Why does my taste change in the winter?

And I don’t mean dress sense, although obviously I wrap up warmer. It’s only happened post-covid as well, but it feels like the past few years when November hits everything tastes just slightly different. I thought I’d escaped it this year, then opened an Erdinger the other day and it just tasted like cheap lager. Any ideas?

Did you enjoy the taste of the cheap lager though? Maybe your body is craving it?  Maybe you’re slowly morphing into football hooligan?

Do you now feel the urge to go for a few pints of Fosters at Weatherspoons and making the long walk to the bogs in order to hoover a couple of lines of cheap gak? And when you say ‘dress up warmer’… Stone Island jacket?

I was hoping that after my body had found everything that couldn’t outrun me tasty through the summer and autumn, then I might either hibernate or start craving salad through the winter to burn off the accumulated body fat.

A Greggs vegetable bake counts as salad, yes?

I had a Kronenburg a few weeks ago and thought exactly the same. Then I noticed that they, along with so many other brands like Carlsberg and Stella, have reduced the ABV. No labelling of the change (other than some new packaging).

Has wifebeater become wifetickler?

And I don’t mean dress sense

Dress sense? What you need my good sir is one of these. Taste test a few more beers and it might seem like a good idea for your tasteful winter wardrobe.

The lack of serious replies suggests that I shouldn’t be worried, I guess?

Lower temperatures tend to blunt taste buds.  That is one reason Guiness Extra Cold sells well as the distinct taste of stout is dialled down.  Personally, I can only drink lager which is extra cold; maybe your Erdinger wasn’t properly chilled.

You have a cold or is in the process of getting a cold?

I find larger taste better when they are Not super cold. i.e. Me drinking lager at home taste better than in pub.

I drink cider in the summer and Guinness or beer in the winter when the weather’s colder ? ?

My sense of smell/taste has never quite returned to normal since my first bout of covid in 2020.

I’m ultra sensitive (as in, can detect them when others can’t, but if it gets stronger they eventually can) to earthy and rotting smells.

Also whenever I have even a mild cold I start getting phantom smells such as burning or this week’s special, which is a kind of acidic/metallic tang to the air.

Coffee tastes horrible when I have a cold these days, as does dark chocolate. Both have a very off/earthy tinge.

Glad it’s not just me! The phantom burning smell haunts me sometimes as well. Interesting that you say that about coffee – it’s around this point of the year when I have to switch brands when it comes to tea.

It could be worse I have lost all desire to drink alcohol.

I’m ultra sensitive (as in, can detect them when others can’t, but if it gets stronger they eventually can) to earthy and rotting smells.

Also whenever I have even a mild cold I start getting phantom smells such as burning or this week’s special, which is a kind of acidic/metallic tang to the air.

funny you mention that – the first sign I’m coming down with something, I get a weird metallic taste in my mouth. It usually precedes the start of a fever or feeling like poop by about 6 / 12 hours. My wife thinks I’m right odd for that.

It could be worse I have lost all desire to drink alcohol.

Same

I think I have lost the desire for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, I have a selection of delicious IPAs that taste wrong and not good. Don’t want to waste good beer I can’t taste! This happened the first time I got covid and it takes a long time for my taste to come back.

Secondly I’m still getting over the current winter flu variant that felt suspiciously like covid did the few times I had it. Alcohol just makes my face feel uncomfortably hot when I have any sinus issues.

Coffee also tastes like the beans are stale and were ground weeks ago.

I eat/drink more soup in the winter – less wine and more beer. Someone will be along soon to tell us they gave up drinking when they were 4 and feel great.