Sun Valley Cabin Fever Winter Ale

Brewed by Sun Valley Brewing
Style: Scottish Ale
Hailey, Idaho USA

Date: 03/05/2007
Mode: Bottle
Source: Roadtrip

clear dark ruby red, frothy beige head, smokey dark caramel malt aroma, dark caramel malt flavor, lots of smokey character, touch of sweetness, earthy hops, the smoke and earthy hops blend together to create a nice balance,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 12/20
Rating: 3.2/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: *4

12oz bottle via trade with Bück Dich! -Thanks Jordan! - Pours dark brown with a creamy offwhite head taht stays pretty well and laces the sides of the glass in layers. Aromas of nice caramel and toffee, with a touch of smoke. Flavor is nice full caramel malt, toffee, and a touch of smoke and earthy elements. Smooth and creamy in the mouth and full bodied. A touch of spice there on the finish but not overly so. I think this was right on for the style and I wonder why this is rated so low.

This was really hard to drink, but does capture the essence of what a scottish ale should taste like. This has a roasted caramel and smokey bit of peatiness that runs the gamut throughout the enitre session. Herbal hops come through and cut through the sweet malt character in the finish. Decent, but hard to drink.

Bottle: Deep amber, copper hues, moderate off-white head, foamy, fairly nice lacing.   Nutty nose, slight campfire and peat moss.   Charred wood and bandaid on the tongue.   Light semi-sweetened malts round out the backside.   Not sure if its an intended flavor or not, but that bandaid isn’t all that welcomed.   Kind of falls off at the finish.   Moderate body and mouthfeel.   A lighter Scottish Ale.   Thanks Jordan!

Courtesy of Bück Dich <!-- P --> Aroma is dark fruit laced caramel malt with a touch of mild spice. Dark amber body with a diminishing tan head. Smoothe fruit tinged caramel malt in the fore. A bit watery tasting though the mouthfeel is about right. Some faint candy notes in the finish, but mostly just a smooth malty treat.

BottlePours a deep clear mahogany with a huge dense off white head. Light aroma of dark malts and slight spicy tonge as well. Flavor is woody and a bit metallic on the trailer. Light bodied and suprisingly low on the carobonation after seeing the show off of a head. The after taste is decidedly rusty and maybe oxidised. Old bottle maybe. Thanks to Buck Dichfor this one.

Ruby red/copper color with decent lacing. The flavor was nice and malty with even a hint of roastiness on the finish. Herbal hops in the middle all the way. Bück Dich has this one pinned down pretty well.

Tawny, ruby color with an average sized off-white creamy head and a little sticky lacing. The aroma is spicy with some bright herbal hops and a touch of alcohol and dark caramelized malts. The flavor is excellently balanced, not too bitter like some of these winter beers. The spices stand out in the finish and it's very rounded and balanced. This is a very nice winter beer that focuses on the malts like it should. More fig and yeast come forward once it warms up and your palate adjusts; earthy even.