Archive for the tag “Winter Warmer”

07 Dec 2012

Mikkeller Santa’s Little Helper 2012

MikkellerSanta_bttl11% ABV
Purchased at Taylor’s Market ($14.99/25.4 oz. bottle) and poured into tulip glasses.

This “Belgian ale brewed with spices” pours a prune-y dark brown with a medium-sized, brown sugar head, and an amazing nose of chocolate-covered raisins, caramel apples, and other dark fruits.  On the tongue, chocolate and fruit flavors are balanced against perfectly understated spices on the finish, with a surprisingly light mouthfeel for a sweetness-forward 11-percenter.  Plums, figs, apples, nuts, and caramel all make an appearance, and although the spices are difficult to discern due to their subtlety, I think detected ginger and a touch of cinnamon.  Perfectly balanced with a remarkably crisp finish, Santa’s Little Helper 2012 is easily one of the best brews I have sampled this year.

toasts-5-small   5 Toasts

Mikkeller_Santa

toasts-5-small   5 Toasts

Posted in Beer Review, Seasonal, Winter Warmer and tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment
05 Mar 2012

Winter Welcome Ale (Samuel Smith’s)

6.0% ABV
Purchased at Corti Brothers and poured into tulip glasses

His Notes:

Like all of Samuel Smith’s beers, Winter Welcome was fermented in their trademark stone Yorkshire squares, and the resultant brew has that mossy, distinctly British character.  It pours a golden orange with a tight, white head, looking very summery for what is described on the bottle as a “contemplative” winter ale.  The sweet, apple-syrup aroma and unpleasantly heavy malt flavor, however, are more in line with what is expected from a prototypical English winter brew.  It’s just apples, some pears, and lots of syrupy malt on the nose and palette giving way to mild bitterness and a fairly gross tongue-coating sensation.

  2 Toasts

Her Notes:

  3 Toasts


Posted in Beer Review, Winter Warmer and tagged , , | Leave a comment

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