A while ago on a visit to Tallinn I visited the medieval-style restaurant Olde Hansa. There they had two very good kinds of beer: one with honey and one with cinnamon.
Do such beers exist elsewhere, in particular, in bottled versions?
4 Answers
There are several beers with honey, some of them are quite famous.
For example the ones I know are from Belgium and France:
- "Barbãr" and "Barbãr Bok" from the Levebvre brewery
- "Bière des ours" from the brewery "La Binchoise"
- "Bière de miel biologique" from the Dupont brewery
- "Véliocasse" from the brewery "La bière du Vexin"
The easiest to find are probably the ones from the Levebvre brewery.
I don't know any beer with cinnamon but I'm quite sure that it exists.
Do such beers exist elsewhere, in particular, in bottled versions?
Yes.
American craft brewers use honey and cinnamon quite a bit, though not necessarily at the same time. Here are a few that might be available to you, but as is the case with a perishable product, your mileage may vary.
Honey
Dogfish Head Midas Touch is brewed with honey, barley malt, white muscat grapes and saffron.
Sam Adams Honey Porter uses Scottish Heather Honey.
Brooklyn Brewery Local 2 uses NY State Raw Wildflower Honey.
Here are a few more that utilize the sweet stuff for extra flavor.
Cinnamon
Dundee Festive Ale is brewed with nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon and orange peel.
Cigar City's Hunahpu's Imperial Stout brewed with Cacao nibs, ancho and pasilla chiles, cinnamon, and vanilla beans.
Sweetwater Festive Ale has "a taint of cinnamon and mace".
Who could forget Terrapin's Cinnamon Roll's Wake-n-Bake? Though I believe it is retired now.
I have tried Fullers (of London) Organic Honey Dew which is lightly flavoured with honey - its a golden ale with a light flavour. Very refreshing. I believe it's available generally throughout the UK and is imported to the US.
There is another honey beer by a company called Hiver but I've yet to track down a bottle and even I won't make a trip to London for a beer.
I've never seen a beer with cinnamon brewed in but I have had mulled ales with cinnamon added so the flavours are compatible, I'm sure someone has done it.
There are LOADS of beers with honey and or cinnamon!
Using Ratebeer I could find 5 beers in Germany that have the word honey in their name. Start searching there, or just visit craft breweries.
Cinnamon beers would be more common in winter, again, from craft breweries and imports.
