December 21 - Bell's - Winter White Ale

December 21 - Bells Brewing Company - Winter White Ale

Happy first day of Winter!  What's not to love?  The days are shorter, not to mention colder.  Who doesn't love that?

Someone with Seasonal Affective Disorder, that's who!

To "celebrate" this Winter Solstice, I had the perfect beer in the fridge tonight for blogging.  Enter Bell's Winter White Ale.  The bottle label looks pretty seasonal, the name is pretty seasonal, but the style of beer isn't.  Hmm...strange quandary indeed.  

A wheat beer in December?  Bumble is excited!

The pour was a hazy, gold color with a thick white head at the top.  The aroma was very much wheat beer like...you know, because it's a wheat beer in winter.  Orange and wheat dominate here with some small hints of spicy clove and banana.

The taste of this "winter" beer is very sweet.  Not overbearing, but the end reminded me of an Orange Julius.  There are some other traditional wheat beer notes, including orange peel, coriander, banana, and that spicy clove I got initially.  The clove isn't overbearing though, thank God.

All in all, this beer is a traditional wheat beer for sure.  I'm still confused as to how this is only a seasonal beer for the Bell's company.  Oberon is a seasonal beer that really falls close to the same line, comparatively speaking, with this beer.  Oberon is a little hazier and has more of a yeast profile than this one, but again, pretty much the same style for me.

For what it's worth, the beer was worth the try, but it's nothing special.  There are plenty of other wheat beers out there that are just as good if not better, not to mention the price point is lower and the beer is available year-round.  Since a wheat beer can be a flagship beer for other companies, I'll give Bell's an out there.  They make so many other styles that are better, they must be appealing to that guy we've mentioned before who heads to the local craft brewery and wants "the closest thing to Miller Lite."  He'd probably really get a kick out of this beer.

A 3 out of 5 tonight with a gingerbread house addition in the background...ordinary

December 3 - Lancaster Brewing Company - Winter Warmer Ale

Lancaster Brewing Company - Winter Warmer Ale

Welcome to my first installment of Winter Warmer Wednesday!  To give you some background on winter warmers check out this link, if you need it.  It's pretty thorough, so make sure you focus well for a few minutes of that read before you come back here and I dumb things down again.  Don't worry, I'll wait...

(The above is supposed to be the Jeopardy theme, in video form...on a smartphone, it's not so smart...)

Now that you're educated, let's talk about how I don't like cloves, allspice, nutmeg. Oh, you already knew? Well, good. Thank you for paying attention to my blog yesterday.  According to what you just read, the style is open to interpretation, however, most winter warmers that I've had before tend to use the clove, allspice, and/or nutmeg spices predominantly.  Sometimes they're balanced, while other times the spices are too overwhelming in either aroma, taste, or both.  Unfortunately for me, it's usually both.

This beer comes from Lancaster Brewing Company and weighs in at a hefty 8.9% ABV.  A little above the norm for this style, but who's counting?  With this beer, LBC is donating money back to the Wolf Sanctuary of PA for every bottle, case, and shirt sold.  I always find it cool when brewers and brewing companies give back to local communities and support those that need it.  Kudos to you LBC!

Hooray!  No cloves, nutmeg, or allspice!  Well, I don't get them anyways...call it a win!

This beer pours a deep red-brown color with a creamy, off-white head.  A thin bead of head remained throughout the glass the entire time.  The aroma is a very fruity one filled with raisin, slight caramel, and distinct Belgian hints.  Not sure if Belgian Candi Sugar was used, but I could be convinced (hey, I brew my own, I know a Belgian when I smell one)

The taste of this beer is no surprise after noting the aroma.  The taste is exactly as I thought it would be, with raisin, caramel, and Belgian notes.  The hop presence is very minimal, but the beer isn't too sweet for the ingredients that are used.  There is a very big and bold malt presence that hits you right way and makes you want to take another sip.  Be careful and remember, 8.9%.  A well-balanced brew that is malty and sweet at the same time!

The finishing notes give me a virtually non-existent hop bite along with some slight licorice (star anise?) taste.  The best part though, by far, is the boozy, warming that coats the throat the entire way down.  Definitely a winter warmer for sure!

A solid 3.5 paws out of 5 tonight for this winter warmer!

December 11

 

December 11 - Victory Brewing Company - Winter Cheers

 

After getting stuff done around the house, helping my wife put 2 kids to bed (she does most of the work, if I'm being honest), getting some Christmas shopping/gift making done, it's finally time to unwind...a little later this evening. 

 

Last week, I saw that my new favorite local bottle shop in Sunbury, Bottleworks, has this beer up on their Facebook page.  A new brew that I've never seen before, needless to say, I was intrigued.  This beer (according to Victory Brewing's website) is a holiday draft and 12 oz. bottle specialty.  As I said last night, I'll try anything once (or twice...)!

 

Long story short (since it's late), if you're a hefeweizen fan, you'll really like this winter ale.  It is all things hefeweizen; transparent, golden color, white head, clove and banana flavors, so on and so on.  This beer drinks so smooth, that at 6.7% ABV, if you had a 6 pack or case of this, you may be in trouble!  A very refreshing beer that, like a traditional hefeweizen, is reminiscent of warmer, summer days.  Seems strange to have this type of beer as a winter seasonal to me, but I'll definitely get it again! 

 

Noooooooooooooooorm! - Cheers
(Get it?)