Warmer Winter Winter Warmer
Warmer Winter Winter Warmer, courtesy of afausser, split and shared at the January C'ville gathering. Poured in to a snifter. Appearance: A deeply hazed amber, capped by one finger of moderately tanned head with very good retention for an old ale, particularly one of this abv%. The lacing is similarly impressive, huge, with extended swaths and eruptions littering the sides of the snifter. The surface dusting is firm, uniform, and continuous. A very nice looking brew. Aroma: Almost a cross between an old ale and a winter warmer. That is, it's winter warmer-esque - spicy (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger) and heavily malty (dark brown sugar, a very bready, wholesome underpinning) - but also old ale-esque, with lots of fruity notes. Cherries are large, huge even, as are raisins, nuts, and dates. The aroms is complex, bold, large, but also very sweet, estery, and subtle. Taste: Huge spice, huge fruit, and huge malts. Caramel, moderate toffee, and even butterscotch present themselves freely, under a sea of cherries, grapes, raisins, and figs. A faint hop note can't hide the overwhelming enjoyable sweetness of this one, though the spices - mostly nutmeg, though some cinnamon - do a fine job of just that, as does a slight kiss of booze. The spices may be a little too bold, even - despite being authentic, they're intensely extreme. Mouthfeel: Thicker, not quite creamy, with well-distributed, soft carbonation. It does a far job of not thrusting the spices too far down your throat, particularly as it warms. Drinkability: I'm not sure what to make of this one. I like it, but something's not quite jiving well with me about it. It's not that it's not pungent or flavorful, which is a problem I have with some winter warmers - this one's strong and pungent in all aspects. But it's ... disjointed. There are a lot of powerful, strong notes that don't seem to meld together, really. That being said, it's not really a huge knock (represented by my scores) - perhaps with a little big of age on it, this would be a world class old ale.