December 12th - Cape May Brewing Company Mop Water

Tonight's selection is going to be a close as I can come to a winter warmer style beer.  I honestly can't find any more of this style locally or otherwise (you know, Tavour) that I haven't already reviewed via the blog.  I even went in town quick tonight and still, nothing.  

Luckily, I have a friend in New Jersey that, by way of his son-in-law, another beer drinking buddy of mine, keeps me supplied with stuff that is brewed in New Jersey and surrounding areas.  This can was part of a 6 beer care package sent from NJ back to central PA.  The other 5 friends are long gone.  I hung onto this one just in case I needed an emergency plan for WWW.  I guess that time has come.  

The 12 ounce can from Cape May Brewing Company's 5-Spiced Ale, Mop Water is going to come pretty close I believe.  The description from the can leads me to believe that, other than being a brown ale, this will be super close to the style I require on a Wednesday in December.

"CMBC's Chief Mop Man mandated a beer brewed with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice and a s-load of real vanilla.  Combining these spices with the flavors of German malts creates a brown ale perfect for cool autumn evenings and bitter winter nights."

Mop Water poured a muddy light brown with some definite sediment floating around in the glass.  A thin beige head topped this beer off.

A malty cinnamon aroma fills the nose along with some definite vanilla and spices, as advertised.  As for the flavor, it's dang close to a winter warmer style, just a tad less malty.  A sweet cinnamon flavor definitely leads the spiced charge of this beer, but even though this spice combo is either hit or miss for me, this one doesn't overload my palate with nutmeg.  A semi-sweet malted finish is present with very minimal hop bitterness.  If I had to pinpoint a comparable beer (not by style, but by taste), I would definitely compare this to a lighter bodied Stone Xocoveza.

At 7.3%, I was pleasantly surprised and pleased with this selection tonight.  I'm not sure if you'll make it to NJ or CMBC anytime soon, but if this is an indication of what they're brewing to the east, I'll definitely make it a point to stop in if I'm near this place.  Well done!