Butte Creek Winter Ale

Formerly brewed at Butte Creek Brewing Company
Style: Brown Ale
Chico, California USA

(12 oz bottle: $1.29 at Holiday Wine Cellar in Escondido, CA) My first bottle from Whole Foods was too nasty to rate, and down the drain it went. But I found a bottle at my favorite "local" beer/wine store today, so I’m happy to have a second shot at it. First impression: wow, this is a pretty roasty brown ale! You can smell the roast in the nose and taste it in the first sip. But it’s a weird beer in that it’s also very grainy; in my experience, roasty and grainy aren’t often used together to describe a beer’s flavor. Roasty, yes, but it has a roasted coffee flavor mixed with chocolate. It’s also somewhat spicy and moderately bitter, and both provide a nice balance. Spicy roast, grain, and light chocolate in the nose. The body is surprisingly heavy for the style, showing a fair amount of viscosity. Beautiful mahogany in color, but the small light tan head doesn’t show much retention, fading to a ring before long. No lacing either. So, pretty decent overall, but certainly atypical of brown ales in general.

Poured a dvery dark brown with a ruby tint and a small beige head. Aroma is malty sweet caramel, nutty, and a little chocolate. Flavor is malty some more chocolate and nuts. Moderately bitter semi-dry finish. Not bad.

Bottled. Pours a medium amber color with foam taking up about 90% of the glass. Way too bubbly for my liking. A little chocolate and roasted malts in there. Maybe a hint of spice.

No one with a heart can turn down a bottle of this Winter Ale. The label that adorns this rather plain beer is a lovable, cheerful bear. With bottle in hand he braves the winter cold to wade out into the frigid waters of the lake to give you, the privileged drinker, a beary thumbs up. What’s more, his wilted night cap makes it looks like he just woke up from a nap. Poor fellow went through all this work, the least you can do is drink his beer. I’d rather say it’s the most you can do, because it’s not really that special as far as I’m concerned. I appreciated the opportunity to try a Brown Ale to compare against the taste of Stouts, but this Brown Ale simply doesn’t do it for me. The color is a solid dark brown, with no real foam. The aroma is very salty and savory, bordering steak sauce. The beer tastes salty too, with some nuts and coffee bitterness. I suppose it’s that damnable coffee bean that gets me every time, but I simply cannot swallow down these burnt coffee bean beers without some effort. Aside from these tastes the Winter Ale is sort of bland, unexceptional and not unlike licking a rock. But I just keep coming back for that little ol’ bear on the front, whose tireless attempts to bring a little furry cheer to the wintry months give this beer all the grace it has.

poured a murky brown with a creamy white head.aroma is chocolate roasted nuts.flavor is a nutty chocolate as well.yet another nice winter ale.

Aroma:cooked vegetable,caramel... Appearance:dark brown,good head... Flavor:caramel cooked vegetable,rosted malt...

Dark reddish- brown color with a small but creamy head. Sweet-malty aromas and hints at brown sugar. Rich, full flavors of sticky toffee, chocolate and fruit. The finish is slightly sour with a sharp hop aspect. The hops are subtle and balance the sweet malty finish nicely. Pretty good stuff.

dark brown body with a thin white ring of head, i’m not sure whether the is label scary or just lame, either way it makes me feel uneasy and worries me a little, just in th eback of my mind and i’ll forget about it but then all of a sudden i remember it and all is lost, what with its floppy ill fitting cotton night cap and melting fur all standing in a pool of green un freezable liquids, oh i despise you furry beast, with your rich piney flavor and your sweet syrupy nose, creamy, oh you are delicious you murderous criminal of common trick and foolery