James Page Winter Warmer Ale

Formerly brewed at Stevens Point Brewery
Style: American Strong Ale
Stevens Point, Wisconsin USA

Clear, reddish-amber hue, with a fresh, creamy froth atop. Aroma: nice and malty, yeasty, some definite spiciness, hints of fruit and nuts. Taste: Minor hops buzz, rich taste, good flavor, but unfortunately a bit thin in the mouthfeel. Fruity tones remain on top of the palate, and lightly fade. Not a bad winter brew, but not as good as I'd like.

smells very hoppy-- almost like wort during the boil. a very fresh odor. initial taste of hops that give way to a nice malty flavors, though a tad bit irony. thin and bubbly. good enough.

Bottle. Very complex, can't pull out all the flavors. Malt is obvious, but there seem to be oranges, and other fruits in it as well. A slight wood taste as well. I think I found some hints of the typical cinnamon and spice of winter brews. Medium body. Very nice offering from James Page.

Mahogany with a short lasting head. Fruity and malty aroma. Interesting complex taste. Flavour seems to have oranges, woodiness and even a little chocolate in addition to the obvious malt. Not much bitterness and is a little thin. Slikwily is responsible for my previous three raves.

This brew from SlikWily poured a large head of foamy finely sized light brown colored long lasting bubbles that left behind a fair lace. The body was carbontated and brown in color. The aroma was nice with a mild vinuous caramel malt tone to it. The mouth feel was smooth and slightly tingly. I found myself expecting more from a "Winter Warmer" as it did not warm me up enough and lacked enough vinuousness for the name. It also had a mild caramel malt flavor.

Bottle pours an attractive red with a nice creamy looking head that dissipated leaving little lace. The aroma is malty, but also yeasty with just a touch of hop. The flavor is spicy, rich malt, but somewhat yeasty(?), like a Belgian winter seasonal. The palate is a bit thin, but it does not disappoint. Overall, it is not bad. Since I have a six, I will re-rate as needed in order to see what the hell I was thinking. Re-rate: Not as yeasty as I thought. Strike the comparison to a Belgian. This is a spicy ASA that works pretty well.

I also am of the opinion that this is not a "full-bodied" beer. It is medium bodied at best. The head was small sized, ivory, and creamy and smooth with fine-small sized bubbles that mostly diminished. The body was mostly transparent with fast rising carbonation and a reddish hue. The nose was malty, light hops, spicy and some cinammon notes. The flavor was malty, caramel and spicy notes with a smooth and dry mouthfeel. This beer had average lacing.

I've noticed a trend. When a brewery feels like they need to put "full-bodied" on the label, it is more an effort to convince rather than a testament to the beer itself. Nonetheless, it was a fairly good winter warmer. The aroma was very spicy, similar to pumpkin pie but not over the top a la DFH's Punkin. Cinnamon, nutmeg, hint of ginger. Bready malts mingled with the rich fruits. Medium-bodied. Slikwily, thank you. I think your homebrew winter warmer is better though.