White Winter Premium Oak Brackett

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

Bottle. Pours black with no head.Strong malted barley aroma with undertones of wood and honey with a little alcohol. Nice and thick to the palate.Flavor has a malty start with a wood % alcohol middle with a semi sweet finish. It’s almost as good as the traditional Brackett.

2004 ABR. I did not know that these guys were affiliated with South Shore Brewery. Are they trying to take over the world? Ok, maybe not. Bourbon barrel aroma. Chocolate milk, caramel. Dark amber, orangish/red in color. No head. Chocolate notes and caramel notes. Wonderfully flavored. I’m not a Mead expert, and this was admittedly almost more a beer than a Mead, but I really liked this stuff.

Aroma: This is definitely a balance between a beer and a mead. Honey is present with fig undertones. Alcohol is present in the nose, 12% beer. Appearance: Ruby Red with Orange hue. Very Clear, could be filtered. Flavor: This is a big beer, with slight warming on the tounge with sweetness in the middle and an alcohol burn in the finish. This "beer" is a nice balance of barley and honey. There are undertones of figs and spice. Some soft oak flavors that linger, almost like a barleywine. Mouthfeel: Awesome, the mouthfeel pours over your tounge like syrup. This braggot has a full body with medium high carbonation. Overall: This braggot is a harmonious blend of mead and beer, with enough sweetness and alcohol to balance it very nicely.

small head, garnet color, definite tart aroma which is not like the taste. Malty, nutty, much stronger than it seems, raiseny, cidery, hint of cherry. Had a bottle tonight aat Bodega.

Sampled this many times at previous brewfests and decided to sit down with this one at Gitchee Gumee. Glimmering clear jello rust. No head, but that is expected of the no carbonation braggot style. Nose is light but largely malty with a high end sweetening of honey and candied melon. Tangy wine-likeness to its presence. Light notes of spicy dry hardwood forest leaves floats past. Intense thick malt of honey and caramel sweetness and super ripe fruits of melon, grapes, apples, and apricot slip inbetween a big oak wood center thats quite tangy and renders a malt vineger without the salt. Dashes of spice and dried leaves spring to life after the winey vinegar flavors start to fade. But what really makes all this sound and taste better is its amazing heft and unimaginable cloying thickness. Its like a syrupy wine. Super heavy, super sticky, and largely cloying. The sweetness is never overly harsh, but it definatley pushes the envelope. Another envelope pusher, yet unmentioned, is the 10%. Oh its there, it sits heavy like everything else but waits til the end to poke its fiery head up out of the thickly sweet vinous murk. Drinkability? Is there such a thing with braggots? So sweet, so thick, soooo cloying and sticky. Sip isn’t the proper word for it. I’ll say slow goin’. Its as drinkable as malt vinegar. You can only handle so much before your taste buds begin screaming for you to stop.

No real head... just some large bubbles. Dirty amber color. Oaky honey, light muffiny chocolate, vinous bacterial acid. I really like the aroma. Taste is a lot of seeminly chocolatey oak; maybe its vanilla, raisins, other vinous notes... I don’t know. The oak starts really strong, but then when you swish it its all good. I like this... its very smooth... not overwhelming, and has the right amount of complexity for me.

Light brown. Sweet honey nose, a bit rubbery. Honey sweetness of the flavor mixes well with some caramel. Dry fruit as well. Very interesting stuff.

Bottle sampled on 8/5/06: Mostly still, viscous dark copper appearance has a thin, wispy-lacing coating of off-white head. Has a nice, complex sweet aged malt and dark honey aroma with some dark fruity notes. Starts with a sweet complex dark caramel and oaky fruity body with some warming alcohol toward the finish. A very enjoyable, complex mead.