2024 is here. Hopefully, it’ll be a year of new opportunities, new adventures, and new beer (along with some old favorites). What better time to start on the latter than right now? January is a tremendous month for beer fans with a slew of darker beers and classic, crisp, hoppy favorites. The first month of the year has something for every palate.
And even though much of the Northern Hemisphere is in the early grasp of wintery conditions, that doesn’t mean January beer is all dark and malty. It’s a great month to mix in wheat beer, pilsner, or IPA with winter warmers, stouts, and barleywines.
To help you begin your 2024 beer journey on the right foot, we did the initial work for you. Below, you’ll find eight of the best beers to track down this month. Some are new limited-edition releases and others are annual favorites. All are great for properly ringing in the New Year all month long. Keep scrolling to see them all.
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Clown Shoes Galactica: Dank Nebula
ABV: 7.2%
Average Price: $14 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
Proving that winter is just as much of a time for dank IPAs as summer, Clown Shoes Galactic: Dank Debula is a winter banger brewed in the West Coast IPA style with Simcoe, Columbus, and Galaxy hops. It has a nice caramel malt base and gets added resinous flavor and aroma from Dank & Stormy Hopzoil (concentrated hop oil).
Tasting Notes:
While this IPA has notable dank, floral pine aromas you’d expect from a classic West Coast-style IPA, its nose also carries a ton of bready malts and butterscotch. The palate is a nice mix of caramel malts, fresh bread, candied orange peels, lime, pineapple, and a ton of dank pine needles. The finish is dry and pleasantly bitter.
Bottom Line:
This piney and sublimely dank IPA is the perfect respite for the usual dark malty beers of winter.
Avery Latte On My Mind
ABV: 6.5%
Average Price: $14 for a six-pack
The Beer:
As we head into a new year, you probably have a lot on your mind. So do the folks at Colorado’s Avery Brewing. They have a “latte” on their minds with their winter favorite Avery Latte On My Mind. This coffee stout gets its unique flavor from real espresso beans and sugar.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is all fresh coffee, roasted malts, and toasted vanilla beans. The palate adds to this with dark chocolate, roasted barley, toasted vanilla beans, caramel, and a nice backbone of bold espresso beans. The finish is a mix of chocolate sweetness and coffee bitterness that leaves you craving more.
Bottom Line:
Not only is this a great warming stout for winter, but it will also give you a pick-me-up during the seemingly sunless days of January.
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Ale
ABV: 9.6%
Average Price: $15 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Ale is one of the most sought-after winter beers for a reason. This annual barleywine is known for its complex body and flavor thanks to the use of Caramel and Two-Row Pale malts as well as ale yeast alongside Cascade, Centennial, and Chinook hops.
Tasting Notes:
There are notes of candied orange peels, caramel malts, raisins, and a nice kick of piney hops on the nose. For a barleywine, it’s a very intriguing start. Drinking it reveals freshly baked bread, caramel, roasted malts, wintery spices, dried fruits, molasses candy, and some floral, piney hops. The finish is warming, boozy, and memorable.
Bottom Line:
This is a barleywine for drinkers unsure if they’ll enjoy barleywine. It’s a barleywine for IPA drinkers.
Brooklyn Winter IPA
ABV: 7%
Average Price: $11 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Also referred to as the “Sledder’s Choice IPA”, Brooklyn Winter IPA is a red IPA brewed with Simcoe and Trident hops. It’s known for its bold and complex flavor profile thanks to the addition of spicy rye. This gives it a little extra warmth on the coldest winter nights.
Tasting Notes:
For an IPA, there’s a nice malt presence on the nose. There’s a good deal of caramel and roasted malts as well as dried fruits, orange peels, and pine needles. The palate is loaded with orange zest, raisins, cranberries, caramel malts, rye spice, and pine. The finish is spicy and warm.
Bottom Line:
This is a warming, spicy, and unique take on the winter IPA. It belongs in your fridge until the spring thaw.
Three Sheeps Lightweight
ABV: 5.5%
Average Price: $12 for a six-pack
The Beer:
You might not automatically think about wheat beers when you imagine January’s beer offerings (though you should, it’s a year-round style). But one sip of Three Sheeps Lightweight, a complex, roasty black wheat ale will change that. It’s bold, dark, and loaded with roasted malts, but somehow crisp and refreshing as well.
Tasting Notes:
Aromas of roasted malts, chocolate, gentle smoke, and wheat make for a very inviting nose. The palate continues this trend with notes of dark chocolate, roasted malts, funky wheat, and light piney hops. The finish is smooth, sweet, and lightly bitter. Overall, it’s surprisingly light and drinkable.
Bottom Line:
This is a very interesting beer in the best way possible. It’s a roasty, dark, lightly tangy wheat beer that manages to both be complex and light and refreshing.
Allagash Brewing Snow Report
ABV: 8.6%
Average Price: $15 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
This seasonal saison is brewed with raw white wheat, pale and special blend malts, with Hallertau and Saaz hops. It gets its unique flavor from the addition of Swan’s Wildflower Honey. It’s known for its mix of fruity flavors and honey sweetness.
Tasting Notes:
Fruit esters, funky Belgian yeast, winter spices, and sweet honey begin everything right on the nose. Sipping it brings forth notes of freshly baked bread, funky yeast, orchard fruits, caramel malts, fruit esters, and sweet honey. The finish is a nice mix of yeast, fruit, and honey, and just a hint of bitterness.
Bottom Line:
Allagash wants you to know that you don’t have to only drink saisons in the summer. Snow Report is proof of that.
Anderson Valley Winter Solstice Ale
ABV: 6.9%
Average Price: $12 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Why not start January with a classic winter warmer? Anderson Valley Winter Solstice is one of our favorites. Brewed with Pale two-row, Crystal (40L and 80L), and Munich malts as well as oat flakes, house yeast, and Northern Brewer and Chinook hops, it’s known for its mix of caramel sweetness and warming winter spices.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find scents of raisins, figs, and other dried fruits as well as light spices, bready malts, and sweet caramel. The palate is all molasses candy, dried fruits, toasted malts, butterscotch, light spices, honey, and oatmeal cookies. The finish is dry with a mix of caramel and cinnamon sugar.
Bottom Line:
If you’re looking to start the New Year with a warming winter beer, you can do much worse than Anderson Valley Winter Solstice.
Victory Koffee Kake Ale
ABV: 6%
Average Price: Limited Availability
The Beer:
While a well-made coffee is great, it’s elevated to new heights when you pair it with a delicious coffee cake. Victory decided that wasn’t good enough and paired that with TastyKake to make a coffee cake beer. The result is a 6% ABV ale that tastes like a coffee cake with flavors like cinnamon sugar, vanilla, and pound cake.
Tasting Notes:
Complex aromas of cinnamon sugar, vanilla beans, caramel, and brown sugar greet you before your first sip. It really does smell like you simply opened the box to a freshly made coffee cake. The palate only adds to this with a ton of cinnamon, butterscotch, toasted vanilla beans, brown sugar, dried fruits, and other spices. It’s sweet and indulgent.
Bottom Line:
While coffee cake is a popular breakfast food, this beer is most suitable as a dessert beer. We’d even suggest pairing it with a bowl of vanilla bean ice cream.