All Spruced Up Winter Ale
Hellbent Brewing Company

Nearly clear coppery amber color, quite handsome with swirls of foam in the chalice. Aromatic with a distinct evergreen nose, but hard to describe. Not really sweet, but seriously mouthfilling and flavorful to the max. Spicy and slightly bitter with a distinct hoppy edge. Supposed to be brewed with seven types of malt. Rich and malty, but depths of that unique spruce flavor. I crave this about once a year, and that's enough, but this is a great example. From the 16 oz can purchased at Elizabeth Station. Dated 10/21/24.

Wife loves the can; cross-stitch motif. Dark amber pour, thin head. Light aroma of piney notes, nothing remarkable. Taste is light roasted malt, on the thin side. A winter warmer should be robust - to stand up to Old Man Winter! Thiscomes a bit short on the taste end, nothing flawed but we look for something more substantial. . No trace of spruce tips.

16oz can into a pint glass. Canned 10/18/20, so a month old.

Looks outstanding in the glass. Dk body, clear dark amber red when held up to the light. Nice off white head persists in good form throughout leaving heavy and attractive lacing.

Malty aroma with some boiled candy.

Then the taste. Harsh, bitter, drying. A little spruce. You feel the malt which should add a sweeter element, but it's crushed under a harsh bitterness.

Mouth close to full, finish a dry wooden bitterness.

Overall, I love English style Winter Warmers, and their warm slightly spicy sweetness. This does not fit the bill.

draught
Thick and lasting ivory colored head. Medium dark brown & caramel color. Very appealing caramelized aroma with fresh spruce coming through. Full caramelized malt and some of the spruce flavor, with a teensy bit of sweetness & bite.

Poured into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass. Pours a medium to dark reddish brown with a fine, two finger light khaki head with great retention and thick lacing; looks nice. Aroma of biscuit malt with a little toastiness, piney and citrus hops, lemon, grapefruit, fresh spruce needles. Flavor is biscuit and lightly toasted malt, fresh spruce sap, orange, light grapefruit and hints of cocoa. Lingering resinous piney (spruce) hop finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. I like this one. It has a unique profile that reminded me of Cascadian black ales with the toastiness dialed back a lot and the spruce element of piney hops dialed up to near 10. It has a distinct walking through freshly cut spruce wood character that is really appropriate for a winter warmer. There is an odd, woody note at the end of the taste, but it disappears in the finish leaving a realistic spruce character. This is a fresh and distinct entry into the Northwest winter beer selection. Not for the pine/spruce ester adverse. Nice body and look too. I'm impressed.

 

Growler pour from the brewery. Beer is deep brown in color, appearing red when held under the light. Aroma is not too exciting, but flavor manages to combine a considerable amount of caramel malt with piny flavored hops and then the unique flavor of spruce. The spruce lends a spicy quality which I'd compare to a rye ale.

I've had spruce beer before and found it overpowering. This is not. The way the spruce and cascade hops play off each other works really well here. This isn't a beer hopped with spruce, it's a hoppy winter warmer flavored with a touch of spruce. The flavor is strong, but it's not one-note.

Recommended, but you have to come at this expecting a winter warmer. If you're looking for a hoppy NW IPA or a dark ale, you'll be disappointed. Or worse.

From a can to a narrow chalice. Canned on 11/12/18.
Pours a chestnut brown with a slight haze. A 3 finger, tan, thick head has strong retention and decent lacing.

The aroma is of spruce tips; sweet, caramel malt; mild alcohol; citrus and spicy hops; prune; and a candy-like nose as the description states above. The aroma is complex and interesting; my only complaint being it is not strong. I really had to smell deeply to get everything.

The taste is spruce dominant over a rich malty background. A chocolate malt comes through lightly as it warms. A pleasant peppery notes prevails. Bitterness from hops is difficult to discern from the bitterness of the spruce, but there is a decent amount of bittering going on. Alcohol is mild.

Mouthfeel is medium full body with a satisfying malty chewiness and an appropriate warming sensation. Carbonation is low.

Overall, a nice winter ale for a cold winter night beside a campfire beneath snow laden evergreens. This is a good beer, but you have to enjoy spruce flavor to like it. I do like spruce, but I feel like it dominates the beer to a point that it is not balanced. I wish more of the aromatics came through in the flavor profile.

 

16oz (of course) can with paper label (of course) poured into 14oz teku. poured a solid, no light shall pass, very dark brown/light black color with over an inch of tan head that had good retention and lacing.

Just a nice amount of spruce/pine hits the front of the nose, while not overwhelming the malty base beer.

Pretty similar on the tongue, with the tree notes being a bit more prominent.

The body was maybe a touch lighter than typical for the style, and had a lightly sweet finish.

Drinkability was fine, but, YMMV based on how much you like the taste of tree. Overall, a pretty nice brew. Worth trying if you see it.

Rich deep deep copper, like an old penny. Decent small head and a little bit of sticky lacing.
Nose is malty to start, some toasty some roasty chocolatey malts. Slight uptick of coniferocity towards the end, but mostly the malts.
The roasty chocolatey notes come in at first on the tongue as well, but then there is a great blush of sweet spruce and bitter pine. The spruce lines up really nicely between the chocolatey rich malts and the bitter pine. Comes together really really well.
Clean with light carbonation and a finish that is bitter pine and the rich chocolatey roasty malts.
I really dig it. But I also like spruce, so there's that.