, a drop or two of the better rums always go down well.