Alaskan Winter Ale

Brewed by Alaskan Brewing Co
Style: Old Ale
Juneau, Alaska USA

A nice ale with hints of citrus, malts, caramels, and something that was bittersweet. Could have been the spruce, but not quite sure. The orange/amber color is a bit deceiving, it tastes darker. Decent brew, but not outstanding.

Bright orange; little white head. Not resiny nose, but indeed, fresh (spruce?) tips, and sweet malts behind it, and some caramel. Caramel taste, reduced orange juice gravy with a spiciness that is only spruce retronasal, some orangezest. Syrupy, without any cloying, near refreshing. This is definitely one of the better tries from Alaskan. Why don’t they advertise this a bit more?

12 oz bottle courtesy of Larry Pitonka (Feb 2006), cellar temperature service in a Unibroue stem glass. Pale, oily, slightly bubbly amber body topped by a small fizzy diminishing white cap....quite spicy nose is certainly sprucy, but I detect mint and licorice also, bubblegum and cherry....fairly odd, and somewhat plastic and artificial, but interesting and not lacking in intrigue....on the tongue there is a woody character immediately, almost a saplike consistency, with twiggy, rustic hops and a light pale malt base to things, not quite enough to support the intense spiciness, though a light honey sweetness helps out matters....finish is quite dry, somewhat lactic and sour. Carbonation low to moderate; this is a strange bird that would not I’d think have much appeal to those afraid of heavy spicing....luckily, that’s not me and I enjoy it, though I certainly can’t imagine drinking it often or in quantity. Thanks again Andre.

A deep, reddish, orange beer, with a light, white head. A very sweet, malty nose with a slightly oily hint to it! There is a caramelled touch to the finish. The flavour follows the nose with the sweet malty tones, caramel and a slight hint of liquorice. The finish is smooth, slightly cloying.

12 oz bottle, via acertain. Pours a dark copper with virtually no head at all. Sweet malty and spiced aroma, some toffee and iced tea notes. Flavor is sweet caramel malt with a subtle spiced finish. I don’t really get any spruce flavor per se, but the spicing is unique. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with fine, fizzy carbonation. Slightly sticky and cloying finish. Overall, an average beer, the spicing is unique and not overpowering like many holiday beers at least.

Bottle: poured brown with a medium sized tan head. Aroma of sweet malt but I sure didn’t get the spruce thing. Flavor was mild with notes of choclate and a light bit of hairspray. Pretty good beer but nothing outstanding.

12oz bottle:Pours a very light brown tan color, averade head. One thing i was hopeing for but couldn’t tast much of the spruce. It was Fair.

Bottle, from Brown Jug Famous Liquor. Good nose, sweet. Nutty, fruity, yeasty. Little cocoa. Kind of grainy. Clean orangy copper color, good head that faded to a ring. Minor lacing. Bitter flavors, like aroma. Nice malt streak, caramel/cocoa. Medium body, lite cream oily mouthfeel, bittersweet finish. I kept thinking octoberfest, go figure. I enjoyed it. Somehow the whole was more than it’s parts.