Day 12 of the 2nd Annual Advent-ure Calendar
Day 12: Buffalo Bills Brewery Winter Ale
After having a beer we are every familiar with, we move to one we know nothing about! We’ve seen this brewery’s pumpkin ale before, it’s actually all over the place during the fall, but not much else. We dove right into the website to research the Winter Ale: “An Imperial Ale that’s beautifully balanced with fresh hops, rye, and a subtle malt sweetness. This high gravity ale is golden in color and brewed with hops sourced from the Pacific Northwest.” It does not sound like the typical holiday/winter ale.
REFLECTIONS
Beard & Broad
Beard: This smells way worse than it tastes. I guess that’s good? I get some subtle spices, perhaps orange peel? Nothing really stands out to me though, the flavors are all kind of muted. There’s a sweetness here I don’t like and there’s not enough hops to balance it out. Apparently there’s also a decent amount of rye that I can’t pick up. Overall this is a hard pass for me.
Broad: The initial smell is very hoppy but I actually taste minimal hops. Its very malty and I don’t really get any holiday spice. It’s too sweet for me. I can’t put my finger on exact notes but I know I don’t love it. It’s also a tad metallic-y. I will not be adding this one to my holiday beer rotation.
Adam & Alex
Adam: I concur with my lovely wife. I won’t remember this beer at all. Its fine. If you handed me a pint of this at a bar I’d drink it but I wouldn’t order it. It has a slight penny-Copper nose and the flavor is quite bland. It finishes with a sweet maltiness. This beer is one where I’ll see it next year in a bottle house and think “have I ever had that before?”
Alex: This beer isn’t bad, but I can’t really say I like it. It just kind of exists? I don’t know, I can’t really describe what I taste because it just tastes like a beer to me, especially after yesterday’s beer’s fantastical flavors. This just falls flat for me.
Scott & CT
Scott: I don’t love this beer but I don’t hate it. I like the maltiness and its tangy aftertaste, but it’s not stacking up well against some of the others we’ve tasted. If I met Buffalo Bill, I’d give him a strong handshake, but I’m not reaching up for the high five.
CT: When I first poured this beer, I was surprised by the light, caramel color. Most of what we’ve seen thus far has been darker pours so I was excited to try it. Unfortunately the excitement died down at first taste. Not much by the way of smell, a bit tart, hoppy, and malty in flavor. It lacks a lot in spice and has a metallic, almost unpleasantly sweet aftertaste. Little full, lotta sap.
Lou & Jen
Lou: Well this beer is certainly different than anything we’ve tasted so far. Has a strong citrus scent and the hops and rye make their presence known . It’s quite strong at 8% and you can taste it. The flavor doesn’t linger too much which I appreciate, but for the most part doesn’t get me in the Christmas spirit.
Jen: This beer was….eh. The nose was very citrus which I liked. The taste had a strong rye flavor (yuck) with a lot of hops (double yuck). The spices lingered more than I like and I don’t feel like the beer felt very festive. It tasted more like a typical hop beer to me. Sorry gang.