Red Nose Winter Ale | Natty Greene's Pub & Brewing Co.

3.97/5  rDev +8.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours put a rich brown/garnet color with a two finger light tan head that settles to a blanket over the ale. Has a little bit of sticky lacing around the glass as the head retains for the life of the beer.

The aroma is sweet with spices and roasted malt. Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and brown sugar. No noticeable hop bitterness.

Soft ginger bread is what come to mind at first taste. Sweet spices and roasted malt dominate the flavor. Finishes dry with some lingering spice.

Slick on the palate and medium bodied.

Overall, this winter warmer is basically an amber ale with all the holiday spices. And, I must say that the brewery has done a great job.

★ 656 characters

4.05/5  rDev +10.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

Nice to see another newbie from Natty's.pours a deep amber with a nice creamy-like head that stuck around for quite awhile,big ginger aromas with some noticable cinnamon and nutmeg in there as well, love the smell of the holidays.Like the board says like gingerbread in a glass,heavy doses of ginger with a large dose of cinnamon thrown in I pick up hint of nutmeg and spiced cherry as well,alot of things going on here.Not a "christmas pudding"
heavy holiday ale here a quaffible spiced brew with nice flavors a winner in my book.

★ 533 characters

4.32/5  rDev +17.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Fantastic seasonal from this Greensboro NC brewpub.

Very dark, pretty much opague. Small bone-colored head. No lacing.

The smell & taste are fantastic! So much going on... Clove, allspice, nutmeg, ginger, and more. This reminds me a lot of a pumpkin homebrew a friend made, except without the pumpkin flavors. The best way to describe the flavor would be: liquid gingerbread. Very tasty.

Mouthfeel is full bodied, and somewhat low on carbonation.

If this is truly a winter warmer then it is the best W.W. I have ever had. But really it seems to me like a heavily spiced pumpkin beer (minus the pumpkin). I'm used to winter warmers being almost like an IPA - heavily hopped. This is pretty low on the hops, and high on the spices. Delicious.

★ 752 characters

4.5/5  rDev +22.6%

4.15/5  rDev +13.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

3.64/5  rDev -0.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

undated 12 oz bottle served in a snifter. (revisited 12/2014 - 12 oz bottle)

Appearance: Lovely dark ruby red color but with a small head that died soon and didn't leave much lacing

Smell: Dominated by caramel and darker malts. but with some orange peel, coriander and faint cinnamon.

Taste: Solid malty body over which there is a carefully proportioned interplay of coriander, cinnamon, ginger and other spices. Manages to get some complexity from what I assume is a mix of several malts. Some bittering hops kick in the spicy finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium-full body; moderate carbonation

O: A good winter warmer, with ample but nearly overdone spicing to fit winter holidays. Nearly 7% ABV is not hidden but fits in with the character of this ale.

★ 752 characters

4/5  rDev +9%

4.01/5  rDev +9.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 5 | overall: 4

Growler filled less than 3 hours ago, fresh from the source. So no surprise to get a huge frothy head, heavily cratered and looking like enlarged crispy rice. Two-fingers thick, and stays a long while before flattening out. Tons of lace in various shapes. Color is a deep caramel/mahogany.

Aroma isn't too far away from a pumpkin ale, have similar spicing and a creamy sweetness.

The spices and various flavors brighten further in the flavor. Hibiscus, rose water, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla. Overall flower and dessert-y; tons of balance, never cloying. Just a hint of hop bitterness in the finish, but your basic beer ingredients generally act as backing band to the flowery/spicy star in the spotlight.

Almost a cask-like velvet smoothness, super-creamy, firm...just magnificent. I'll call the mouthfeel perfect, or certainly perfect enough. I'm doubting the feel of the bottled counterpart is nearly this wonderful.

Focus on spices makes this only an occasional choice for me, but to its credit the spicing is controlled, earthy/natural, and never overbearing. Nice job, N.G's!

★ 1,086 characters

3.58/5  rDev -2.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

A - dark caramel amber with a soft, off white head that has good retention

S - faint cinnamon and caramel

T - caramel, cinnamon, ginger, dark malts

M - medium bodied, smooth, well carbonated

This is to me is just another run of the mill winter warmer. It's dominated by caramel malt and ginger with a very faint spice character. This will be a pass for me in the future.

★ 374 characters

3.5/5  rDev -4.6%

3.75/5  rDev +2.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

3.78/5  rDev +3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Pours a dark amber color with a frothy tan head that leaves nice lacing. The aroma is malty and slightly spicy with notes of caramel and molasses, toasted bread, orange zest, cherry marmalade, corriander, earthy hops, some chocolate and a touch of alcohol. The flavor is similar with notes of chocolate and caramel, molasses and toasted bread, along with some corriander and clove, orange and cherry marmalade and some alcohol. The mouthfeel is medium and drinkability is very good. A tasty and drinkable, if not particularly memorable winter warmer.

★ 550 characters

3/5  rDev -18.3%

3.25/5  rDev -11.4%

3.08/5  rDev -16.1%

3.5/5  rDev -4.6%

3.43/5  rDev -6.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Served from bottle into a Stone nonic. Poured red brown with a one finger light tan head that subsided to a minimal amount slowly. Maintained excellent lacing throughout the glass. The flavor was of sweet malt, caramel, and subtle alcohol. The flavor was of sweet malt, caramel, toffee, subtle alcohol, and dark fruit upon warming. It had a medium feel on the palate with medium carbonation. Overall this was a decent brew. I was kind of let down by this one upon smelling it due to the lack of components and complexity present. However the flavor turned out to be a lot more complex. With that said, the flavors didn't really mix well together. While all were good in their own right, some just didn't belong together. Worth trying but that is about it.

★ 755 characters

3.5/5  rDev -4.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

3.73/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

The appearance is very appropriate as it has a cheery red hue that is perfect for Christmas. The head was fizzy and loosely knit but it laced well and stood strong.

There seems to be little in the scent but a sweet malt body such as a cherry wood.

The flavor is outstanding with huge winter spices and dried fruits. The cinnamon and nutmeg are at the forefront with some ginger and peppercorn. The prune, date and raisin are softer and back up the malty side of this ale.

The feel is smooth but it does have some sparkle as it drinks like a Christmas cocktail.

★ 563 characters

3.5/5  rDev -4.6%

2.84/5  rDev -22.6%
look: 3 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Just wasn't impressed. A lot better winter ales out there

57 characters

3.17/5  rDev -13.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25

4/5  rDev +9%

3.94/5  rDev +7.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

3.85/5  rDev +4.9%