Notes on beers in the style
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A beautiful, strong, copper colored body underneath a quite fine array of bubbles forming the head, Some nice lace - it's sticky. Some light to mid-level fruit in the nose. Plenty of fruit in the tastes too, and the beer drinks like a "dark estery...
If I'm honest I had no idea that this beer even existed. It's pretty new, has flown under the radar of many folk, and I believe it may have originally been produced for a festival. I acquired by accident too, when it was used to replace a beer that...
I *think* this is the former Abbaye D'aulne, Christmas Triple Ale rebranded, but I'm not 100% sure. The pour is fine, but the initially nice head fades to not much. No significant lace, although the color is pretty. A clear, garnet hue with a real...
Dark brown pour. Decent thin film, some lace. Nice and malty with a real good dose of spice. The spice is difficult to decipher specifically, but it’s reminiscent of some mace and some cinnamon. With the spice comes some good sweetness, but there’s...
750 mL, capped bottle from Tavour. Categorize this beer as you will, hence my three designations. Pour is a pretty, dark-red brown affair with some good tan head. Some decent lace. Nose is not the greatest, and gives a slightly artificial smell....
This is one of the prettiest beers that I've seen in a while. A truly deep red-brown pour, with a great head and some fantastic lace. Bone white layers are left behind in the glass. Unfortunately, the look is the high-water mark for it. The beer...
A Gingerbread Winter Warmer? Turns out this is a nasty, homebrew recipe that has been re-created by a bunch of folk at Terrapin - HUGE mistake, it's awful by almost any standards. Worrying lack of carbonation. Head terrible, retention and lace are...
Lighter than expected amber color with a head and lace combo which is sufficient to keep me happily engaged. Medium (appropriate) carbonation. The nose is where the special nature of this beer start to manifest themselves. Rich caramel, biscuit...
$1.65 for the 12 oz can from Green's on Buford Highway, Atlanta, GA, USA. A reddish, thin looking body with some brown highlights at the extremities. The head is richer than the body and leaves some nice, dense lace. The beer has very little hint...
22 oz bottle, $10.99 from Arbor Place Beverage, Douglasville, GA, USA. Pour is a murky brown body with average head and lace. Not that enamored with the color or the appearance and it has me a little unhappy. On to the nose and taste. It actually...
22 oz bottle from Hop City, Atlanta, GA, USA. The pour is a very attractive garnet colored pour with a smallish head that eventually forms a light, mocha colored spotty film on the surface of the beer. No lace to speak of. The nose delivers a HUGE...
12 oz single from my annual sixer. Usual presentation. The usual, dark walnut brown pour with plenty of quite rich looking head. Some good looking lace as usual and the beer looks its usual, rich color. All of the expected and normal herbal,...
Purchased form Sam the Beer Man in Binghamton, NY in summer of 2010. 750 mL bottle, $8.99, Corked & Caged. Murky brown pour with a fair amount of yeasty sediment but a nice presentation in the glass. Good head forms, with a thick, mocha color and...
2008 vintage that is approx. 1 year old (I purchased my usual, 2009 sixer a couple of days ago). The usual Anchor code, 8OU dot-matrixed on this baby. Nice, mocha colored head on top of the usual dark brown, garnet body. Head...
12 oz single bottle. Winter Warmer??? I thought it was more like an American IPA. Dark, mahogany pour with good clarity in the body. Head is small and clears quickly to give a thin, off-white collar and some film on the surface of the beer. Nose...
Pictured at Taco Mac, 03/24/22 Original notes 07/16/09 12 oz single from a recent trade. 2008 vintage. I've been waiting on this beer for sometime. Delighted to get the chance to drink it. The pour is just the way I like it; it has that noisy,...
12 oz single from Green's on Buford, Atlanta, GA, USA. $1.85 for the single bottle. One of my favorite styles from a reliable brewery - has potential to be a good combo. Chestnut colored pour with a nice head that falls back to give some nice lace...
12 oz single from Tower on Piedmont. $2.99 for the pleasure. Well, the marriage of these three breweries certainly makes for an intriguing combination, but at the same time it makes me a little nervous. Jolly Pumpkin has been very hit and miss for...
