Winter Pale Ale
The Bronx Brewery

 

Beautiful cloudy golden color but the color and smell are deceiving. I was expecting hops with a spice finish but got the opposite. Very spicey. The cloves are very prominent. I gave it a 4 based on uniqueness alone. Or maybe because my expectations were low.

 

You can't shoehorn every beer style into a good Pale Ale and expect them all to work. This one did not.

12 oz can from mixed 12 pack
Packed on 10/10/17
Poured into a tulip glass

Crystal clear light orange with a bright white head that dissipates rapidly. Thin film remains. Enjoying watching the bubbles in this amber Crystal Ball
Weak smell, like a winter warmer: cinnamon and cloves
Whoa, interesting first sip. Like a Christmas potpourri: more cinnamon and cloves, honey (as indicated on the can) at the back drying up more than expected
A little sticky in the mouthfeel but less cloying and treacly than expected
Overall an interesting offering. A good one-off, not for all night consumption

I've been trying Winter Warmers for the past few years to no avail, this may be my Holiday Ale outside of a Barleywine

Packaged on 11/08/17. Eight days ago. Hazy gold color with a tan head. Smell is spices like cinnamon, cloves, ginger, toffee, caramel malts. Taste follows the nose. Getting more cinnamon and cloves. I'm also getting a bit of molasses on the finish. Mouthfeel is light to medium and finishes on the drier side. As a lot of others have said, this drinks more like a winter warmer. It's a touch more hoppy than a beer of that style, but this is far from a pale ale. Not bad, but wouldn't seek out again.

L - Hazy golden color with particles visible in the beer, likely from the long list of ingredients that goes in it
S - As the can suggests, strong scents of ginger, with some honey/herbs as well. A hint of booze
T - The beer does not taste as sweet as it smells. In fact, quite the contrary - fairly hoppy for a pale, though that is typical of beers from Bronx Brewery
F - Medium bodied, but complex for a pale ale
O - This is an okay beer, but nothing I would actively seek out. BB has had better offerings (some of which ARE worth seeking out)

 

"Winter" "Pale Ale with spices."

CAN acquired as part of a Bronx Brewery variety 12-pack box for $24.99 in Brooklyn (ouch!). 12 fl oz.

"We introduced whole ginger, molasses, hand-picked cloves and cinnamon to this brew to create the ideal pale ale to enjoy during the winter holiday season."

5.70% ABV.

Aroma is heavy on the ginger and cinnamon, with clove trailing behind. Hop character is pretty generic - just floral aromatics. Biscuit malt, caramalt, pale malt. Sparsely hopped for a pale ale, smelling more like an overhopped witbier brewed with American yeast and lacking fresh wheat. Aromatic intensity is average. I find no off-notes or booze.

Taste hits the ginger and cinnamon, but the spices don't exactly harmonize with the floral hop character. They don't clash, but there isn't much cohesion to this build. Balance is okay; it's a bit bitter making one wonder where the molasses sweetness is - or where the hop flavours are if all that bitterness is coming from the hops. Pale malts hold this unwieldy brew together. Shallow depth of flavour. Average flavour duration and intensity. It's a bit of a mess, and doesn't fit into pale ale conventions neatly, but I wouldn't say it's a bad brew outside style conventions.

Texture is smooth, overcarbonated. coating, somewhat soft, medium-bodied, and wet. Not refreshing. Not oily, gushed, hot, boozy, astringent, harsh, or rough.

Overall, it's an odd premise for a beer - you put these spices in darker ales for the winter season, usually, and they just don't seem fit for inclusion in a pale ale. The execution is awkward, and the result is a brew that feels less like it's brewed to a specific style and more like a homebrewer decided to throw a bunch of ingredients she had laying about into a beer willynillly...which is fine, but it doesn't make for very intriguing fare. Not a successful pale ale, spiced winter ale, or even a tribute to ginger snaps as intended per the label. Just a middling forgettable shrug of a brew. More mediocrity from one of the worst breweries in the five burroughs, but far from downright bad.

C- (2.59) / BELOW AVERAGE

12 oz can w/o freshness info of any sort that I could find

Pours lightly hazed, pretty typical looking amber, moderate lite khaki cap, leaves a larger bubble film, some low sheeting and strands of lacing

moderate spicing on the nose - some ginger and cinnamon coming forward

Decent enough pale ale, with the advertized spicing...I get ginger, and cinnamon again...enjoyable, smooth and tasty winter ale....decent stuff for a cold winter's night...worth a try

The Bronx Brewery "Winter Pale Ale"
12 fl. oz. can, no freshness dating
$2.29 @ Total Wine & More, Cherry Hill, NJ

Notes via stream of consciousness: Lighter in color than expected, not that that's a bad thing. Hazy golden orange with visible particulate in suspension. It looks like permanent chill haze, but it's probably just due to dry hopping or spicing. Short off-white head. Limited head retention and lacing. Aroma of fruit and spice - kind of generic at first, but if you look it's ginger, cinnamon, and clove. Stronger in the flavor of course, perhaps too much so. It definitely lingers and sticks at the back of the throat. Hmmm... ? What about malt? Grainy, bready, nutty with just a touch of caramel. There's a little bit of sugar upfront, but that's tamed by the spice and bitterness, finishing dry and spicy. No hops specifically noted (how could they pass the spice?) but there is a leafy and lightly piney note that's nice. I'm not sure where I stand on this. It's borderline too spicy, but there's also something nice about it on the malty-sweet side. I could see this as a decent sipper, but at the same time there's nothing that really pops, nothing that makes it stand out from the pack. I have been more and more impressed by Bronx beers though, and this adds to that. Solid overall. Slightly better than what I consider average for craft brew.

Happy to be 4th review of this Winter Ale from a favorite local brewer, widely available now in mixed 12s at WFM.
A) Full haze, burnt orange, short-lived thin head, but lots of lacing. (In a snifter - how else a winter warmer?)
S) Subtle candied ginger, with a bit of clove and spice, slightly belgian. candy store.
T) Best part - follows smell, great ale body amplified with ginger & clove.
F) Solid, medium bodied and carbonation; crisp; dry finish. Good evening beer.
Company loved it. Warmer.

 

 

A: hazy; burnished orange in color; <1 finger ivory head that receded quickly to a wispy cap; OK lacing;

S: ginger with cinnamon behind it; a hint of clove;

T: ginger up front with clove behind it; that reverses in the middle and clove stays dominant through the finish;

M: medium bodied; moderate carbonation; crisp; lightly dry finish;

O: nicely done, but more like a winter warmer than a pale ale;

22oz brown bomber, sample bottle from the brewery.

Hazy amber hue, decent lacing. Quite aromatic, spice and a bit of fruitiness in the nose. Crisp with a drying finish. Lots of spice flavor but nothing goes overboard, all very even. Nutty grain and yeast. Love the addition of ginger the most, very drinkable and comes off as an American Style Winter Warmer. Very tasty.

On-tap at Hops Craft Beer Wine Bar, Morristown, NJ

A: The beer is clear amber in color. It poured half finger high dense white head that died down a bit but consistently left a short head covering the surface.
S: Light to moderate aromas of ginger and molasses are present in the nose.
T: The taste is like a gingerbread cookie and has flavors of ginger snd molasses along with notes of sweetness.
M: It feels medium-bodied on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This is a nice holiday beer that reminds me a lot like a gingerbread cookie although it is not overly sweet or heavy on the palate.

Serving type: on-tap