Beer In Review: Old Man Winter
Last night's thunderstorm (yep, a thunderstorm in December) heralded the arrival of a cold front and a return to normal temperatures for this time of year. Hell, there's even snow in the forecast for Sunday night, though it's nothing like what hit the Midwest this week. Anyway, with signs that Winter isn't far off, it's time to take a look at the Winter Ales being offered by the breweries.
First up is Winterhook, another fine ale from the folks at Redhook. This is a hearty hoppy ale with a rich copper color (Redhook claims that it's "chestnut", a more seasonally appropriate term). There's plenty of head on the pour. When you stick your nose in there, you get a full dose of the Northern Brewer and Cascade Hops. And when you drink it, you still taste the hops. Redhook makes claims about a "complex malt profile with hints of chocolate and caramel" but I didn't notice it. The hops dominate the scene. Don't get me wrong. I like this beer alot. I just don't see the "complex malt profile." Maybe it's so complex (9 varieties of malt) that my taste buds can't figure it out. I do agree with Redhook that the ale has a "clean finish". Definitely worth checking out. 5.5% ABV.
The other selection for today's beer review is Brooklyn Winter Ale. This is a new offering from the Brooklyn Brewery. So new, that it's not even on their website yet. Although it shares its coloration and head stability with Winterhook, the two winter ales are quite different. As Winterhook is hoppy, the Brooklyn Winter Ale is malty. Your nose and your tastebuds will tell you that this is malty beer. I even picked out the caramel undertones.
The bottle states that they used Maris Otter malts, which have their "roots in blustery Scotland." There's that winter connection. "Blustery" is a good winter adjective. No mention of the hops used but I'd guess Cascade was probably in there. I'll have to check back at the website in a month or so and see if I was right. Anyway, this is another really good beer. Fans of Brooklyn shouldn't be disappointed.
Both of these ales taste better in a pint glass than their respective bottles.
Drinking these winter ales made me nostalgic for Pete's Wicked Winter Ale. Way back in the early-to-mid 90's, long before they got bought out and began to suck hard, the line of beers from "Pete" were great. They were my favorite brewery. Their original Winter Ale was fantastic. I can't remember what type of ale it was, but I remember it being on the malty side with a hint of nutmeg underlying the raspberry accented flavor. But they changed the recipe a few years later. It was good but wasn't great. And now they no longer make it. In fact they're down to 2 full year brands (their original brown ale and the strawberry blonde) and two seasonal (the lame ass Rally Cap summer ale and Wanderlust Cream Ale). I think that they've lost marketshare as I don't see it on the shelves like I used to (except at big chain grocery stores). I don't even know anyone that still drinks them. They're a shadow of their former selves. It's kinda sad to see a good brewery gone bad. I think I'll go cry in a beer now.
\_/
DED
First up is Winterhook, another fine ale from the folks at Redhook. This is a hearty hoppy ale with a rich copper color (Redhook claims that it's "chestnut", a more seasonally appropriate term). There's plenty of head on the pour. When you stick your nose in there, you get a full dose of the Northern Brewer and Cascade Hops. And when you drink it, you still taste the hops. Redhook makes claims about a "complex malt profile with hints of chocolate and caramel" but I didn't notice it. The hops dominate the scene. Don't get me wrong. I like this beer alot. I just don't see the "complex malt profile." Maybe it's so complex (9 varieties of malt) that my taste buds can't figure it out. I do agree with Redhook that the ale has a "clean finish". Definitely worth checking out. 5.5% ABV.
The other selection for today's beer review is Brooklyn Winter Ale. This is a new offering from the Brooklyn Brewery. So new, that it's not even on their website yet. Although it shares its coloration and head stability with Winterhook, the two winter ales are quite different. As Winterhook is hoppy, the Brooklyn Winter Ale is malty. Your nose and your tastebuds will tell you that this is malty beer. I even picked out the caramel undertones.
The bottle states that they used Maris Otter malts, which have their "roots in blustery Scotland." There's that winter connection. "Blustery" is a good winter adjective. No mention of the hops used but I'd guess Cascade was probably in there. I'll have to check back at the website in a month or so and see if I was right. Anyway, this is another really good beer. Fans of Brooklyn shouldn't be disappointed.
Both of these ales taste better in a pint glass than their respective bottles.
Drinking these winter ales made me nostalgic for Pete's Wicked Winter Ale. Way back in the early-to-mid 90's, long before they got bought out and began to suck hard, the line of beers from "Pete" were great. They were my favorite brewery. Their original Winter Ale was fantastic. I can't remember what type of ale it was, but I remember it being on the malty side with a hint of nutmeg underlying the raspberry accented flavor. But they changed the recipe a few years later. It was good but wasn't great. And now they no longer make it. In fact they're down to 2 full year brands (their original brown ale and the strawberry blonde) and two seasonal (the lame ass Rally Cap summer ale and Wanderlust Cream Ale). I think that they've lost marketshare as I don't see it on the shelves like I used to (except at big chain grocery stores). I don't even know anyone that still drinks them. They're a shadow of their former selves. It's kinda sad to see a good brewery gone bad. I think I'll go cry in a beer now.
\_/
DED
Labels: beer
posted by DED at 2:21 PM
6 Comments:
Yeah. Every once in a while I'll see Wicked Ale on the shelf and I remember that they were big time in the micro scene 10-15 years ago.
Went completely off the rails. A fried of mine worked for them briefly in the mid-late 90s as a seller. They went hardcore corporate; sounded like a shit place to work. I wonder if that tells us something about what happened.
I'm sure it does. The new owners (gambrinusco.com) probably wanted to compete with the Big 3. They outrightly own or have the exclusive distribution rights to several brands: Moosehead (which I used to drink before I discovered Pete's), Corona, Shiner, and 3 other breweries that I've never heard of. On their website all they talk about is brands, brands, brands. I got an earful of that shit when I worked for an internet advertizing agency. Makes me sick all over again. It's an obvious case where beer is just a product to them and not the elixir of the gods that it is to the rest of us.
So is Schlossberg involved at all? Or did he (literally) sell out years ago?
Yeah, he completely sold out.
Oh how I would love to try out those beers you mention. I have very limitted choices though, since I must lead a gluten-free lifestyle. There are just a few gluten-free beers, and the one that is best (from my taste-testing opinions) is called Bard's Tale Dragon's Gold. It actually is rather darn close to the "real" thing. I wrote about it a while back over on my gluten-free blog - beer review if anyone is interested.
Sorry, man. I'll take a look at some of those gluten-free beers sometime. I'm still a bit ignorant on the gluten-free bit so please forgive me if I ask a stupid question, are there any alcoholic beverages that you can drink?
Post a Comment
<< Home