Cottonwood Frostbite
Carolina Beer Company

 

 

Review from notes. On tap, served in a pint glass.

Look: copper color with a thin layer of white foam at the top. Some carbonation bubbles are visible floating from the bottom of the glass. Looks like a run of the mill IPA.

Smell: very resinous but not much else. A bit of alcohol perhaps but not much in the way of malt. The hop bill doesn't smell complex or particularly inviting.

Taste: dreadful. Like the smell, it is quite resinous and the alcohol is a bit too strong. This is an American IPA but the alcohol content is more like a DIPA but it doesn't have the flavor to hide it. Furthermore, in the finish I am left with a bizarre aftertaste that I can't really determine what exactly it is. Its almost like a metallic, mineral flavor. Perhaps something is wrong with the water they are using.

Feel: feels like a DIPA, medium bodied, lots of bitterness, not much malt balancing it, and that unpleasant aftertaste I was talking about above that lingered in my mouth for far, far too long. Alcohol is obvious which is a poor quality for a pale ale of any type.

Drink: because of the qualities listed, this is hard to drink. I struggled to finish my glass and if I was at home rather than out, I would've probably drain poured.

Overall, I would avoid this one. Maybe it was dirty tap lines, but since it was at a brewpub run by the brewer, I am not pulling any punches on this. Perhaps the worst pale ale of any type I've had to date, which speaks very poorly of this brewery. As a homebrewer, I know how easy these are to make to taste somewhat palatable so if this is the best they can do, I will not be giving them any other chances.

Cheers!

EDIT: Since my review, this beer's style descriptor seems to have changed from American IPA to Winter Warmer. Even as a winter warmer, this beer was disgusting.

One of the best looking beers I've seen. Pours a gorgeous dark copper brown ale, with a lovely foam head that sticks around.

It doesn't come off like an IPA very much, but I can taste it a little. The taste is pretty average, too much malt, it overpowers the spices in it.

The mouthfeel is highly disappointing. It feels like it's still coating my entire mouth minutes after sipping it.

On a sidenote, I found a large broken piece of glass in my 6 pack. I'm sure this is pretty rare, but just be careful.

On tap into a pint glass...A medium caramel, a light tan head, poor retention and lacing...A very malty caramel with a hint of hops, not strong enough but decent...The taste is also very malty to start but then hops do start to present, especially on the finish. A bitter but alcoholic finish is slightly distracting.

A malty but decent ipa.

A: Clear orange/amber color. Poured a 2 finger tan head with good retention. Laced in thin rings.

S: Citrus and pine. A little malt character. Alcohol.

T: Caramel malt up front and more assertive than mose. Floral hop character follows; pine and citrus. Warming alcohol.

M: Light to medium body. Moderate carbonation. Warm and dry, but clean.

D: Smooth and clean. ABV is fairly well disguised.

This one really snuck up on me, I really did not know what to expect going into it, but I came out seriously loving this one. Pours out a dark amber color with a nearly brown shade to it. Nice head of off white reaches up to around two fingers deep while it settles down giving off a good bit of lacing in its wake.

Aroma is deep hops, lots of resin and citrus notes here for sure. Really just a really full and quite floral air coming off, but it was when I took the first sip I was blown away. Deep citrus notes are crushing the taste buds here. Orange, pineapple, deep grapefruit, really just dark though with a deep malt back bone that did not really balance it as much as it thickened up the profile a great deal. Medium body was well carbonated and bordered on thick at times, really pushing the envelope here as to what I was expecting. Smooth and obnoxiously dry finish just sealed the deal for me.

Overall a very solid offering here from Carolina. By far one of the best I have had from them and it really took me off guard. A highlight for sure.

Thanks to wilwfu for providing the sample for this tasting.
Poured from 12oz. bottle into pint glass.
A - Pours a rich deep amber color with a nice lumpy 2 finger tan head that sticks around. Nice lacing.
S - Quite a bit of malt on the nose some hops though they aren't real strong. Some caramel
T - Like the smell, Malt up front followed by a nice hoppy cripsness/bitterness. Some toffee and a bit of spice. Pretty nice.
M/F - Medium body. A little sticky and the carbonation is a bit high.
D - Decent winter warmer. Pleasant.

2 12 oz bottles into a Duvel snifter a crisp dark copper with an abundant two-finger eggshell head that lasts and leaves beautiful lacing. Aroma is a decent amount of pine hops and slight caramel malts. The taste is a decent blend of said pine hops and caramel malts. The beer is on the light side of medium leading me to wonder if this beer is actually 8.5%, N.C. law requires any beer over 6% state its ABV, and this beer does not, plus it does not remind me of the beer I had two years ago. Either way, this is still an enjoyable hoppy beer.

This beer was consumed from a bottle bought in one of the many harris teeters in charlotte.

Pours a dark brown with little head unless poured fast. If it isn't poured gingerly it almost spills it's white head everywhere.

Smells spicey with sweet caramel and alcohol. Kinda enticing yet warning sort of smell.

Taste is very spicey with lots of roasted malts and caramel hints. Herbs like corriander come to mind. Slightly herbal finish with lots of bittering hops.

Not for everyone but one of my favorites from cottonwood

12oz bottle acquired in trade with The_Beer_God (thanks!).

Poured a medium brown color with a larger sized off white head. Aromas of toasted nuts, citrus, and had a light evergreen aroma to it. Tastes of citrus, pine, and toasted malts.

Notes from: 12/29/06

thanks for the extra marvin ...

