Winter Ale
Zipline Brewing Co

 

 

 

 

 

Pours a hazy reddish-brown with an off-white head that quickly dissipates.
The aroma is plum and prune, rye, chocolate, ripe berry and hints of flowers.
Tasty and layered beer. Dark fruit and chocolate are first up on my palate followed by a sharp bitter chocolate and finishing with hints of herbs, pepper and ripe stone fruit.
Mouthfeel is medium and smooth.
A fun and complicated holiday ale. Well done.

Sampled last night on 12/17/15 with a good friend in our home bar. Bottle chilled down to 36 degrees F and poured in to a "White Tail Pale Ale" pint glass.

Brew pours a deep brown amber in color with a thin beige head. Decent amount of lacing was seen when sipped that stuck to the sides of the glass. Aroma is of dark fruits, roasted malts with a good amount of spice. Pretty much can be said for the taste with a decent amount of bitterness for the finish, not the hop kind though. Close to full-bodied with perfect carbonation. Overall it was OK.

Pours darker than expected with a dark copper color, 80% opaque. Head is cream colored and 2 fingers, retention is great. Lace splats on the side.

Aroma is strong and is of cherries, mahogany, prunes, raisin, and citrus rinds.

Taste is malt forward initially, but just when you think it's not balanced, hop tips the scales in justice. Malts are mostly pale to amber, with candy licorice and dark cherry in the middle, ending on a citrus/light pine punch.

Feel is full bodied, creamy, substantial. Ends semi-parched.

Though I love to support local, ZipLine beers are hits and misses. This one is on point. A great winter ale. I'll be having this again.

Color: Dark Amber, small amount of red shines through

Head: Semi-Aggresive pour into a snifter. About a finger and a half of head with a fair amount of carbonation. Dissipates pretty quickly into a thin lacing.

Smell: caramel and alcohol

Flavor: Opens with a Toasty/Caramel malt flavor which gives pretty quickly to a moderate bitterness. More bitter than expected. Hop flavor is somewhere between floral and spicy. My brother picked up hibiscus. Bottle says lavender, thyme and citrus. We could both pick out the thyme. Pretty short finish of lingering hop.

Ratings: 3.75 for me. Really enjoyed the complexity and layers of the beer. Didn't enjoy how much presence the bitter held.

We have a full video review at www.leafandhops.com/winter-ale

 

 

 

This is one hell of a Winter Ale, it's got it all from start to finish and that says a lot.
Poured from a 12oz bottle into a Mason Jar showed off a dark brown brew that has some honey hues when held up to the light, a 2 finger creamy off white head stayed around and left a nice lace as you drink down. The aroma is full of spice and a roasted malt note with hints of dark fruit, the taste is solid with slight fruity start followed by a bitter roasted malt middle and ending with a citrus pith finish...very well made brew but at 6.50 % ABV it's not a Winter Warmer beer but I would say it's an awesome Winter Ale!