Old Man Winter Ale
Ribstone Creek Brewery

A- This pours a very dark brown with some muted clarity around the rim of my glass, and shows off an off white head that dissipates fairly quick into a thick-ish ring around the inside of the glass, and the lacing is alright, showing some sort of cling. There isn't much to see in terms of the carbonation, but I do see a couple of straggler columns rising to the top and they seem pretty mellow.

S- There is some definite caramel sweetness on the nose initially, with background notes of cooked toffee, brown sugar, baking spices (perhaps some mild cinnamon), coca-cola and/or rootbeer Earthiness, some dark fruits, like plum or fig and a lingering licorice root nuance. Interesting!

T- The flavors follow suit to the aromas somewhat, in terms of the rootbeer spice/cola sweetness. A fair bit of caramel/toffee/molasses sweetness, some Wintery spice, darker chocolate variety/cocoa powder, some vanilla extract, creamy coffee with International French Vanilla creamer, with the finish being of some candied nuts, slightly charred malt and a slight dark fruitiness.

M/O- The body is lighter than I would have expected, but it isn't real thin, and I find the carbonation to be smooth and relaxing on the palate. The alcohol is hidden well, and even though this is being consumed on a 25 degree day, it is refreshingly flavorful and drinkable for the style! I wouldn't hesitate to have this again and recommend this Alberta brewery!

A standout in it's category. Beautiful body and balance with coffee overtones and little trace of alcohol. No shortage of quality ingredients in this beauty.

 

 

 

355ml can poured into tulip 20/3/16

A looks like root beer but a thin film doesn't fizzle out but sticks around leaving a couple pencil thin rings followed by random patches

S burnt toffee, cold coffee with sweetened cream, coco powder, plums, and little cola

T much like the nose but more intensity, the coffee's not cold, coco powder becomes bakers chocolate, some earthy herb notes, fennel leaning towards licorice, and faint char

M lighter side of medium, a fluffs up and quickly flattens out, just a little sticky on the lips with a charred coffee finish

O drinkable stuff for 6.5%, lots of dark roast works for it but other aspects mellow it out

A solid brew that's well suited for this chilly Spring evening. After a couple average beers from these guys I'll admit this one sparked some interest in this local.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I purchased a pint of this lovely beer at The Taphouse in Red Deer. This is a complex seasonal offering from one of my favorite Alberta breweries. Toasted malt, cola, chocolate and a hint of coffee make it a wonderful brew for a cold evening. Bravo, Ribstone Creek!

 

1L howler, procured at Keg 'n' Cork in Edmonton. The brewery calls this a porter ale, but the name and ABV seems to indicate otherwise, so we shall see. Since the titular bastard has been hard at work making me and everyone else miserable around here lately (I literally can't see out of my large basement window right now), I guess it makes sense to distract me thusly.

This beer pours a dark, hazy, russet amber hue, with pervasive cola highlights, and two fingers of tightly foamy, and somewhat creamy tan head, which leaves some random broken cloud lace around the glass as it steadily recedes.

It smells of roasted caramel malt, chocolate-smeared bread, a mild milky sweetness, soft earthy and fruity spices, and leafy, kind of woody hops. The taste is more toasted caramel malt, wet bread, bittersweet cocoa, a slightly lactic astringency, day-old coffee, weak, indistinct earthy spice, watery dark fruit, mild leafy, weedy hops, and a growing metallic booze warmth.

The carbonation is fairly low-key, and definitely unobtrusive, the body a generally sturdy medium weight, and pleasantly smooth, a minor frothy creaminess building as we go. It finishes on the sweet side, the bready caramel malt, milk chocolate, earthy coffee, and rather subtle dark fruit all colluding as such.

Well, it's pretty clear now - what we have here is a slightly hooched-up old-world porter, and there ain't nothing wrong with that - still a hearty tipple for this cold and snowy, snowy, um, fortnight. I am a bit amused that Ribstone made light of the fact that this offering is unfiltered - so 'not perfectly clear', then - in its release notes, as it's hard to say whether anyone would really notice at all, given its agreeably dark disposition. Anyways, style trumps marketing, and I have a bit more of porter goodness to go before I sleep, it would seem.