$1.69, 12oz single from Charleston Beer Exchange, Charleston, SC, USA. Nice looking copper colored body with light lace and some fine, tan head that falls back to give a ring of lace and some fine bubbles. Looks good. Light, buttered and toasty...
Relatively new entrant to the GA market, I picked this one up for $4.99 at Tower on Piedmont, Atlanta, GA, USA. 500 mL bottle, "F10 288" on the label. I'm not really sure what a "XMAS English Ale" is, but here we go. Pour has gold clarity with a...
2008 version. 12oz bottle from Total Wine at Perimeter, Atlanta, GA, USA. Pour is a dark, garnet body with an ivory head and plenty of sticky lace. Good looking. Nose is very bland. Lacks anything other than a little malt. Disappointing. Tastes are...
This is a beer that I have been wanting to try for a number of years now, and although Bridgeport has been in GA for a number of years, this is the first year that this seasonal has made it here. 12oz bottle, Taco Mac, Marietta, GA, USA. Murky...
16 oz pint at Taco Mac on the East West Connector, Austell, GA, USA. Having tried a few of the RJ Rockers line so far (and been impressed) I was happy to see this and keen to give it a whirl. Pour is somewhat ordinary looking in terms of color (a...
16oz pint on tap at Taco Mac, Douglasville, GA, USA. Interesting one this. The first pint that I was given had a very nasty, plastic taste about it. I was pretty sure it was line cleaner which is ironic given what the line cleaner is supposed to...
What a delightful find. A cask beer! Unusual enough in this part of the world, but being in the style of a Winter Warmer makes this a exciting brew to stumble across. Two, 8oz half-pint pours at $1.80 each during Happy Hour. Great garnet color with...
Updated Review 03/09 Bottle still in the circular rather than the oval style from Bullock's, Marietta, GA, USA. $1.19 for 500 mL on sale. Jubbly. Pour remains resplendent with the head, lace and color exceptional. Still full of malty goodness with...
$3.99 from Arbor Place Beverage, Douglasville, GA, USA. 1 Pt 0.9 oz (US) - 500 mL bottle. Has the updated Young's logo. Not a Winter Warmer in the US sense of the style, this is a simple, but delicious malty and caramel based ESB/Bitter/Brown Ale...
500 mL bottle, different (updated?) label to the BA database. Very simple, subtle, malty classic English ESB style (not Winter Warmer IMO) bitter. Lots of biscuit malts (Digestive and caramel) with a smattering of hop character over the top. Mildly...
$4.95, VERY substantial 500 mL bottle, Green's, Buford Highway, Atlanta, GA, USA. Pretty unusual beer. First off, it pours and smells like a pretty standard, English Pale Ale, bottle-conditioned offering that we get in the USA. One difference,...
Picked this up as a single 12 oz at Mac's Downtown, Atlanta, GA, USA. I've not seen this in Atlanta before (in any form) so I was pleased to be able to get hold of it. Nice looking clear amber pour with an impressive pillowy, ivory head, a spotty...
Additional notes 03/08/24 (pictured) This is an older vintage since the label has changed these days, but no way to know from the label. It was purchased in 2023. The ABV is at 7.5 on this bottle, I'm not sure if that varies annually, but note that...
22 oz bomber, Green's, Buford, Atlanta, GA, USA. Lovely dark brown and noisy pour with a massive nose emanating across the room. All the spices are there, nutmeg though cinnamon through all spice through orange zest. Delicious. Tastes are all the...
$4.25, 12 oz single, Taco Mac, Decatur, GA, USA. Also as part of a $6.99 mixed sixer from Mac's, Atlanta, GA, USA! Potentially one of the better/best of the Flying Dog range. Great dark brown/garnet color with a nice size head and plenty of lace. A...
Well this is a very odd beast. Bought as a single stubbie from Green's, Ponce de Leon, Atlanta, GA, USA. Pours like an American strong ale - reminiscent of a Double Bastard. Hazed amber body with a dense, light coffee colored head and some decent...
On tap, East-West Connector Taco Mac. As usual, served too cold. The usual "coke like" pour with burgandy highlights at the edges. Very small head and some lacing, but the lacing seemed a little thin. Lack of substantial body also reflected in the...
