Not in the mood to do a full review so I’ll keep it brief:
It’s good. Tastes like what an IPA should taste like. Nice hoppy finish and a smooth taste. Stegmaier brewery was definitely the better of the two breweries I received this month.
ALC/VOL: 7.2%
Color: Amber/brown with reddish hue
Smell: This beer smells very fruity, primarily grapefruit citrus with apple and lightly spiced with cinnamon. Maple syrup makes up the sweet sugary smell.
Feel: This feels very smooth and crisp. Not overly carbonated or bubbly.
Taste: Primarily a well balanced brown ale. Not overly spiced and seasoned like most winter beers. If it weren’t named Winter Warmer, it could very easily be a year round brew similar to Fat Tire or Moose Drool. The bitterness is moderate with a strong malty flavor. It tastes almost like a cinnamon apple pie. The grapefruit aroma is also present in the overtones of this beer. The aftertaste has a short hoppy bite with strong taste of alcohol finishing it off. Overall: A very tasty beer from a brewery over 150 years old, that I’ve never heard of. After tasting this, I’m looking forward to also trying out their IPA that I also received. As mentioned earlier, this is more of an every day beer as opposed to a strict winter ale. Definitely worth drinking in my opinion.
For Christmas, the wife and I received a beer of the month subscription from our BFF, Emily.
We received our first shipment this week. 12 beers, 4 different types from 2 different breweries. The club is meant to introduce people to beer from small breweries in the country that only distribute locally. Not surprisingly, I’ve never heard of either brewery I received this month.
Mendocino Brewery is based in California and has been brewing beer since the 80’s. The extent of their success is mostly winning a few awards at California state fairs.
Second, Stegmaier Brewery is based in Pennsylvania. This company was founded in the mid 1800s by a German immigrant. Needless to say, I’m a bit more excited to try this brewer’s beer.
I’ve never written a beer review before. I’m going to start by trying to review all of the beers I receive from my 3 month subscription. This should be interesting…