December 17 - Southern Tier -2Xmas

Southern Tier - 2Xmas

Well, I guess it's time for another installment of Winter Warmer Wednesday.  It's a shame too, because I have about 10 other different beers I'd actually like to try tonight.  I guess a theme is a theme and I have to stick to it at this point.  Oh man...I just realized that I'll have to do my last WWW post again on Christmas Eve.  You may get a 2 for 1 deal that night...time permitting of course.

From the fridge this evening, one of the winter warmers left is again from Southern Tier again. Last week's choice, Old Man, was a quality one so the bar has been set high already. This year the winter warmer beers I've tried have hit the mark.  They haven't been too spicy and have been very well balanced.  Let's hope for the same thing tonight!

...well let's hope so anyway...

The beer pours an amber brown color with a thin beige head at the top.  The head didn't stick around too long though.  However, don't worry, it didn't effect the beer that much for me.

The aroma was a very pronounced citrus, mostly orange, with a slight hint of cinnamon spices.

The taste, even though the bottle said so, surprised me for a winter warmer.  According to the label, the beer is brewed with figs, orange peel and spices.  The flavor was very unique in that it went from a fig flavor, to a distinct malt, to oranges, and wrapped up with some pine hop notes.  As for the finish, I would almost describe it as a dry, bitter orange rind.  However, that's not as bad as it may sound.  The balance between sweet oranges, malts and other spices is balanced very well with the 2 hop varieties used.

Had I not known it ahead of time, I wouldn't have pegged this as a winter warmer, style-wise.  Even the alcohol content didn't show through.  This beer is rather heavy at 8% ABV, but you wouldn't know it.  With the balance of malts, hops, and spices, the alcohol is well hidden.  You can start to sense that it is on the stronger side as the last of your beer starts to warm, but by then you're already invested...just finish it and get another!

3.5 out of 5 Christmas Wreaths!  Look, they're made of oranges too!