Sweater Party
Avery Brewing Company

RB transfer

 

 

Pours a dark ruby red with fantastic head retention. Nice gingerbread aroma. Strong taste of malts and mulling spices, including strong notes of spicy ginger, allspice, clove and cinnamon. I find myself wanting a bit more yeast, or perhaps a touch of sweetness to balance it out. Overall it is an enjoyable winter warmer. Fun to drink one or two when in the mood. It’s not something worth going out of the way for, but if it’s available it is worth a try.

Got this as a pint on tap. Poured a dark reddish brown with a small tan head.

Smelled and tasted of cinnamon and cloves. Very malty with a sweet finish. Lightly carbonated with a syrupy consistency.

A very welcome unexpected unique find on this pub's beer list!

Poured from a can into a tulip.

Pours dark garnet but clear. A three-fingered tan head lingers well and gives way to nice legs and lacing.

Aromas of pumpkin pie (clove, allspice, five-spice, cinnamon) with ginger, faint orange peel, and brown bread.

The brew hits the tip of the tongue with plenty of sweet and bready malt. Brown sugar, spice cake, and caramel malt. Toasted malts and some bitter spices arrive in midstream to round out the presentation. The spices get perhaps a bit bitter or astringent at the conclusion.

The brew is medium-full, but doesn't ever feel sticky or heavy, although a bit more carbonation might make this one a little more lively and cheery.

This is an interesting departure from the usual warmer. Malty--yes; spiced--sure. But the spices are unique and impart an interesting bitterness.

 

Poured from a can. Brown in color with a tan head and some lacing. Aroma is spices, malt and dark fruit. Flavor follows the smell with a pleasant spiced yet malty brew.

12oz can stamped CANNED 09/20/19 (3 months ago) poured into a becher glass at fridge temp 8% ABV. The beer pours bright dark copper amber in color with khaki head. The head recedes to a thin cap and leaves plenty of lacing. The aroma is zero (I have a cold so I'll average it out). The taste is big time spice over pleasant, yet subdued malt. Minimal bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with average carbonation and a dry finish. Overall, good. The can lists cinnamon, orange peel, allspice, clove and ginger. It's all there but not obnoxious.

12oz can. Stamped on can bottom is 'CANNED: 09/20/19 PULL-OVER!'.
Pours a clear, dark amber colored body. One thin finger of off white head, which acts as a pillow. Leaves some interrupted rings of lacing.
Aroma of dark bread, orange peel, and spices (allspice, cloves and ginger).
Taste is big with the floral and citrus hops (helped by the added orange peel), and a blend of earthy spices (allspice, ginger, and cinnamon). The base of the beer is a strong dark bread flavor. Mostly spices in the after taste.
Medium mouth feel. Taste is really a tongue wrapper. Very good carbonation.
A holiday beer that tastes of spice laden dark bread. Very expressive with flavors. With the higher ABV%, this is a true warmer for the winter season.

L:. Pours a burgundy red with a large foamy tan head that dissipates rather quickly and leaves lots of lacing on the glass.

S:. Notes of toffee and caramel, cranberry, raisin, coffee cake, there is a lot of Christmas winter flavors going on here.

T:. Winter spices, toffee and caramel, raisin, cinnamon, coffee cake, a nice decadent winter beer.

F: Higher carbonation medium to big body.

O:. This is a very nice winter warmer.

 

 

12oz can. Poured out a burgundy color with golden highlights and a small, off-white head of foam. It smelled or roasted caramel malt and Christmas spices. Nice spiced taste with toffee and caramel.

Poured from the can into a Teku glass. Deep mahogany color with off white head and moderate lacing. Big scents of fresh baked gingerbread cookies and mulling spices. Tons of gingerbread hit the palate, followed by a bit of orange peel, a slight touch of pine, and malts on the finish. Got this one as part of a beer advent calendar this year and am really enjoying it. The flavors are bringing back some childhood memories of baking gingerbread cookies and is a fun beer for the season. Cheers!

Canned on 9/20/19. 12oz can poured into a tulip. Pours an auburn/mahogany with ruby hues and has great clarity; small light khaki head that fades leaving nice retention and sticky lacing. Great color. The aromas have malts and spices. Some cinnamon and ginger along with some hints of caramel. The flavors follow the nose. More cinnamon leading the way. More hints of ginger along with some nutmeg. Some orange peel. Subtle hints of pine. It's earthy with a decent bitterness. Mild spiciness. Possibly some rye or black pepper in the mix. Malts do their thing without completely dominating. Finishes clean and dry. Alcohol basically goes unnoticed. Mouthfeel is on the lighter side of full-bodied with active carbonation. It's sharp, spritzy and smooth.

This is a nice winter warmer. The spices shine without dominating or being overwhelming. It's clean and crisp. The craftsmanship is on point. Not bad at all. I like it.

 

 

 

I typically find myself enjoying Winter Warmers, even though they seem to be somewhat of a style pariah in the beer world. People tend to find them over-spiced, but I kind of think that's part of what makes them so interesting. After all, judging how different brewers and breweries deal with different ingredients and processes is part of our way of reviewing and considering beer, and spices are just that; more ingredients to consider when brewing. As a fan of bigger WW beers like Southern Tier's 2XMAS especially, I figured I would grab a single can of this new offering by Avery to see how it measures up.

The pour is a deep reddish-copper color with brown ale-like undertones. It's fairly clear and stately, with something slightly ruddy to its complexion, but it looks very appropriate when it comes to judging by the style. The head is, of course, a much lighter affair, appearing like a slightly dimmed eggshell-white color. And appear it does, with a rather astonishingly huge presence which leaves behind immense swaths of lace and islands of foam in the center of my glass. What a nice looking Winter beer we have on offer here!

Having been brewed with cinnamon, orange peel, allspice, clove, and ginger, this is of course going to come across predominantly spice in the nose. I really like the way the orange peel and zesty ginger balance the earthiness of the rest of the spice profile, though... there's something nice and bright here to battle with the complex clove/cinnamon density. Some breadiness and tea-like notes make an appearance as well, for sure, while there's a definite (though slight and well-hidden) sniff of the 8% ABV in among the other stuff going on.

A toasty and slightly sweet/bready opening salvo of maltiness melts away to a nice melange of grassy/floral hop notes, clove/ginger zippy spice and more zesty citrus rind as each sip goes down. Brown bread, toffee, and light notes of treacle are warming and inviting on the palate as the allspice provides a light pine-y, peppery element toward the finish. Clean and bright once again with a surprisingly apparent orange peel note closing out each sip... this is definitely an enjoyable Winter Warmer without some of the overly-savory and sticky-sweet things that can sometimes happen with beers in this style. The feel isn't as dense as some others, for example, and I enjoy the complexity coupled with the warming alcohol presence. Might return to this one!