Winter Ale
Great Waters Brewing

Deep crimson color, nice frothy head...looks nice...

big, juicy hops in the nose...berries and cherries, feeling like a barleywine a bit, a little burgundy-ish...

Makes a little nose in the mouth, spreads out hops and bitterness, leaving a juicy trail, but doesn't hold together. Picks up power a bit, the more it's on the palate, hanging onto to the senses tighter, ...hop bitterness gets more bite, but it all fades off a bit in the end. Ample malt. Tangy, but not solid enough to make an real impression. Full bodied, but lacking in depth.

This is starting to remind me of Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale, but, as I said before, it lacks the same impact.

Nice try, though.

I'd be interested in trying this on regular tap, as I don't think the cask showed it off very well.

Pours a deep copper amber color, cascades (always love a cascading beer), beautiful fluffy head, very creamy, and the lacing was lovely and lasted all down, nice. As far as smell goes, kind of like the other beers I had here... not much. But what I could smell was hoppy and a little musty. Aroma was much more evident, but still I thought it a little weak. About as much hops in taste as in aroma, with the same muskiness. This beer reminded me a little of SN Celebration Ale, a lower ABV and more drinkable version. I don't know that I like the flatness that comes with cask-conditioning in this style... it was nice and smooth, but I need more action from it. I can pick up the alcohol and its nice, but I need more. All said, a nice beer, quite drinkable, I had one and yanked a more sips from my friend. Good job.

On cask at the brewpub...

Ginger brown, downward cascading bubbles. Cream-like solid head. Thick markings of lace. Juicy hop aroma, mellons mixing with more citrus qualities. Mouthfeel is about even with subdued cask carbonation. Pretty good balance on this one, doesn't fall prey to overskewed hopping, the aroma hops seem as evident as the flavor hops. Still, maintains a decent brightness emerging from the caramel backbone, a fresh quality to it. Finishes more bitter, with a pretty efffective flavor swap. Not a huge favorite for my own tastes but pretty well-done by the brewer.

On-cask at the brewpub: A deeply musted dark coppery brown with a reddish undertone to its body. Huge and lofty, puffy, creamy laden capping tops it off that hardly ever moves from its position. One impressive cap on this sucker, it lasted til the very last sip.

Aroma is deep, dark, mushy, and mildly woodish. Mushy cardboard becomes fairly evident as some slight citric notes barely push through.

Taste is a mess of cardboard mushy wood stuff, no real tone is set. some slight toffee toastedness kinda creeps in over a bland puree of weakened grainy malt backing. Very light hints to citrus try to come into the finish, but its a mess of woody mush and grains.

Feel is a little light, even from cask this seemed thin and desperate. It just doesn't go anywhere. No real breaks in tone or character. Comes across as unfinished. Wasn't nearly impressed with this IPA as some of the earlier concoctions from the new brewer. This was just to messy and boring.

Until today, my favorite winter ale was Summit Winter. Until today...This beer is an American IPA in the style of Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale(a terrific beer in its own right). It pours an attractive reddish brown with a white head and good lacing on the glass. The smell is primarily of hops. The taste begins with a nice hop burst on the tip of the tongue, nicely balanced by a subsequent malty fruity flavor(think plum, cherry, and cranberry). This beer is silky smooth and the balance of flavors is exceptional. I don't know what the alcohol content is, but there is no noticeable alcohol flavor. This beer is utterly sublime and is one of the best beers I have ever had.