Brewery Website: www.smuttynose.com
Type of Beer: Belgian Abby Double
Alcohol Content: 4.8%
Beer Review -
Appearance: Pours a very deep dark mahogany with a thick, tan, two-finger head that receded quickly leaving good lacing.
Smell: I picked up on breads, dark fruits, some winter spices (cinnamon, allspice, cloves) with a brown sugar and gingerbread cookie finish. Scents were all pretty subtle but combined to make an extremely enticing beer.
Initial Taste: Nice. The initial taste doesn’t disappoint. There is a lot going on here. The smell would lead you to believe this might be a muted beer. Quite the contrary, this is a very flavorful ale. Lots of dark fruits (berries, raisins) followed up by brown sugar and sweet malts. Winter spices are also very apparent; cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and even some ginger. Finishes clean with a soft hoppy bite.
Thoughts: Smuttynose Winter Ale is a full-bodied, amber beer brewed with a special Trappist ale yeast. Making this beer more of a Belgian Abby Double than a winter warmer like you would expect. This is a nice change of pace from the other winter warmers and Christmas ales out there right now. Smuttynose made the right decision to break away from the usual and give us something unique. This beer is balanced very nicely between the sweetness of the malts and brown sugars and the winter spices and soft hops. Just like their fall seasonal (Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale) Smuttynose has done a very good job delivering a seasonal beer that anything but run-of-the-mill. Highly recommend.
Brewery Website: http://www.achouffe.be
Type of Beer: Belgian Strong Dark Ale
Alcohol Content: 10.0%
Beer Review -
Appearance: Beer comes in a 750ml bottle that when held up to the light reveals a myriad of spices, yeast and other goodness suspended in this heavenly nectar. The beer pours a very dark brown that is extremely cloudy and near opaque. The head on this beauty is like nothing I’ve ever seen, 3 finger light brown head that is so thick it leaves peaks like a lemon meringue pie right till the end of the beer.
Smell: Lots of winter spices, nuts, dark fruits with a sweet citrus finish. Spicy and fruity yet the scents are soft enough so they blend together well.
Initial Taste: Wow, all the spices and fruits I found in the smell come through perfectly in the taste. Starts off with sweet citrus and malts then the spices make their way to the palate; dark fruits, berries, nutmeg, cinnamon, thyme and hops. Even though this is a 10% alc beer you can hardly notice the alcohol. This beer is like drinking a really good fruit cake. Very well done.
Thoughts: N’Ice Chouffe is limited release winter beer from the Brasserie d’Achouffe brewery in Belgium. This is the first beer I’ve had the privilege to try from these guys and now I can’t wait to try the rest of their lineup. This is unlike any other Belgian beer I’ve tried. It is a strong, bottle-fermented ale, brewed with thyme and curaçao peel amung a spice rack of other flavors. Because this beer is so flavorful and thick it was difficult to finish the entire 750ml bottle. I highly suggest sharing this with a friend. I reccomend this beer to anyone who enjoys rich, dark, flavorful ales. This has become my favorite winter seasonal beer and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Type of Beer: Porter
Alcohol Content: 5.80%
Beer Review -
Appearance: Pours a deep brown. A thin one finger tan head that remains, while leaving a little lacing.
Smell: Sweet, soft smokiness. An almost musty smell at the end which is indicative of Sam Adams generous use of English hops.
Initial Taste: Smoky chocolate and roasted caramel with the hoppy bite at the finish. Definitely a full-bodied, flavorful beer that is pretty smooth for a Porter, not harsh or overly bitter.
Thoughts: Porters have a rich and storied history in the UK. This is what I think the “porters” would have had with their suppers after a hard day’s work. A mans brew that goes well with smoked or grilled meats.
Type of Beer: Spiced Ale
Alcohol Content: 5.90%
Beer Review -
Appearance: Pours a brownish-red. Thin one-finger off-white head that lasts a little while and has nice lacing.
Smell: , slightly spicy. A crisp, fruity smell that’s not over done by any means.
Initial Taste: Roasted caramel and toffee flavors with a smoothness that I didn’t expect. Very subtle spices and orange finish that make me think of being in Grandma’s kitchen while she’s doing her Holiday baking. The different flavors just abound in this ale.
Thoughts: Definitely one of the BEST available now. Some beers just sing out with Holiday cheer, and this is one of them. Thank You Mr. Fezziwig and the Boston Beer Co. for making this a Season to enjoy!
Type of Beer: Spiced Ale
Alcohol Content: 6.11%
Beer Review -
Appearance: Pours medium amber color with a thick off-white, two-finger head. Head relaxed very slowing leaving behind some good lacing.
Smell: This beer has a very sweet aroma about it. There is no mistaking the sweetness is from the malts. There is very little spiciness to the smell. I noticed a little flowery hoppiness but there was no trace of the spices you normally smell in these winter brews.
Initial Taste: Just like it smells the flavor is mostly sweet malts with that side-note of flowery hops that help balance it out. The flavors are somewhat muted compared to others of this style. Little to no aftertaste.
Thoughts: This is a solid winter beer. It has a nice sweet flavor that is balanced by the flowery yet bitter hops. Missing from this beer are the spices you normally find in winter brews; cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg etc. If spicier brews are more your thing (like Abita or Anchor Steam) this may be too tame for you. However, because the flavors of this beer are so smooth and soft it makes for a Very easy to drink beer. This will definitely become my winter session beer. While not as flavorful and aromatic as some others this is certainly a terrific winter brew.
*You may notice there is a year (2009) in the title of this beer. This is because the recipe for this very special ale is different every year.
