So we are almost back to our normal show. Jim recorded this show from Pittsburgh, so it wasn’t on his computer and it shows. You’ll notice he’s a bit fuzzy and every once in a while you’ll miss a piece of a word. Don’t worry you can still understand what he’s saying. We decided to give you a double shot of YNB this week with two beers to start our Winter Beer Series.
News
There is another merger in the beer world in the past couple weeks. As we heard about several weeks ago, Coors and Miller are coming together for a joint venture in the US to market and distribute their beer, and now it is happening in the craft industry as well. Widmer Brothers and Redhook Brewery’s have agreed to come together and form the Craft Brewing Alliance Company.
Winter Beers
- Now this is a tricky category to wrap your arms around because it can really cover several different beer styles. We have decided to put it all together in one series because once again we are talking about some seasonal beers that aren’t around all year and we need to fit in as many as possible.
- Some of the specific styles we will be talking about include the Winter Warmer which are a little higher in alcohol and sweeter and malty, Belgian Strong Ale, which can be fruity and strong, or even something like a Barelywine, which is sweeter and much higher in alcohol as well.
- In general though, you can expect a Winter Seasonal to be a little bit higher in alcohol to keep you warm on those cold winter nights, a little spicey with possibly some flavors of nutmeg or cinnamon, and further on the malty and sweet side as opposed to the hoppy and bitter side.
Sam Adams Winter Lager and Blue Moon Full Moon
- Well it seems that almost every series that we have we tend to start with Sam Adam’s or Blue Moon and this series is no difference.
- Now we have talked a lot about both breweries but just in case you don’t remember the Blue Moon Brewing Company is actually the Coors Brewing Company and was first started at The Sandlot, the brewpub at Coors Field in Colorado. Some of their products that we have talked about in the past include the Octoberfest and the Belgian White ale.
- Boston Beer Company, also known as Sam Adam’s is based in Boston and makes a hell of a lot of products.
- You should be able to get these products just about everywhere, unless you live
- The Full Moon Winter Ale is a Winter Warmer and weighs in at about 5.6% ABV.
- The Sam Adams Winter Lager is a Bock beer, which is a German lager that is darker in color, typcially an amber color and more malty than hoppy. The ABV on this one is around 5.8% abv which is actually on the low side of things with this one.
- The taste of the Full Moon is pretty straight forward. It has some malty sweetness and a very light bitterness afterwards. I almost want to say that this compares very well with a basic lager. One thing that sticks out about this one though is that there seems to be a little more taste of alcohol in this one.
Next Week
We continue down this Winter Beer path and look at Rouge’s Santa’s Private Reserve. It’s a West Coast beer so you might have to look a little harder to find one.
Your Next Beer 