Powder Tracks Winter Ale
Stoup Brewing Brewery & Taproom

Another Northwest micro with a husband and wife team, but their business strategy is "the art and science of brewing" (which is much less common.) The husband was a chemist (now an applied chemist) and the wife is a graphic designer (and they have interesting can labels.) So the 11 year business partnership seems to be working and Stoup has three suburban Seattle taprooms and a food menu that, at the least, looks like good bar food and, with a few years improvement, could qualify as a gastropub.

As for Power Tracks, as a winter ale it probably caters too much to the hop-craving NW palate for me to really like this strong. Its label claims to malt-forward, but not so IMHO. Actually, Powder Tracks Looks very good (nice foam, some lace), but does downhill from there. Smells are mostly malts, but not distinct. Tastes are malty, but the hops are distracting. A little less than medium-mouthed.

I give very good Overall Hugs for this husband-wife team's dynamic duo of art and science... and surviving 11 years.

Thanks to my friend Justin for grabbing this for me. 16oz can (date unreadable due to thick ink and the bottom rim location) poured into the Tulip of Doom. Poured a lightly cloudy deep copper/amber color with 2/3 inch of off-white head that had good retention and very light lacing.


The aroma was as expected for a Winter Warmer: solid, semi-sweet malts, gentle hops, and perhaps a touch of spice. Similar on the tongue, with every thing expanded a bit.

The body was, maybe, a bit thinner than I'd like, but was smooth, and had an unexpectedly dry-ish finish. Drinkability was very good, a pleasantly easy quaff. Overall, a bit subdued, but otherwise a nice example of the style. Worth a shot if you see it.

 

Pours like a darker pale ale or amber, not as dense as expected. I would consider this closer to a dark hoppy IPA, rather than what I would expect in a winter ale. For a winter ale, I would expect less hop and more malt, roast, body, etc.
Feel is a little on the sharp side, rather than mellow. Seems like a good beer for early spring!

 

Pours lighter than I expected... I still associate winter ales with more of a dark roasty body, but I guess that's not exclusively true. This one pours almost more like a nice crisp dark amber ale... like the colour of thin light maple syrup. Decent little fuzzy head that never fully dissipates, instead opting to remain a thin cap holding the liquid down.

Nose is sweet and a little spicy. Calls to mind kind of a rye-type of spice, with some honey-like sweetness. Toasted crackers, and an almost floral/nectary kind of hint to it as well. I like it.

Flavour starts in seemingly a little bit grainy/sweet, but quickly blooms from the middle of that into an earthy dry bitter thing that flashes elements of earthy pine, spicy rye again, and maybe just a hint of pithy grapefruit. Lest it be mistaken for a massive hop-bomb, this is not unilateral, even if these flavours are kind of the star of the show. There's still layers of caramel and honey, and a smoothe supporting base.

Body is medium and has elements that could be described as oily that make it pretty smoothe, aside from the sharp contrast of carbonation. Finish has some floral/caramel sweetness but lingers with the spicy/earthy rye/pine.

I really enjoy this quite a bit. It makes me think more of a really well done red/amber with rye than what I picture as a winter ale, but ultimately I don't really care what you call it, I'll glad grab a can after a day snowshoeing or skiing or just sitting around the apartment.

Reddish semitransparent appearance with significant white head that dissipates slowly. Aroma is a nice hoppy. Taste is a slo a nice hoppy taste that is more of any IPA.