Icelandic Winter Ale
(has 3 batches)
Einstök Ölgerð in Akureyri, Northeastern Region, Iceland 🇮🇸
Belgian Style - Strong Ale Regular|
Score
6.84
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In Iceland, winter is not something we fear, it is something we embrace. Especially when it signals the return of our extremely-limited Winter Ale, ready to be shared around a plentiful table or a roaring fire. Brewed with hand-cut and cured spruce tips along with smoked Icelandic barley, this is the perfect brew to complement your sagas of conquest and survival.
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6.9/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
330ml bottle. Murky, dark brown colour with thick, creamy, moderately lasting, minimally lacing, off-white to beige head. Herbal, earthy-fruity and slightly chocolately, malty aroma, hints of milk chocolate, dark berries, juniper berry-infused boar. Taste is sweet-ish, chocolately and caramel malty, mildly spicy and minimally smoky, hints of malt lozenge, dark cherry drops (Wick Wildkirsche), a woody touch of coniferes. Well balanced, integrated, harmonious - very nice.
Tried
from Bottle
on 09 Apr 2018
at 21:07
6.2/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 7
50cl bottle from Uba ja Humal, Tallinn. Pours dark copper coloured with a fairly large, light beige head. Malty and slightly spicy aroma with caramel , dried fruits and hints of spruce and wood. Medium sweet with fairy mild, but pleasant flavours. Less sweet and more balanced than expected. Quite enjoyable.
Tried
from Bottle
on 30 Mar 2018
at 17:03
7.4/10
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Appearance 7
Aroma 7.5
Flavor 7.5
Texture 7
Overall 7.5
Not that strong sweet malty nose. Opaque dark brown colour, tall beige head, good retention and lacing. Aroma toasted malts, dark fruits, toffee, candy sugar. Flavour light heavy sweet and light bitter, roasted malts, toffee, alcohol. Qite peppery on the tongue, sweetbitter aftertaste, hints of liquorice, sugary, spicy notes (missed the spruce). Medium body, oily to sticky texture, soft carbonation, round and tasty, very nice.
Tried
from Bottle
on 03 Mar 2018
at 15:54
7.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
19-01-18 // bottle from hopt-shop. Murky brown. Solid foamy beige head fading quick. Sweet malty nose with some spice. Aroma of sweet roasted malts, spruce spice freshness. Some dark fruits and a slightly smokey note. Smooth mouthfeel. Mild bitterness with roasted coffee bitter. Drinking good! --- Beer merged from original tick of Icelandic Winter Ale on 19 Jan 2018 at 19:38 - Score: 7. Original review text: Murky brown. Solid foamy beige head fading quick. Sweet malty nose with some spice. Aroma of sweet roasted malts, spruce spice freshness.
Tried
from Bottle
on 19 Jan 2018
at 13:03
7.3/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8
Bottle from Beery Christmas advent calendar. Pours hazy but light brown, some carbonation but not too much of it. Nose is malty-nutty, some light grassy hop character there as well, light resins. Taste is bitterish, spruce resins coming out more towards the end, not too overpowering, well balanced. Malty sweetness is the main characteristic but some caramel and nutty flavours also there. Quite wintery and Christmasy, drinks easier than I expected (ends up relatively dry, also quite well balanced).
Tried
from Bottle
on 04 Jan 2018
at 09:32
9.2/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 10
Overall 9
Véritable bière d'hiver pour un réel plaisir au programme, cette Icelandic Winter Ale de la brasserie Einstök tire son avantage d'un alcool pourtant qu'à 8 % Abv, particulièrement remarquable et chaleureux, de cette infusion d'aiguilles de pin dans le whisky permettant de diffuser ces arômes de whisky à la fois puissants et chaleureux et à son bon équilibre notamment entre malt/houblon. Dommage qu'il n'y ait pas davantage de variations, car d'un beau travail, nous serions passés à un, magnifique. En verre, rien de particulier, brun opaque (EBC aux alentours de 43) avec une mousse beige, quasi absente. L'effervescence n'est pas des plus poussée, mais suffisante. Le nez met en appétit, se mêle caramel, chocolat, café, whisky et une petite touche fumée (discrète). Une belle fraîcheur houblonnée s'y exprime également. A la fois puissant, racé et élégant. La chaleur d'une bonne bière d'hiver se retrouve à la dégustation. Beau travail sur le malt conférant une bonne complexité et ce couple alcool, whisky vous réchauffant de l'intérieur. A l'attaque, nous retrouvons les arômes présents au nez, sur un très bon équilibre malt/houblon avec un renfort d'épices, bien présents, relevant encore l'ensemble. La seconde bouche monte d'intensité en arôme mais également en amertume (cette dernière restant toutefois modérée). L'arrière bouche n'apporte pas de saveurs complémentaires mais est d'une excellente ampleur avec une très bonne présence en bouche. Sans être sur de grandes variations, la variété aromatique est très intéressante et la complexité bonne. La troisième bouche, dans la lignée de la seconde monte encore d'un cran sur l'amertume qui atteint son maximum avant un final, superbe, où le couple whisky et alcool s'exprime longuement en bouche. Bel hiver islandais!
Tried
on 04 Jan 2018
at 08:48
8.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Thanks go out to TongoRad, Michael, for this bottle. 2017.
It pours a cloudy colour of a mix of brown, red, I'll call it mahogany. Lively head of foam, slow shrinking, pretty impressive lacing.
For me, the nose brings dark pitted fruit, caramel malt, citrus like in yes I can smell spruce tips.
The taste matches the smell to a T. Dark fruits, light sweet notes from the malt, a bit of tang from the spruce tips, and, I didn't notice it in the smell, some notes of smoke in and through the finish.
Smooth mouthfeel. Smooth beer.
Bottled September 12th 2017, best before same date 2019.
Something strange...the paper label says 33cl but heck no it isn't. The bottle imprint says 500ml. Yeah, I believe that.
It pours a cloudy colour of a mix of brown, red, I'll call it mahogany. Lively head of foam, slow shrinking, pretty impressive lacing.
For me, the nose brings dark pitted fruit, caramel malt, citrus like in yes I can smell spruce tips.
The taste matches the smell to a T. Dark fruits, light sweet notes from the malt, a bit of tang from the spruce tips, and, I didn't notice it in the smell, some notes of smoke in and through the finish.
Smooth mouthfeel. Smooth beer.
Bottled September 12th 2017, best before same date 2019.
Something strange...the paper label says 33cl but heck no it isn't. The bottle imprint says 500ml. Yeah, I believe that.
Tried
from Bottle
on 24 Dec 2017
at 15:36