White Winter Traditional Brackett

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

Approximately 1.5 oz. sample at the Grand Tasting of the RateBeer Summer Gathering 2007 in the Twin Cities, MN on July 23, 2007. This was the third of 26 "beers" that I sampled and rated during the tasting. I’m about to confess something that is going to make me look pretty stupid: I did not know this was a mead when I tried this. I just thought it was a honey-flavored beer. Please take that into account when you read the review. If I had any clue I was drinking a mead, I might well have reacted differently to it. It’s funny that, as far as I know, this was my first mead ever, and I didn’t even know it. Anyway... <P>Honey dominates the aroma. One dimensional, but nice. Pours a clear, gold-tinted amber/bronze with a small amount of near white head. Surprisingly bitter base. Tastes almost like a honey-flavored pale ale. If I didn’t know better, and I didn’t at the time I tried it, I would have called it hoppy. Too sweet for me. Odd, almost sour finish. Light to medium body. Smooth and frothy in the palate.

sweet, burnt, malty aroma. amber with sufficient head... laces the glass nicely. tastes like...... a bitter apple core. sweetness up front, then a prolonged apple-seed-like bitterness which lingers in the mouth for quite some time. sort of unfair to compare this braggot to traditional, uncarbonated mead. its much better than the style percentile would indicate.

The Dan Journal #6. 12oz bottle. Beautiful deep dark amber hue. Bubbling from the bottom of the glass. Clinging white head. Aromas of mulled wine and honey. Vinuous and dark fruits. Blackberries and a lot of cooked cherries. Bready almost brownie aroma. A real beauty! A million taste sensations. Initially lively with a sweet cloying alcohol burn. Pruney flavors. Also notes of citrus orange and grapefruit. Bittersweet chocolate and a creamy cinnamon flavor. Sweet frothy finish. Dessert in a bottle. I haven’t had many meads, but this one blew me away. Much better than the rating!

12oz. Bottle This is my first expierence with a braggot. I’m looking forward to it. Poured into a snifter after letting warm for about 10 minutes. A big billowy frothy head poked above the rim of my glass and very slowly faded leaving sticky lacing in its path. As the head faded it turned rocky and craggy. This all on top of a glowing slightly hazed amber body. Rising carbonation in streams from all over. After describing the appearence the head is still over 1 finger and staying put. The smell is very interesting and enjoyable. Wasn’t really all that sure what to expect. There is a subtle honey note thats soft and in the background. I’m picking up a little fruit that seems to be white grapes and occasionally even some oak. The honey adds a sweetness the more this one warms. Toward the end I pick up an earthiness reminiscent of damp soil and a mild hop spiciness. There is even some toffee in there. Seems like I get something different each time. Now after some time in the glass I’m picking up a lot of tart green apple. Complex. Nice. The flavor is very mellow. All the flavors seem to be in harmony with each other. Everything in the nose is detected at some point or another in the taste. Grapes and a mild honey sweetness go very nicely together. A subtle toffee flavor also goes really nicely with the earthiness. Spicy hops barely leave a tingle on the tongue. Finishes off with a toffee sweetness that lingers momentarily. All in all this is a subtle complex braggot. I really have to work to pull out all the different flavors but it is definately worth it. My only complaint is that the flavors just don’t last long enough. The mouthfeel really impresses me. This braggot enters your mouth in liquid form but somewhere between mid-palate and the finish it turns into some sort of sea foam. There is no sign of swallowing a liquid. I have never drank anything before that makes that abrupt of a transition. Somehow it does it very well. The only problem with the mouthfeel is that it pushes the flavors through a little faster than they should be. Otherwise it’s a pretty cool expierence. This is something I would only drink one at a time. It feels more along the lines of a special occasion libation. When I am drinking it it goes down very easy. This was a really nice surprise. If I see this again I will definately pick up some more. A good way to get my feet wet with braggot. This is much better than I expected with many complexities. I believe you could share this with beer and wine drinkers with good results. I believe I picked this up for $1.99 a bottle. 12/31/06

Bottle from Matt Capone. Deep coppery ruby pour with minimal lacing. Aroma of caramel malt, Wheaties, tart fruit, honey. Tastes cereally malty, with honey, corn flakes, fruit, apple, pear. The fruit is tart up front, with the honey kicking in at the end.

12 oz bottle. Poured a clear dark orange-red color. Head was off white and reduced to a lasting thin film. There was a little lace left on the glass at the end. Strong malty aroma with a hint of fruit; like milk chocolate covered cherries and malted milk balls. Flavor is similarly big and malty. I tasted some molasses, vanilla, chocolate, and a hint of alcohol. I liked this one better than the oak bracket version.

My first brackett - It pours a deep brownish amber with a very short lived, slender & bubbly head. Smells nice, midly sweet cherries, honey, vanilla, and a light nutty bitterness. The bitterness increases slightly in the flavor and the honey gets a bit waxy, but the cherry & vanilla tastes remain steady. At a low ABV - for a mead - this is a very drinkable brew for a change of pace.

<font size=-4><a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Wine and Spirits, Moline, IL<font size=-1>

Teh body is a fairly dark amber with a medium khaki colored head. The aroma has some cherries and some boozy vanilla. There are also pears and some cinnamon. A nice and sweet fruity nose. The taste has some dry honey along with almonds and a hint of cough syrup. There is a bit of menthol in the finish. Interesting and different. A little more sweet than I was expecting after having a couple others in the style from this brewer.