Smoky Mountain Winter Warmer

Brewed by Smoky Mountain Brewery & Restaurant
Style: Old Ale
Gatlinburg, Tennessee USA

Draught at brewery in Gatlinburg, TN. Pours dark maple brown with a small mostly dissipating tan foamy to rocky head with spotty lacing. Chocolate-light and caramel medium roasted malt (meal) and yeast (leather, sour sweat) aromas with a faint citrus hop nose. Yeasty (leather) and light chocolate medium roasted caramel malt nutty flavor, medium bitter and lightly acidic hop finish. Medium bodied and fizzy, refreshing palate. A very pleasant drinkable ale.

May have been past its prime. Reddish black with a brown head. Nice cinnamon, raisin, licorace, and nutmeg aroma. Very malty, rich with notes of prune and toast. As it warms, though, some serious notes of butterscotch emerge, almost dominating the entire palate. Starts nice, but ended up being difficult to finish.

Pickled, fruity aroma - grapes. Sweet, raisins, bittering is mostly wood and alcohol and comes into the game late. Some blackberry and vanilla. Medium body overall - a little on the syrupy side when cold, thins out as it warms. Finishes out bitter with a little vinegar. Medium ruby brown and clear.

Small thin head that rides over a clear, dark brown body. Sweet rasiny aroma and flavor with little body. Moderate diacetyl. O.k. but this wasn’t half as good as the Appalacian Pale Ale that I switched to for my next one.

A deep amber pour with a thin tan head and foamy lace. A flavor that is sweet malt and an almost apple cinnamon spiceness. This beer fades into a bitter that is pleasant and lasting. A palate that is almost slick with carbonation that is a little much until the beer warms. The carbonation lets up and the flavors really start to come out. One of the better beers I’ve had from here.

Draught. Pours a very dark red with small brownish head. The aroma is sweet and malty with some spices. The flavor is also very malty with some raw barley taste, raisin, some burnt sugar. Kind of coarse, but not bad. It did, however, lose my attention about half way through the glass.

Brown/Copper with tan head. Light, fruity malt aroma. Surprisingly soft on palate, supposedly high in alcohol, although nobody working could answer any questions about abv%'s, or offer proper commercial descriptions for this site's use. Big banana nut bread flavors, soft and fluffy. Alcohol was felt warming my stomach, but barely detectable in the taste.

Draft pint at Calhouns Bearden location. Copper-brown with a nice half-inch of cream that leaves some small spots of soapy lace. Aroma is faint caramel and toasted nut. Flavor is similar with a light-medium body and dryish finish. This brewery has finally made some improvements to its beers and overall lineup in recent years, and this 08-09 winter version is definitely smoother and tastier than years past.