Sleigh Wrecker
Church Brew Works

 

 

 

 

 

From Notes:
Served on-tap at the brewery on 1-17-14

A - Dark caramel amber color with one finger of khaki head thick wall of lacing
S - Burnt caramels, cinnamon, clove, dry floral notes, a little vanilla
T - Very burnt flavor, which I'm kind of drawn to, nice dark bitter earthy hop tones, toasted caramel and toffee.
M - Bitter and dry
O - Fairly good, very burnt flavor and it hangs on, so if you're not into that then you'd be better off selecting something else.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pours a black-ish to deep brown color with a light tan head. In the aroma, caramel and roasted malts. In the taste, quite spicy, with a big presence of cinnamon, and a dry malt. A spice bite and medium bodied mouthfeel, with a semi dry spice in the aftertaste. The spice stands out, but nice. Nice and easy to drink.

Very good beer; definitely something I would go out of my way for. Pours dark and thick with a yeasty head that clings to the glass and makes for beautiful lacing. Deep red hue to the coffee colored brew. Nutty, estery, caramely aroma with a taste that reiterates the smell. Very toasty and a superb winter warmer. A word of caution: a few of this will wreck your sleigh.

Served ontap at Church Brew Works. Pours a very dark brown with a small head and no retention.

Aroma of chocolate, chocolate malt and caramel.

Flavor follows the nose with a nice roasted malt profile with cocoa nibs, brown sugar and caramel.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied and somewhat smooth.

Drinkability rates high, this is a beer you could drink all night.

Let me start by saying I am not crazy about the beer at CBW. I was in the neighborhood looking for a growler fill for the Steelers game. That being said I rate this as one of their best beers. It is a brown ale with hints of chocolate malt. Very tasty and a very good brown. I could drink several of these in a night. I hope that CBW continues to improve as they roll out new brews and this is a good start.

This Winter Warmer from CBW pours a very deep caramel brown with some thin brown highlights. A thinner pearl head has probably less than average retention leaves little lace to speak of. Some larger bubbles cling to the inside walls of the glass and cause the brew to somewhat resemble a glass of cola.

Mild in the nose but moderately roasty. Some sweet caramel and dim dark fruit are detectable as well. Hints toffee and cherry work in small doses. Very restricted and not at all what I was expecting. Not terribly interesting. I'm not looking for a roast bomb here but a bit more would have helped.

Again marginally roasty with more of a caramel malt feel than anything. The beer menu promised chocolate but I'm only picking up a faint amount if any. More toffee/caramel than chocolate/cocoa. Notes of molasses are thrown in there along with just a bit of juicy darker fruit and some good leafy hops. Again a hint of nuttiness.

Rather thin with low carbonation. Kind of dead and matted on the tongue. Somewhat watery even. The slicker finish is also, for the most part, uneventful. For a Winter Warmer I'd like to see so some fuller body and at least just a bit of the styles namesake, warmth, in the finish. Decent in most aspects but very lacking in mouthfeel and a bit in aroma as well. Drinkable but probably my least favorite from CBW.