This is the perfect time of year for this post, and I love it because I have yet to hear of mulled beer outside Poland (If you’ve seen it elsewhere, I’d love to hear about it!).

Mulled wine  is a popular drink all over northern Europe in the winter. The Germans call it gluhwein, the Swedes, I guess, call it glog, the Poles call it grzane wino. But in Poland, mulled beer, or grzane piwo, seems to be equally popular.

The first time I heard of it I told my Polish friend: no way–I’m from Wisconsin, we don’t do hot beer. We don’t even like to think about warm beer, and we certainly don’t approve of drinking beer through a straw. But I’m an open-minded Wisconsinite, so I gave it a shot. We sat in a cafe, sipping our hot, spiced lager from big glass mugs. And I fell in love a little bit.

Mulled beer tastes a little like hot, spiced cider. In bars and cafes in Poland, you can order it with ginger, with oranges and cloves, even with raspberry syrup. The latter is a little sweet for my tastes. The best part, though–at home, you can easily make it with all your favorite flavors. Here’s how I like to do it:

Mulled Beer
6 12oz beers–light lagers work best, and I like to use Polish Zywiec if I can find it
1 orange, sliced
2 lemons, sliced
2 Tbs. sugar
3-4 tsp. of each: cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, grated ginger

Heat until just under boiling, stirring to dissolve the sugar. The beer should be frothy and the flavor of the spices should be prominent. Adjust the spices to taste. Serve warm, with a cinnamon stick, if you’ve got it.