Pours a translucent light carmel. Solid 2 fingers of dissapating head. Thick after reduction. Ample lacing present.

Light hop, some ABV. Crisp, fresh. Maybe foamy?

Light hops, light bittering hops, something in the finish. Somethings missing. Piney finish.

Balanced and certainly dont feel the ABV.

Somethings missing in this brew. Hop character isnt over the top, and the ABV isnt very warming. THough the void isnt filled with malt. Considering its a 'winter', i was looking for some spice, none found though.

meh, ill move on from this one.

A tasty treat received via the CEO / Old farters BIF from unclejedi !

Into a tall pilsner glass went this amber oak brew – topped off with a nice 1” ivory head, lacing all the way down the slender glass.

A spicy aroma mixed with caramel greeting my beak, possibly even some black pepper in there. Quaff was a heart warming sharp and biting woody herb, this one reminded me of a spicy IPA.

Full and filling, I could go for a sixer in the fall whilst sitting my arse on the deck, or the easy chair watching football.

A-pours a darker slightly red amber with tannish head that was pretty large, however didnt last long, nor leave much lacing
S- piney hops pretty much, some light malt characteristics can be noted, however its a pretty solid pine
T- A spicey malty taste covers the beginning, the alcohol is pretty low key, a rather low key hop flavor based off of the nose, however it is there, relatively balanced but still pretty strong, clean finish
M- medium/light body with a sharper carbonation
D- its a pretty solid beer, goes down smooth with a clean finish, ide drink more if i had more

Thanks to Warriorsoul for this. Sampled & reviewed 1/20/07:

Ap: Medium pour rseults in a solid finger of head. Deep ruby/copper color with good carbonation throughout. Nice lacing. Almost looks like cognac....

Ar: Deep malty aroma with slight candied fruit notes. A bit oxidized. Slight medicinal undertones. Advertised as a 'Hoppy Winter Ale" but no hops present in aroma that I can detect. Could be an older bottle in which the hops have calmed.

Ta: Nice bite! Surprisingly hoppy & bitter after little hop aroma. Good malt body which balances well the hop bitterness. Caramel apples in brandy....

Mo: Medium body with crisp finish due to good carbonation. Slight astringency. Again, this bottle could be old as it was from a trade.

Dr: Very drinkable. The alcohol is well hidden by the bittering hops & balanced by the sweet malts. Good presentation.

Comments: This was a surprise for me. I was expecting a traditional 'winter ale' with spices, etc. but this was more of a IPA (as categorized on BA) or a mild barleywine. Very nice surprise & quite tasty. Thanks Warriorsoul!

12 oz bottle. This one pours a very hazy dark tea brown color with a finger of lightly tanned head that sits very well over top even after a little sitting around. This one is pretty hazy. Taking a nice sniff, there are notes of nice sweet caramel with a grapefruity and sweet hop, along with a touch of piney hop. Its good, but is not really doing anything to jump out to me or set itself apart from the pack. The taste is a lot more "dark" than I expected. Its not roasted or anything like that, but it is just more full than I expected. I get a nice earthyness from the hop, as this one is aged a little. The caramel is not as prevalent, but lightly sweet behind the hop. It finishes really mildly bitter, and slightly herbal. I enjoy the flavor on this one. The mouthfeel is thick, with a moderate carbonation. I like the mild bitter that clings on the finish. I think the aged hop flavor that took on a more earthy quality really works with the beer really well. I like it.

This had a dark copper-brown, medium pink-orange head, with moderate lacing. It had a hoppy aroma, with hints of dark fruits, roasted malts, nuttiness and chocolate. It had a somewhat malty taste, with dry yeasty undertones. Nuttiness and plenty of alcohol.
It was smooth for being so bitter, but still unremarkable. It was very drinkable, and a good winter IPA.

Pours a dark red and nut brown color with an enormous, pillowy off-white head.
Aroma was a mix of nutmeg, roasted malts, a dash of chocolate and some powerful hoppy notes.
Flavor seemed to deviate from the nose. Darker roasty malts seemed to prevail in the pull between sweet and bitter. A distinctiveness nutty profile appeared mid-palate, which seemed a bit out of place.
Mouthfeel started out very full on the back half sort of lots its "oomph" and petered out sortof boringly.
Drinkabilty was above average but just missing a key few distinctive features to make this any more memorable.

Pours a cloudy brown with a tall foamy head. Aroma is hoppy, a good, strong pine and citrus blend.

Taste is a pale malt, toasty, biscuity, with a fair amount of hops riding on top. Not over-the-top bitter but a nice hop sweetness with citrus and resin. Some faint spices somewhere in the background. Finish is a little dry.

Mouthfeel is medium and smooth. Very drinkable, very enjoyable, no hint of the alcohol content in the flavor (label says 8.5% ABV). Would fit very well into the DIPA category, why they wanted to call it a winter ale, I don't know. I could session this.

This beer pours with a frothy, two and a half thick, tan colored head that sits atop a brilliantly clear, amber-red colored beer. Interestingly enough the aroma has notes of funky cheese. There are also notes of herbal hops and a soft fruitiness of citrus and perhaps some notes reminiscent of currants. As time goes on the funky cheese notes seem to drop out a bit.

The taste is lightly sweet with a touch of grapefruit, plus a bit of zingy herbal hops. The malt is fairly subdued underneath the hops; it is here though and contributes to the fruit character, perhaps contributing some notes of raisins. This is a nice hoppy beer, it is perhaps not as malty as I would like as it needs a bit more structure to make it a satisfying winter warmer.