JosephsBrau Winterfest

Brewed by Gordon Biersch Brewing Company
Style: Doppelbock
Palo Alto, California USA

Bottled. Poured a clear, deep reddish-orange with a well-retained creamy cap of beige head. Aroma picked up a very nice array of toasted, lightly-smoked caramel and toffee.. sweet overall with a hint of warmth as it approached room temperature. The flavor was a touch hot from the alcohol, distracting from the enjoyable sweet, smoky maltage.. caramel, lighter chocolate, and a mild woody bitterness in there. The was a touch slick on the palate from the alcohol.. heavier malts pushed back a little bit.. long, warm, and sweet finish was quite nice. Tasty brew!

12 oz bottle. Aroma was like that of a leather couch and also sweet and spicey. Dark body with tan head. Some dopplebocks are too sweet for me but this one wasn;t as sweet and had like a licorice candy flavor to it. Good sipping beer.

Brown, with an off-white head. Aroma is malt, smoke, and a touch of chocolate. Flavor is malt and chocolate. Not bad, but nothing special. Thanks to luiss for this bottle.

Bottle. Dark brown color, thin tan head on the edge. Smokey aroma with a mild chocolate coffee caramel taste.

12oz. Bottle $5.49 6-Pack Winterfest poured crystal clear garnet into my pint glass. Tiny carbonation bubbles rise from random points along the bottom. A top the body sits a dirty white head thats creamy. The head fades to a 1/4" cap. This is a really nice looking beer with the clarity. Surprised to find it that way.Leaves small patchy lacing. Smell is along the lines of a dunkel with a strong smell of banana bread with maraschino cherries. There is big doughy malts along with the breadiness. This beer is loaded with malt. Smells like a meal. Slight wafts of alcohol as it warms. Very nice. Taste is much the same as the smell. The huge amount of doughy chewiness overtakes everyting else. The banana is less in the taste but still present. Pleasant warming alcohol character on the finish. I like this one. Solid. Mouthfeel is the only drawback. Medium bodied but thin. Coats the mouth but could use a little more body or creaminess. Slides through nicely though. Drinkability is good. The thinner mouthfeel actually helps the drinkability. Nice beer to enjoy on a cool evening with the slight warmth it gives off. Winterfest is a surprisingly good beer. Especially for the price. At $5.49 this is hard to beat on value. I wasn’t expecting a beer of this quality from Trader Joes. I picked up their Vintage Ale brewed by Unibroue along with this so I’m looking forward to that. I wouldn’t hesitate to pick this up again. Good find. 12/28/06

Thanks for JK for sharing this one. From a 12-oz bottle, pours a deep copper amber with a short lived off white head. Aroma contains toasted malt and some grain malt. Taste is crisp with hints of raisin, caramel, chocolate and sweet spice. A light hoppy aftertaste. A little better than I was expecting.

Dark brown color with a thin head. Smoky malt aroma. The taste is very similar, with smoked malts, meats, salt and a sweet finish. Very nice.

Dark dark amber color. Sweet malty nose. Carob in the thick malty body.