Tag Archives: Winter

Ommegang Lovely, Dark, and Deep

Leave a reply

ommegang-lovely-dark-and-deep

Lovely, Dark and Deep is a winter seasonal oatmeal stout from Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown, NY. The nose has coffee, toffee, and a bit of cocoa. The middle is silky smooth as you’d expect from a oatmeal stout, with chocolate, a bit of orange, and oats, of course. The finish is milky and sweet, with a bit of coffee coming back at the end. The body is medium and the alcohol is a pleasant 5.3% ABV. Oatmeal stouts are one of my favorite styles, and this is a lovely example.

I give it a 4.3 out of 5.

Stone Xocoveza

Leave a reply

stone-xocoveza

We’ve had a bit of a cold snap here, with lows dipping into the high 20s for the first time this fall. That makes for a lovely excuse to break out a bottle of Xocoveza, a winter-spiced mocha stout from Stone. Being based in San Diego, I’m not sure what Stone actually knows about winter, but they sure do know their way around a winter brew. This particularly recipe includes cocoa, coffee, peppers, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix all that up in a beer, and what comes out is liquid deliciousness. The cinnamon, nutmeg, and cocoa are strongly present in the nose. The head is creamy and hangs around for quite awhile. The middle is pure mocha, milky with notes of chocolate and coffee throughout. The peppers are very understated and there is just a tiny hint of a spicy bit in the finish, muted by vanilla. The body is medium and the alcohol is a relatively strong 8.1% ABV. A fabulously flavorful and wonderfully executed beer that might be my new point of reference for a winter stout.

I give it a 4.8 out of 5.

Samuel Adams Juniper IPA

2 Replies

samuel-adams-juniper-ipa

 

A new winter seasonal for this year, Juniper IPA is exactly as it sounds: An American IPA with the addition of Juniper berries to give some additional flavor. I like IPAs, and I like juniper, (well, I like gin anyway, which is the same thing as liking juniper) so what could go wrong? Not much, it turns out. This is a nice, classic IPA, and juniper gives it a bit of a west-coast piney twist and a bit of pepper. It’s pretty highly carbonated, which comes off as refreshing. The tasting notes on the bottle claim that the juniper adds “a slightly sweet, piney character” but I really don’t find any sweetness here at all, just pine and spice. To me, that’s not a bad thing, but this is definitely a hop forward beer, so it’s going to be closer to the wheelhouse for IPA fans than for those looking for a sweeter winter treat. There’s also a bit of citrus in the middle, some lemon and some oraange, as you’d expect from an IPA. It has a medium to heavy body, but it’s pretty light on the alcohol at 5.8% ABV, so it’s an easy drinker. I’m really quite impressed with this brew. I think the folks at the Boston Beer Company have a hit with this one.

I give it a 4.3 out of 5.