Stoudt's Winter Ale

      Stoudt's Winter ale pours out a very light brown and has an herbal hop and faint mocha nose.  This is very hoppy.  After one sip you can enjoy the massive bitter for a long time.  This is a terrible Winter Ale, no flavor except painful amounts of hop.  I can drink it,but I don't want to.  Total Winter Ale Fail.

Three Winter Brews

I know it's Spring, but there are still a number of Winter beers still on the shelves and many places discount them. Here are three I saw just the other day. We have Stoudt's Winter Ale, Blue Moon Full Moon, and Bell's Winter White for your drinking pleasure. First up is Stoudt's. The Winter Ale pours out a dark amber and has classic caramel on the nose, with little hop. There's a lot of hop up front and on the back end. Kind of a shock, I found little on the nose. It's got nice flavors of baking spice, caramel and a hint of cinnamon. I like this beer more as I drink it. Seems to balance out well, but the hops do hide some of the flavor here.

Next, we have Full Moon, a Winter Ale that pours out a dark copper to light brown. The nose is sweet caramel with a hint of mocha. It tastes a lot like it smells, sugar daddy with a hint of mocha. I really like sugar daddy's. there's some hop in here to cut the sweetness a little. It is a medium bodied beer, I would have expected a little more heft. Wow, this is a nice beer.

Last, is Bell's Winter White. Bell's pours out a cloudy straw color with that distinct white head. The nose has nice citrus and coriander, along with a lot of yeast. The taste has some coriander, some caramels and the yeasty taste. I find the aftertaste poor at best. It's got a nice creaminess, but not much body. I'm not a white beer fan, but this isn't even a good white beer. Boy I really like the Full Moon. You should go get a couple for cold Spring nights. The Stoudt's is also a pretty decent, but flawed beer. And finally, Bell's has created a flaw, not decent.

STOUDT'S

BLUE MOON

BELL'S