White Winter Cherry Brackett

White Winter Winery
Formerly brewed at South Shore Brewery/Wilmarths Deepwater Grille
Style: Mead
Iron River, Wisconsin USA

Pours a murky ruby brown with a nice puffy tan head. Sweet cherry grenadine aroma with mild hints of milk chocolate and honey. Thick, rich cherry body has a sticky sweetness and some caramel malt flavor. Finishes very dry, tart and warming. Good complexity throughout, a very nice mead.

Dark red/amber color with a pink/tan fizzy head. Aroma of a cream sherry. Initial oak flavors followed by a cherry cola flavor. Finishing with a dry acidic cherry oak flavor. Light and sparkling on the tongue. Long after the swallow the oak and malt still linger on the buds. I must say I like the products from the brewery. This one, while nothing earth shattering, is is a fun change of pace.

375 ml capped bottle from Rileys in Madison (Oct 2006 and still available in some quantity), served around cellar temperature in a Corsendonk glass. Small hiss when the cap is popped, and a bit of light tan head shows up, fizzing away quickly atop the murky red-tinted brown body....fairly alcoholic, rather odd and unique aroma of must sour cherries and dry honey, tart bready malt and notes of wild and strange yeasts (from the wood aging perhaps?)....body is as alcoholic as expected but with more honey/mead character than the nose promised, similar to some of the higher ABV drier meads, with just light hints of oak-vanilla and very little in the way of cherry fruitiness....fairly thin and watery, rather strong carbonation; an interesting experiment that really doesn’t work that well.

From a bottle at 3F’s DL day 2006. Not sure who to thank. The body was a dark cloudy brown with a thin peach colored head. The aroma was sour cherries with some honey and molasses. The taste was pancakes with molasses. There were hints of the tart cherries. Interesting and highly carbonated.

A 2002 vintage. Picked up a single 375ml bottle from Riley’s Wines in Madison, Wisconsin. Pours a semi-hazy caramel amber brew with a fast dissolving off-white head that leaves behind a thin off-white ring and film top. Aroma of light toffee, molasses, caramel malt and a touch of sweet cherries. Taste is medium bodied, well carbonated, with flavors of dark malt, roasted nuts, honey, some pitted dark fruits and some tart cherries. Finish is slightly dry with some yeast, oak and tart berry aftertaste. Even some powdery malt character. Alcohol is quite present in this beverage.

14 oz. bottle. Poured a hazy, deep purplish/ruby/brown with a ring of beige head... left a lotta crud at the bottom of the bottle. Very fragrant aroma of heavy vinous notes, sherry, tart cherries, and a hint of oak. First impression on the palate was that this was more carbonated than I had expected... but it certainly worked. Tart sherry and cherry notes surrounded the tongue, with burnt oak coming through in the end. Finish was rather tacky, and felt like i had been chewing on a piece of an old sherry barrel. Honey was conspicuously absent except for some residual stickiness. I certainly enjoyed the change of pace here.

Dark red color with no head. Cherry is the dominant aroma, but oak stands out as well. The oak turns more burnt in the taste, blending in with the vanilla. Unfortunately, the cherry almost disappeared. It’s a tasty enough drink, but missing the honey needed for the mead and the promised cherry.

Bottle purchased at Riley’s in Madison. Poured a clear ruby red color. Head consisted of an off white ring. Aroma was of malty molasses, vanilla, husky grain, and whiffs of alcohol and cherry. Fruity and slightly sweet on the tongue. There was a distinct, but modest tart cherry flavor accompanied by an oaky note. For all you wine lovers out there, it actually tasted a bit like a weak version of a fruity California red; ala pinot noir or red zinfandel. Pretty tasty.