Summit Winter Ale Review

Name: Summit Winter Ale
Style: Winter Warmer
ABV: 5.9%

Winter has come to Minnesota and that could mean only one thing: Winter Seasonals! And since we had a terrible blizzard annihilate us this week, what better way to commemorate the arrival of winter than with a Summit Brewing's Winter Ale!

Summit Winter Ale pours a dark clear brown color with a semi-fluffy head, sparse lacing and some light visible carbonation.

The nose starts things off with some spice and caramel malts and in the back are toffee, vanilla and some mild hoppiness. Reminds me a bit of vanilla porter....almost!

The flavor has more of a chocolate taste along with roasted barley, toffee, yeasts and mild hoppiness. For a winter warmer, it's somewhat complex and quite vibrant for what it is.

The body is pretty lightweight and it's mildly carbonation so it's quite easy on the palate.

In terms of Winter Seasonals (that aren't of limited release), this is one is pretty good. Mind you I'm more inclined to their regular year-round line-up but this one is quite solid.

Summit Winter Ale - 8/10

Boulder Beer Never Summer Ale Review

Name: Boulder Beer Never Summer Ale 
Style: Winter Warmer
ABV: 6.5%

I was going to continue my Sam Adams Spring Sampler reviews tonight, until I stumbled across a beer in my fridge from one of the mix-a-six packs I got over this winter. I'll admit I almost forgot about the Bell's Third Coast Old Ale sitting in my fridge earlier this winter until I saw it starting at me on the shelf, like it was telling me "Did you forget about me, Nick? How could you?!!"

Forgetfulness aside, it'll be nice to finally get this out of the way. The last thing I really want is a beer to goto waste. For this review, I have Boulder Beer's Never Summer Ale which is their Winter Wamer style ale.

The beer is dark brown and has a fairly light density head. The lacing it leaves behind is very bountiful and sticky.

The nose has your typical Caramel, Yeasts and Malty notes you'd expect from a Winter Warmer style beer; However this one has a rather strong floral hop profile, interesting for a Winter Warmer style but not unheard of.

Like the smell, it has a caramel sweetness along with some piney hops and malts. I really am not digging the resin-like aftertaste I am getting from the flavor though. It isn't enough to ruin the flavor but it definitely hurts it.

The only thing this beer does perfectly is it's body: It's VERY creamy and smooth, almost like I'm having this on-draught or on-tap. This is an incredibly smooth and easy beer to drink when it comes to the body.

If only the flavor were as good as the body. If the flavor weren't so off balance and on par with the body, this would be an incredible beer! Oh well, at least we have summer to look forward to!

Boulder Beer Never Summer Ale - 6/10