Alaskan Winter Ale

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

Hmm. On one hand, they shouldn’t call it an Olde Ale, because it doesn’t measure up to the more expensive Fourth Dementias and Curmudgeons and Third Coasts out there. On the other hand, the commercial description isn’t plastered all over the packaging, so most people don’t think they’re buying one. Transparent golden amber, white head with below average retention and minimal lacing. Somewhat weak aroma of lager-like cereal grassiness and metal from a wet basement. A little more complex with a longer flavor profile than a lager (hint of sweet, then nice crisp bitter, then clean finish), but not terribly more enjoyable than a lager. The first sip is the point of diminishing returns. I liked each next sip a little bit less. I like flavors to hit me across the head, and this one doesn’t. Probably a one-time purchase. Far as Alaskan goes, not much beyond the Barleywine, Smoked Porter and Stout (& maybe the Baltic Porter and ESB) win my applause.

Pours golden orange with a fluffy off white head. The aroma is dusty hops with some spices and toffee. The flavor is sweet with some bubblegum and spice. The finish brings in the spruce like bitterness. Kind of thin.

Poured a very clear golden color with small white head. Spicy malty aroma. Taste is very similar to the aroma. Very crisp. Just your average winter beer nothing special.

12 oz bottle. Smells sugary. Pours brownish amber with a fast-disappearing head, moderate lacing. Tastes like cotton candy--strange. A little thin and watery. Another winter beer that goes against the grain. This I respect. Still, this is no masterpiece.

12 oz. bottle- pours red amber with average lacing, aroma is almost candy like, different. The flavor is the same, sweet, like candy. Not sure if I taste spruce tips, maybe, but if I hadn’t of read it on the label I never would have guessed, unless spruce tips taste like candy. Overall and above average winter brew.

I keep getting disappointed by Alaskan’s beers. They seem to feel a bit out of whack. This beer tastes somewhat like spruce, but it’s not an altogether pleasant taste and I don’t really get why it’s there. The beer isn’t rich or balanced enough to take on the spruce flavor. Alaskan calls it an English old ale, which sets it up for some unfortunate comparisons as there are some very big and excellent old ales out there. That’s a refined category of subtle, hand-crafted ales. This beer is none of those things. Oh, it’s not a bad beer. It just borders on mediocrity. There’s some sweet malt and some mild hops with a touch of spice. Nothing really comes together, though. The taste is not balanced to begin with, and the spruce just further knocks things off course. The individual flavors are all pretty good. They just don’t really work together for my palate. This beer is trying too hard at being a winter seasonal and needs to work on just being good beer.

22oz bomber. Pours a dark, clear copper with a light yellow head that disappears in a couple minutes leaving a slight, dense foam on the surface. Aroma is floral with pine notes and sweet, sugary malt. Pleasant overall but not particularly strong. Flavor is sweet, with a taste of brown sugar, with a bit of spicy bitterness. Short, bitter finish with slight lingering sweetness. Medium bodied and rather soft on carbonation. Not a bad beer at all, but not one that I’ll be rushing out to purchase again, either.

the aroma is the star of the show here. smells nice and fruity, sprucey with a nice warming bit. but not much head on the pour, flavor is very mild, and the palate is fairly watery. a nice offering as a winter session beer, the price point is great at $3/22.