Brewery Website: http://weyerbacher.com
Type of Beer: Winter Warmer
Alcohol Content:5.60%
Beer Review -
Appearance: Poured a deep rich mahogany color with good clarity. There was about two fingers of off-white head that fizzled pretty quickly down to a thin frosting of foam leaving behind only some faint lacing.
Smell: The smell is about sweet and fruity. Big molasses scent up front with a smell of caramelized sugar and candied fruits. Some dark fruit aromas come through smelling of plums and raisins. Very malty, sweet smelling beer.
Initial Taste: Just like the smell the flavor is big on the sweetness and dark fruits. Toasted malts, plums, cherries, brown sugar and a hint of chocolate cut across the tongue setting you up for what is to surely be a sweet beer. But the hops make an appearance with an earthy presence that give the beer needed bitterness and depth. The finish is somewhat dry and subtly sweet.
Thoughts: It’s no secret that Weyerbacher makes award winning beers and their Winter Ale is one of them. Taking home the Silver Medal at the World Beer Championships this beer is no slouch. This winter ale has everything needed to keep you warm through those blustery winter months with a molasses-like brown sugary sweetness, dark fruity esters of cherries and plums and just enough hops to keep the sweet flavors from becoming too cloying. And while there is no mistaking this is big malty beer there is enough complexity here to attract even the hardest hop-headed beer drinker. Is it worth venturing out into the snow and ice? Maybe not… but if you happen to find it at your local store I recommend giving it a try. Cheers!
Brewery Website: http://www.abita.com
Type of Beer: Marzen / Octoberfest
Alcohol Content: 5.40%
Beer Review -
Appearance: Pours a crystal clear golden amber with about two fingers of off-white, fluffy head. Head retention only stuck around a little while before relaxing into a thin film. Sadly there wasn’t much lacing to speak of.
Smell: Soft and bready. The usual Oktoberfest suspects are there – bread/cereal grains, malt and yeast but they are not easily picked up on. While this smells sweet and grainy, everything seems a bit too subdued.
Initial Taste: The taste followed the smell pretty closely at the beginning with a nice sweetness from the caramel malts and cereal grains. Thankfully the hops came through with a needed bitterness to help cut the cloying malts. Again the flavors were there but everything had a washed out flavor as if it had been watered down. Finish was a little dry and bitter.
Thoughts: The Abita Brewery, located in Abita Springs Louisiana, brews its beer with water from artesian wells in Abita Springs making it rather unique as no other brewery has claim to such water. Whether or not this really makes a difference in the beer is up to you. Personally I’ve always liked Abita and their fall seasonal is no let down. While it won’t do much for the hop heads or big flavor lovers among us, there is enough character to keep this beer at the top of their sales charts. I think their biggest sell with this particular beer is the fact that it’s extremely sessionable and easy for new craft beer lovers to drink. Would I buy this again? I doubt it. This is not a slight to the beer, there is just too many other great American style Oktoberfests out there that DO meet my hop and flavor requirements. But don’t just take my word for it. Go out and try this for yourself and let us know what you think. Cheers!
Brewery Website: http://www.shipyard.com
Type of Beer: Extra Special / Strong Bitter
Alcohol Content: 5.9%
Beer Review -
Appearance: Crystal clear burnt orange color with a thick two-finger head that sat on top of the beer like a dollop of cream until dissipating into a fine film. Not a whole lot of lacing happening here just a little sticking to the glass when swirled vigorously. Carbonation was good and continued to stay strong throughout the entire review.
Smell: This old English beer has a subtle yet complex nose with soft scents of sweet malts, citrus esters, earthy hops and a pleasant buttery (or as the professionals would say, diacetyl) smell that alerts you to the fact that this baby was made with that special ringwood yeast.
Initial Taste: Taste begins with a nice medium body that is quite sweet with a crisp maltiness that covers the pallet. That buttery scent we picked up in the nose makes it’s presence very well known. While being quite a buttery flavor there is a nice hop backbone that cuts through and brings a well needed shot of bitterness into the taste. The finish is a slightly fruity, bitter hoppiness that lingers just long enough to pull you back in for a second drink. Aftertaste is clean and dry with slight bitterness.
