Buzz
Mulled beer, a cozy blend of beer, fruits, spices, and sweeteners, is a centuries-old holiday tradition. Petragrafie/PixabayWhile hot glühwein (mulled wine) is a favorite at Christmas markets throughout Europe, it’s not just wine enthusiasts who can savor a warm, spiced beverage.
Enter mulled beer, known as glühbier, a heated and spiced beer that has been delighting beer aficionados for hundreds of years.
Mulled beer has its origins tracing back to at least the 1640s. A 1641 pamphlet called "Warm Beer" highlighted the supposed health benefits of hot ales over cold ones, and various 19th-century books featured recipes for these rich, heated brews. This drink gained popularity across Europe, especially in England, and later in colonial America.
Brewers from the 17th to 19th centuries held this belief. During that time, mulled beer wasn’t about experimenting with flavors or seeking intoxication. (Boiling beer actually diminishes its alcoholic effects.) Instead, it was seen as a healthier option, with some taverns adding eggs or bread to provide nourishment for the working class.
By the late 1800s, hot ales fell "out of fashion," replaced by cold-served beers like German lagers. However, this traditional hot ale is making a comeback, fueled by the modern craft beer movement. During the holiday season, glühbier can be found at breweries, Christmas markets, and restaurants across the U.S. and Europe.
Many craft breweries now create their own unique versions of glühbier annually. In 2020, Portland’s Threshold Brewing and Blending introduced a traditional Polish Grzaniec, served hot and mulled, which remains available in 2021. Portland’s Imperial Bottle Shop & Taproom revived its pandemic-era pop-up GlüBar, specializing in mulled beer, wine, and cider. Additionally, Brothers Craft Brewing in Harrisonburg, Virginia, is preparing a special mulled beer for 2022—a barrel-aged Belgian dark ale infused with cherry orange zest, star anise, and clove.
Before you heat up any beer, Draft Magazine offers some tips for making mulled beer. Opt for sweeter beers and steer clear of bitter varieties, as heat amplifies bitterness while cold and carbonation help balance it. Cooking also removes carbonation. Craft Beering suggests using "flavorful ales with a strong malt backbone, such as English milds and brown ales."
Hot beer, a lesser-known holiday beverage, comes in a variety of serving styles:
- Mulled ale: a warm beer infused with sweeteners, spices, and occasionally eggs
- Aleberry: a heated beer served with pieces of bread
- Glühkriek: a Belgian twist featuring cherry Lambic as the base
For those looking to make hot beer at home, food blogger Polish Housewife shares her recipe for mulled beer (grzane piwo in Polish). Inspired by her first experience with the drink in western Poland, her version uses hefeweizen, orange juice, fruits, sweeteners, and spices, with a preparation time of about 45 minutes. This festive ale is definitely worth the effort.
Before thermometers were invented in the 1700s, brewers relied on their thumbs to check if the beer was at the right temperature for adding yeast, as noted by Home to Home Brew Beer. This method, now known as the "rule of thumb," ensured the yeast wasn’t killed by excessive heat during brewing.
