February might be the month of love — full of candy hearts, giant flower bouquets, and everything else that comes with Valentine’s Day — but it’s also one of the coldest months of the year. And, more to the point, one of the best months for beer drinkers. The beer lover is treated to wildly diverse beer choices in Feb, from rich, dark beers to lighter, hoppier bangers.
It’s a month for stouts, porters, barleywines, winter warmers, and everything warming, bold, rich, and robust. But with the Super Bowl and Valentines and the potential for strangely warm weather as the month winds down, it’s also a month for double IPAs, sour beers, bocks, and many of the brews that you just can’t wait ’til spring to crack open.
To help you find the best beers for February, we picked eight great new releases, annual classics, and seasonal favorites. Keep scrolling to see the beers you should be drinking all month long.
Troegs Little ‘Nator
ABV: 5.5%
Average Price: $12 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Maybe you’re a fan of Troegs’ spring seasonal bock called Troegenator but you wish it wasn’t so extra. That’s where its new Troegs Little ‘Nator comes in. This 5.5% ABV bock is a lighter alternative with all the bready, sweet, malty flavors of the original and crisp, floral, hoppy flavors perfect to enjoy while you wait for spring.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is a blend of caramel malts, freshly baked bread, honey, citrus zest, and floral, hops. The palate is a mix of caramel, yeasty bread, honey, orchard fruits, light citrus, and a nice kick of floral, earthy hops at the finish.
Bottom Line:
This sessionable beer has everything that bock beer fans love, just a little lighter. It’s a great balance of bready, caramel malts, and crisp, floral hops.
Firestone Walker Mind Haze Brain Melter
ABV: 8.5%
Average Price: $10 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Firestone Walker Mind Haze is one of the best, easy-to-find hazy, juicy IPAs on the market. Recently, the brand launched a few versions of this popular beer. Our favorite is the aptly named Brain Melter. Brewed with 2-row malt, blonde road oat malt, malted oats, white wheat, and torrefied wheat, it gets its ridiculous hop presence from Mosaic Cryo, Vic Secret, Citra, Strata, Idaho Gem, Sabro, and Rakau hops.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is a symphony of complex tropical fruit aromas including caramelized pineapple, mango, peach, guava, and a nice piney, floral kick. The palate is creamy, hazy, and juicy, and has a ton of sweet oats, bready, guava, passionfruit, pineapple, grapefruit, and floral, dank pine flavors. Sweet, juicy, and highly memorable.
Bottom Line:
This creamy, hazy, juicy, tropical fruit-centric beer is the perfect respite for the chilly winter air outside.
Melvin 2×4 DIPA
ABV: 9.9%
Average Price: $13 for a four-pack
The Beer:
Melvin 2X4 DIPA isn’t a new beer. But we figured February was a good month to highlight this double IPA because the iconic Wyoming-based brewery is releasing this popular beer in a supersized 19.2-ounce can this month. This 9.9% ABV double IPA is known for its mix of floral, citrus, and hoppy aromas and flavors.
Tasting Notes:
Yeasty bread, grapefruit, honeydew melon, caramelized pineapple, grapefruit, peach, and floral hops make for a very welcoming nose. Drinking it reveals notes of ripe pineapple, juicy, tart grapefruit, tangerine, melon, cracked black pepper, and grassy, floral, resinous hops. The finish is pleasantly dank and bitter.
Bottom Line:
This is a classic double IPA. It’s perfectly piney, dank, and bitter. You’ll drink it this month and the rest of the year.
Breckenridge Sexy Motor Oil
ABV: 13.1%
Average Price: Limited Availability
The Beer:
Breckenridge Distillery and Breckenridge Brewery collaborated to make two Sexy Motor Oil products. The distillery makes Sexy Motor Oil Whiskey, a 107-proof whiskey. The beer is a a 13.1% ABV oatmeal stout that’s matured for more than six months in Breckenridge Distillery’s high-rye bourbon.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find scents of dried cherries, oats, dark chocolate, caramelized sugar, and boozy whiskey. Sipping it brings forth warming notes of vanilla beans, dark chocolate, dried fruits, peppery rye, coffee beans, and sticky toffee. It’s sweet, indulgent, and very warming.
Bottom Line:
This beer is a borderline dessert beer. It’s a sweet, creamy oatmeal stout that gets added, boozy, complex flavor from barrel aging.
Dogfish Head Nordic Spring
ABV: 6.5%
Average Price: $14 for a six-pack
The Beer:
This 6.5% ABV beer is so much more than a hazy IPA. This annual spring seasonal from the evil geniuses at Dogfish Head is a Nordic-themed beer brewer with Norwegian Kveik yeast, wild juniper berries, orange peel, and Danko rye malt.
Tasting Notes:
Juniper pine, orange peel, allspice, yeasty bread, and floral, earthy hop aromas make for a great start to this spring beer. The palate continues this trend with a gin-like, juniper start that moves into yeasty bread, candied orange peels, cracked black peppers, and floral, earthy hops. This is a very unique, memorable beer.
Bottom Line:
If you’re a fan of the botanical, juniper-centric, citrus flavors of a well-made gin, you’ll love this spring seasonal IPA.
East Brother Baltic Porter
ABV: 8.6%
Average Price: $13 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
What could be better in the middle of winter than a classic, robust Baltic porter? Brewed German lager yeast as well as a Halcyon malt base as well as Crystal, Black, and Chocolate malt. The result rich, sweet, complex porter with a ton of chocolate, roasted malt, and fruity flavors.
Tasting Notes:
Roasted malts, chocolate, molasses, dried fruits, licorice, and nutty aromas can be found on the nose. On the palate, you’ll find a wallop of plums, dried cherries, molasses candy, bitter chocolate, roasted malts, and licorice. It’s warming, complex, and leaves you wanting more.
Bottom Line:
If you’re a fan of Baltic porters or porters in general, East Brother has a great, complex version for you.
Road House Loose Boots Après IPA
ABV: 5%
Average Price: $11 for a six-pack
The Beer:
The term “après ski” is used to refer to beverages (usually featuring alcohol) that are enjoyed after a day on the slopes. Road House understands the draw of cocktails, wine, and beer because it created a beer designed to be imbibed after a day of skiing or snowboarding called Road House Loose Boots Après IPA. It’s a highly sessionable 5% ABV well-balanced, crushable hazy IPA.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is a nice blend of yeasty, bready malts, caramel, peach, citrus peels, and lightly floral hops. It’s gently hazy and juicy with a nice balance between bready, caramel malts, light tropical fruits, citrus peels, and piney, floral hops. Very crushable and flavorful.
Bottom Line:
There’s no better way to describe this sessionable hazy IPA than to describe it as an “Après IPA” — which… should definitely be a genre.
New Holland Cabin Fever
ABV: 6.5%
Average Price: $10 for a six-pack
The Beer:
If you live anywhere that gets any depth of snow during the winter months, you’ve had your fair share of cabin fever over the years. This brown ale from New Holland pays homage to being bored and stuck inside with bready, roasty, fruity, nutty, wintry flavors and aromas.
Tasting Notes:
Complex aromas of bready malts, raisins, coffee beans, light chocolate, and candied nuts start everything off on a great foot. More of the same on the palate with freshly baked bread, dark chocolate, roasted malts, coffee, dried fruits, and a nutty sweetness taking center stage. All in all it’s a warming, roasty, rich beer for the winter months.
Bottom Line:
With complex, wintry aromas and flavors, we wouldn’t mind being snowed in with New Holland Cabin Fever all winter long.