Thoughts: This is a special beer as it isn’t originally an American one. The story of this beer starts in Ringwood England at the Ringwood Brewery where it stands as their flagship beer. Lucky for us colonials Shipyard Brewery’s brewmaster Alan Pugsley worked at the Ringwood Brewery and tutored under their brewmaster who allowed him to take this recipe to America and be brewed solely under the Shipyard name. So what we are tasting isn’t just another great Shipyard beer but a great European beer that no other brewery can offer. But what makes this beer so special isn’t it’s history but the special Ringwood yeast strain that is used. This yeast comes from the town of the same name that imbues a unique buttery (diacetyl) flavor which gives beer a rich, buttery smooth palate. So if you like ringwood beers then you must go out and try this one. It’s a rich, sweet, medium bodied, buttery yet bitter beer that is balanced extremely well. I highly recommend. Cheers!
Brewery Website: http://www.scuttlebuttbrewing.com/
Type of Beer: Imperial Dunkelweiss
Alcohol Content: 7.4%
Beer Review -
Appearance: This dunkelweiss style beer pours a dark brown, rich copper color. Head was ok with one-finger, off-white appearance that didn’t stick around long leaving behind almost no lacing.
Smell: Very interesting smell with this one. It starts off with a molasses sweet, roasted maltiness that really amps up the coffee and chocolate in the nose. There is also a small amount of citrus/fruity hop essence that tries to find it’s way through but it ends up getting lost in the thick toasted sweetness from the malt.
Initial Taste: Like the smell would suggest the flavor is predominantly sweet. Big flavors up front with molasses, chocolate and caramel being easy to spot out of the gate. Flavor rounds off with an earthy hoppy bitterness that really helps cut through the bold sweetness of the malts. There is also a nice biscuity flavor that blends very well with the hops helping to give it a dryer finish that clears the palate readying you for that next sip. Aftertaste is subtly sweet with hints of those earthy hops.
Thoughts: Overall I am very pleased with this offering from Scuttlebutt Brewing Company. It’s certainly a malty beer but being an Imperial Dunkleweiss that is expected. With it’s strong chocolate, dark fruit, and coffee flavors (not to mention its 7.4% alcohol content!) it’s no question this is a great choice for those cold winter nights when a strong beer is exactly what one needs to keep warm. Thankfully the beerologists at Scuttlebutt know what they are doing and have balanced this malty beast with just enough hops to make it deceptively drinkable. If you like sweet beers I recommend.
Brewery Website: http://www.breckbrew.com/
Type of Beer: Winter Warmer
Alcohol Content: 7.4%
Beer Review -
Appearance: The beer pours a beautiful rich mahogany with great clarity. There was very little head (one-finger’s worth) even when poured with vigor. What head did appear was actually quite creamy and left decent lacing when swirled around the glass. Head settles to a film pretty quickly. If the head was a bit more pronounced and the retention better, this would be a picture perfect Christmas beer.
Smell: Toasted malt hits the nose first with hints of caramel and dark fruits following close behind. A nice pine-citrus hop scent cuts through the sweetness giving the smell of this Christmas beer a welcomed complexity. Finishes with some nice holiday spices (nutmeg, cloves and vanilla) and a bit of alcohol esters. Smell is somewhat subdued but still very inviting.
Initial Taste: The smell carries through into the flavor of this beer perfectly with big flavors of toasted malts, chocolate and caramel creating the sweet backbone for this holiday brew. The sweet flavors are balanced with hops that deliver some welcome citrus and piny bitterness. The finish is subtly sweet with flavors of dark cherries and coffee.
Thoughts: Breckenridge Brewery is no stranger to making unique and delicious beers like their Vanilla Porter and Agave Wheat so when it came time to check out their Christmas seasonal I knew I would be in for a treat and happily I was right. Their Christmas Ale is everything you would expect from a well crafted winter warmer: spicy, strong, sweet, malty backbone with a good hop presence. This holiday beer delivers right on par with good strong malt flavors and spicy hops and dark fruits with a high alcohol content to keep you warm on those chilly freezing winter nights. So a Merry Christmas to all and to all a good a beer!
