Winter Ale

Bottled@Bishops Arms Vasagatan, Stockholm. Deep amber colour, mediumsized beige head, some lace. Aroma is caramel, US hops and some dark berries. Flavour is hops, malts, caramel and some slight glueish notes.

Pour is a ruby red with a tan head. Aroma is of some burnt malts and a strong spice. Flavor is a nice deep malt with some more spice and a nice dose of hops. Alcohol is no problem for a 7.3% even though i can feel it warming the extremities. This is a very nice spiced out winter warmer.

This beer came to me in my beer club. Sampled from a 12 oz brown bottle this beer poured a cloudy mahogany color with numerous floaters and a medium sized tan head. The aroma is sweet malt and faint floral hops. The flavor is roasty dark malts with a moderate floral hop presence and a light underlying sweetness.

Clear dark amber color with a yhin off-white head. Aroma of dark malt and fruit. Sweet malt, caramel, and fruit flavors. Thanks to Degarth for sending this to Richmond.

2004 bottle. Deep cola-chocolate brown color with some tan-garnet highlights on the edges, seemingly opaque, but it must just be very dark, because there is no trace of any sediment in the bottle. Moderate yellow-flecked white head and a persistent carbonation. Aroma smells of English yeast fighting to emerge from the heavy hops aroma. Bitter, dry and astringent smelling, with some dry notes of ash and roast. Flavor starts out, as expected, quite hoppy, with some decent fruit notes from the yeast, but otherwise it’s just a bitter ride to the end. Filtered and pasteurised tasting, it has just a touch of roast, too much hops bitterness with no balance from any malt of which to speak. Medium bodied, slightly syrupy at times. I’m so sick of these lame, cookie cutter American brewed "Winter Ales". This is one of the most boring beers I’ve had in a long time. Little to no complexity, very hard tasting as Per notes. No life in this. Poured most of it out.

Bottled. Clear ruby, small head. Roasty, raisiny grapefruit aroma. Sweet and very hoppy with clean, hard mouthfeel and notes of lychee. Hard, bitter finish. Simplistic, but fairly pleasant.

Dark copper. Aroma of toffee, brown sugar and earthy malts. Fairly light for its size. Like a big “amber ale” – caramel, toffee and earth. Fruity notes (kiwi, peach). Sweetish earthy finish. Good balance.

I was pleasantly surprised at how good this winter seasonal was after being none too impressed with their summer seasonal. This beer is a dark amber color with a medium beige head. Some lacing is apparent. The aroma is nicely spiced with a pinch of malt and hops. Rich body with a pleasant mix of spices and warming alcohol, as well as malt and caramel. The finish is nicely spiced as well, making for a nice winter warmer in July.