Hibernation Winter Ale
Ham's Restaurant & Brewhouse

Ham's Master Brewer T.L. wouldn't pigeonhole this brew as any sort of "style", instead just calling it "...just a simple little beer...", he said, with a few details about the construction of the stuff added in. I designated it an Amber/Red Ale here on BA just for the hell of it, and it is "amber", sort of, but this "simple beer"-- made with 2-row pale, a handful of this, a little Munich, a little Black malt, a pinch of that, a shit-ton of Amarillo in the boil and the dry-hop, and did T.L. say ??? Centennial, *something*, and Simcoe hops, too?!? Wait just a damned minute here! This thing is one hoppy sonofagun, with a beefy ABV... is it an IPA in Winter Warmer camouflage?!

Whatever the ingredient bill, the resultant brew damned fine, and poured from a fresh growler into a large tulip glass, "Ham's Hibernation Winter Ale" is a hazy honey-red amber with a creamy cap of stained ivory foam atop. The head puffs up fat and sticky before reducing to a webby, bubbly ring that deposits fine, wispy lacing on the glass.

The smell is fresh and floral with tangy grapefruit, crushed Key Lime and sweet orange. A deep, dark green, wicked-sharp and delightfully-sticky note of pine resin candy sprinkled with dank hemp pervades the aroma, and a fine dark malty note emerges as the drink warms a bit, adding more savor and depth.

The taste is bright and juicy with a fine, hefty, toasted malt backbone. A bit of burnt roast and lasting dry bitterness in the finish do their best in a bitchslap battle with light caramel, white grapefruit, crisp pear and grainy-sweet pale malt. A bit of semisweet floral honey rolls across the palate, as does a coolly-vinous note of alcohol that does its warming in the belly, but not the mouth. A dusty, burnt cocoa-like dryness lingers in the finish, tag-teaming with bitter grapefruit oil to brutally snuff out a shrieking, fleeing, smoldering morsel of char-grilled pineapple sweetness.

The drink on the lighter side of medium-bodied, which is surprising given the intensity of the nose, flavor, and sturdy ABV of the drink. Fine carbonation contributes even further in pumping this brew to a near-dangerous level of "heavy sippability". One of T.L.'s finest ever, this "...simple little beer...".