2006 version with a new look. 12 oz single, Liquor Barn, Lexington, KY, USA. Very disappointing Winter Warmer, but a nice Brown Ale! Pour is basically solid brown wih some head and a little lacing. Lacks the red highlights that sometimes accompany...
Even better on draft than in the bottle. I like this because of the sweetness and the vanilla character. Many will not like this much, probably for one of several reasons not least of all being the fact it is an AB product. I'm over that, and I...
Additional notes 06/22/24 (Pictured) 2023 Vintage. 16 years on ... I don't know if the recipe has evolved over the years, but I do get a lot more of the cinnamon, ginger and honey that are noted on this version of the beer. Definitely quite highly...
12 oz bottle purchased as a single from Mac's, Atlanta, GA, USA. "Born on" Oct 13 2006. Blue and White main and neck labels, "Limited Edition, Seasonal Brew", featuring the Snowman character lifting a glass of the beer. Nice looking copper colored...
2004 Vintage at 10 years old My experiment in terms of cellaring beer has long been over, but there remains the small matter of trying to drink down the once 1000+ bottles that resided there. This beer is an interesting one to me, since it has hit...
2009 Vintage - on tap, Taco Mac, Douglasville, GA, USA. Again less spice than some of the first vintages and this year more licorice flavors. Still drinking well though. === 2006 Vintage - on tap. Taco Mac Linbergh City Center, $4.50. Still the...
Great tawny brown, deep colored pour with a big head, nice lacing and some decent retention. Aroma is alcoholic and acidic fruit. Tastes are dark fruits (figs, plums, raisins) but there is a strong brandy alcohol presence too. Definite huge malts...
A surprisingly brown beer, that lacked the ruby red highlights that the style often has. Some head, but poor retention and almost no lace. Obviously malt based with some spicy overtones, perhaps some ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon, but whatever spices...
Part of the mixed 12 pack from Saranac. Nice looking pour, a red body that is very, very clear and is topped by a bone white head, but it doesn't last long and as a result there is not much lacing. Aroma is a diluted cinnamon. Taste is a little...
Deep, deep dark colors of varying hues, but dominating by an ultra attractive ruby highlight package toward the bottom of the glass. Some head and a little lacing, but not big. The beer is fruity, alcoholic, mild, port-like and has great depth. In...
Updated notes 11/19/06 This gets better every time that I drink it. Even more smoothness than I remember, more rounded, more port like and sherry aftertastes, it gives me a warm glow inside. Delicious. Much darker pour that I remember in years...
Dark chestnut hue with some red highlights too. Minimal head but nevertheless some decent lacing. A little bit of hop aroma but really very little. Taste is a dry hop with a little spice. For a winter warmer this is very subdued but still very...
Additional notes 11/06/21 After a hiatus Fezzy is back in what used to called the Winter Sampler Pack but now carries a new name. Label has changed, and this is the beer pictured here. The beer seems cleaner than it has been in the past which might...
Updated Review 11/07 2007 Vintage. Bought this at GSO Wine Warehouse on a recent trip to Greensboro, NC, USA. $4.49 for the 22 oz bottle, purchased on the day of release. I resisted the temptation to buy the larger, flip top growler type bottle...
Nice, if somewhat reserved Winter Warmer. Pour is standard, with a decent red/brown color, nice head and a little lacing. Mouthfeel and body are both pretty light, and I found the spices really rather reserved. Unlike some of this style, this is a...
Ruby red to dark brown with a somewhat flat appearance. Not much in the way of carbonation, so obviously little or no head and not much lacing. Defiite aroma's of toast, but malt sweetness is there too. Not many hops until the finish and then they...
Definite, dark coffee undertones make this beer a real winter warmer. Quite heavy in terms of hops and bitterness, most certainly not a light beer in any way shape or form. Really dense, black body and a lively tan head make it look like it tastes....
Updated Review 01/08 Bottled. Part of a recent 03-07 vertical. This was the sweetest of the vertical with the usual notes but oxidation being prevelant. Enjoyable at four years old. Original Review 12/04 Taco Mac, Marietta, GA, $4.25. Very nice....
2025-2026 05/27/26 In May, possibly a little past its best. A touch more bitterness than usual, but still delicious. 2022-2023 (pictured) 11/26/2022 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II commemorative edition. So, so flavorful as always, but if it's...