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Odell says roast malt is appropriate in other styles at his brewery, such as his flagship Scotch-style amber ale 90 Shilling for dryness and chocolate flavors.
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The Jubelale from Oregon’s Deschutes Brewery has a similar flavor profile, emphasizing the British flavors synonymous with winter warmer: dark fruit flavors from crystal malt, and subtle cherry and berry notes from English yeast, says barrel master Ben Kehs.īoth Kehs and Odell agree that using a few different kilned and stewed malts boosts complexity, but there shouldn’t be too much impact from roast malt, if any at all. The hops also add a hint of bitterness to the beer so it “doesn’t taste like you’re drinking sweet cough syrup,” Odell adds. Hood hops for that herbal spiciness he describes. Over all that time, the recipe and flavor profile has stayed the same - complex malt flavors of caramel, toffee, and dried prune taking center stage with just a hint of English Fuggle and Mt. When Building a Winter Warmer Recipe, Consider the Classic English StyleĪccording to Odell Brewing co-founder Doug Odell, a winter warmer should have “malty character with enough hops to balance that sweetness and add a little kind of spice to it, but not the sense of holiday spices.” Odell has been releasing the winter warmer Isolation Ale seasonally since 1999.
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over the last three decades give their point of view on what makes for a winter warmer, and how to make one at home. This category is ambiguous, per BJCP guidelines, to “allow for brewer creativity as long as the resulting product is balanced and provides some spice presentation.”įour breweries churning out some of the most loved winter warmers in the U.S. Then again, Harpoon Winter Warmer, which many an East Coast craft beer drinker would consider the quintessential example, is tucked in the “Winter Seasonal Beer” style. Even the guidelines admit that grouping is more of an entry category that “fits in the style space between normal gravity beers (strong bitters, brown ales, English porters) and barleywines,” than it is a defined style.
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According to our guideline-writing overlords at the BJCP, classic English winter warmers such as Samuel Smith’s Winter Welcome and Young’s Winter Warmer are commercial examples of the “British Strong Ale” style. “Winter warmer” means different things to different brewers.
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The alcohol is elevated, but not too high, there is malt flavor but the balance isn’t overwhelmingly sweet. It’s a beer that requires the brewer’s restraint. But there is a simpler, more subdued style that has been a winter staple for the last 30 years or more. This time of year, there are plenty of big barrel-aged barleywines, and sweetened and flavored pastry stouts flooding the market.
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