Old Willy Winter Warmer
Southampton Publick House

On tap at Jake's in Bronx as as of 12/27 2006

Consistent with Southampton values, this ale is all about balance, with a deliberately complementary mix of malt, and hops.

Brown ale. Starts with a full, denser than normal head, which laces just a bit. Lots of rich malt up front that carry into a long dry hop finish, hint of spice. This immediately strikes me as a mature concoction by brewers who know how to keep control. (malts not too sweet, hops not too bitter nor too perfumey)

Not as cookie-like up front on the malt as with the Southampton Christmas Ale, and not quite as dry on the finish as the Southampton Burton Ale. Suble middle flavors of nut and nutmeg with a reasonable alcohol content make this an excellent session beer.

7/20/2005 $5.00 Pint on tap @ Lazy Boy's 6.20%

Appearance:

Pours a murky dark brown with practically no head, and appears relatively still.

Aroma:

Moderately sweet and malty with almost no hop aroma as one would expect from an ESB.

Taste/Mouthfeel:

Very smooth and easily drinkable, this beer is predominated by sweet malts with a slight nutty flavor. Alcohol seems higher than the actual ABV indicates, but otherwise this is a very enjoyable brew that is worth quaffing.

on tap at the Lazy Boy in White Plaines NY. This one pours hazy/murky in a shade of dark shade of brownish amber, tan dense head showing moderate retentive powers. The nose here is just faintly of some malt. This is a super smooth, easy drinking Brit style ale. I think the keg at the lazy boy must have been sitting around somewherefor quite a while, mellowing, cuz this pint was just lovley as it passed over the tongue. Soft,subtle,malty, balanced, mellow, flavorful, delightful on a warm White Plains evening.

This beer looks good, but you can tell from the beginning that it yearns to be dispensed from the cask, via handpump! Dark amber brown with a nearly-too-big head of white foam. Aromas of British malts, and not enough floral hops to back them up. This is nice and sweet, but almost scotch-ale like, not esb-like. Taste is better. Malty and sweet up front but hoppy in the middle with some nice floral hops, and some slight citrusy hop flavors as well. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, but perhaps a bit overcarbonated and the drinkability is good as well. This is good on all fronts, but I assume that this beer cask conditioned on the hand-pump could make it a 4.5 on all accounts.

On cask at d.b.a.

Pumped out as a deep amber color with nice light brown tones. Thin and whipped frothy head sat atop with some lace glistening with every tip. A very nice looking brew.

Smelled of rosy esters, alive and beautiful as a cask-conditioned beer should, accompanied by hop florals and bit of roasty malt. Soft and easy, the scents of this beer seemed a bit thinned out by a day or so in the cask - just a guess.

Came across like an ESB, with peppery and true grapefruity bitters (not grapefruity flavors). Supported by a soft roast and nascently fruity, its an easy and quaffable ale that opens to an even body of Maris Otter malt. It had that wonderful cask mouthfeel of a session ale, thin but with plenty of body in a sudsy way, aided by just a touch of fresh hop oil glistening across it.

As always with Southampton, a nice touch of a beer. An appreciable one that did indeed warm me and felt very "alive" as a good cask ale should. Still trying to hear what Phil says the style is, but it seemed like an English-styled E.S.B. to me. Not to be confused with his Wee Willy Winter Warmer, either, by the way.