Blue Point Winter Ale

I picked up a case of Blue Point Winter Ale from Westy's. The beer has an amber color with a white frothy head. There is a light hop and malty aroma but it is not very prevalent. The taste is malty and sweet at first and has an allspice accent on the end. The alcohol content is 5.5% ABV. I thought that the Winter Ale was a decent beer, but not an over the top excellent beer. The flavors and spices were nicely balanced, but not overly impressive. I thought that the beer seemed to be a spiced up version of the Toasted Lager (which I really like), but it did not make this an excellent beer.

Church Brew Works December 2009

Church Brew Works Bier De Noel

I stopped in at Church Brew Works while in Pittsburgh recently. The first beer I ordered was the Bier De Noel. The beer is a brown color with a light filmy head. The aroma is full of cinnamon and nutmeg. The flavor is sweet with malts, caramel, and toffee and it finishes with an alcohol bite. The alcohol content is 9.5% ABV. I thought that the Bier De Noel was a very satisfyingly spicy beer. The alcohol holds a demanding presence in this beer, but I thoroughly enjoyed the kick that it provided.

Church Brew Works Xmas

The second beer I ordered at Church Brew Works was the Xmas. The beer is a dark brown color and is almost opaque with a light tan head. The aroma consists of cinnamon, nutmeg and malts. The taste is extremely smooth and full of nutmeg and cinnamon. It also has a slight dry finish. The alcohol content is 7.2%ABV. I like the Xmas, but not quite as much as the Bier De Noel. The Xmas has a nice complimentary balance of spices and malts, and no component is overdone.

Southern Tier Old Man Winter Ale

I ordered a pint of Souther Tier Old Man Winter Ale at Fathead's in Pittsburgh. The beer has an amber color with a lofty bubbly head. The aroma is slightly spicy and filled with orange hops. The taste is mostly hoppy at first with pine and orange hops. The taste then evolves to malty and caramel flavors with a solid base of raisin. The alcohol content is 7.2% ABV. I really enjoyed this beer, although I am not surprised as I am a big fan of Southern Tier beers. It is a solid winter warmer, and does not have an overpowering alcohol kick.

Clipper City Heavy Seas Great Pumpkin

Albeit a little late and out of season, I picked up a bottle of Clipper City Heavy Seas Great Pumpkin at D's Six Pax and Dogz in Pittsburgh. This was one of the pumpkin beers that I really wanted to try but was unable to locate, until the end of December. The beer has an orange color with a light bubbly white head. The taste is very spicy and full of pumpkin, nutmeg, and cinnamon flavors. The alcohol content is 8.0% ABV. While this would not rank as my favorite pumpkin beer, it is a well done beer with none of the flavors overdone. This is the way a pumpkin beer should be produced.

Brooklyn Monster Ale

While at D's Dix Pax and Dogz in Pittsburgh I ordered a glass of Brooklyn Monster Ale, their barleywine. The beer has an amber color with a thin white head. It smells malty and lemon. The taste is sweet with vanilla and caramel flavors and light lemon accents with a slight alcohol bite. It finishes with an oak taste on the back of the tongue. The alcohol content is 11.8% ABV. Overall the Monster Ale was very drinkable and mostly enjoyable. It drank very smooth and light, but packed a nice alcohol punch.

Great Divide Hibernation Ale

I ordered a draft of Great Divide Hibernation Ale at D's Six Pax and Dogz in Pittsburgh. The beer has a dark amber color with a light foamy head. It smells of toasted malts, chocolate, and caramel. The taste is slightly spicy at first and transitions into a smooth toasted flavor. The chocolate flavor doesn't stand out too much, but is there. The caramel really smooths out the beer and provides a great accent. The alcohol content is 8.1% ABV. I really enjoyed the Hibernation Ale and would gladly order another glass. The smooth finish makes it a very drinkable beer, as in you could drink several in one sitting.

Penn Brewery St. Nikolas Bock Beer Brewer's Reserve

When I visited the reopening of Penn Brewery in Pittsburgh, I saw that they had felt bag-wrapped bottled of St. Nikolas Bock Bier- Brewer's Reserve. I did not hesitate to pick up a bottle, especially for only $5. The beer has a dark amber color with a light bubbly head. The aroma is malty with raisins. The taste is sweet and heavily composed of raisins, figs, and toffee. There is an underlying hint of toasted malts. The alcohol content is 7.5% ABV. This is a very excellent beer and I was disappointed that there wasn't a regular run of production in 2009. however, at the reopening of the brewery, they had a limited amount of the brewer's reserve. I highly recommended if you can find it.