Earthy , bitter hops challenge the tastebuds with a mixture of results.18/94)
Merry Christmas everyone from the In Search Of Hoppiness Blog. Once more this has been delayed through a variety of illness and holidays but I strived pushed forwards and managed to get this up before Christmas, with a very good reason.
For the festive season we have ended up in Norfolk, which reminds me I must watch Knowing Me Knowing Yule after this and we are drinking from Mr Winters Brewery who had a special ‘Twelve Beers of Christmas’ selection available. As it tis the season I decided that I would make this one a bit of a Christmas special.
https://wintersbrewery.co.uk/12-beers-of-christmas-243-p.asp
The beers themselves cost £38, with an £8 courier charge resulting in an average cost of £3.83 for a 500ml bottle.
The Mr Winters website is actually very clean and doesn’t have an about me section which I normally like to put in here, alas this time round we’ll just have to go without and get straight into the beers.
As always, notes are written in real time, as such you will see a tinge of despair when i didn't feel i would get it out on time, followed by renewed vigour and hope.
The first beer from Mr Winters’ brewing and I am very very excited for all of the beers from the 12 Beers of Christmas box set. Their message is ‘Brewing Flavoursome Beer Is in Our DNA’, which for me quickly ticks all the boxes of what I’m looking for in a beer.
What ticks even more boxes are seeing that this is rife with Mosaic and Citra hops, which is getting me all giddy and salivating already. To the eyes its actually quite thick looking, with light having to work a little bit harder than I would have expected to permeate the beer. The nose is incredibly light and fruity and in all honest I already know I’m going to be in for a treat.
Oooooh what are you doing Mr Winters you cheeky brewer you. Straight off the bat citrus hops slap you across the chops with a lovely fruity note, this then subsides pretty quickly as the beery notes kick through and rests on the palate reminding you that you’re drinking a beer and not a refreshing tropical juice drink.
What happens with each mouthful are the fruit notes become more and more pronounced and take on a jam like quality coating the mouth as long as the beer is in there, before sliding down the throat to allow the hoppy beer notes to take over.
What I’ve noticed is there are quite detailed descriptors on the bottles themselves which I’m trying to not look at pre tasting. The notes for this were.
“Mosaic and Citra hops are the life force behind this twisted little experiment. Splicing notes of sweet mango and stone fruit with a hint of grapefruit, this refreshing pale ale is alive with flavour.”
There is certainly the refreshing element too, but I’d say it’s also a little heavy, I find that with beers that are so hops heavy to generate the fruity flavour. Believe me when I say this is not a bad thing, it’s still refreshing but I think I’d be limited in the number I could have without feeling bloated. As a single bottle however, this is a wonderful wonderful thing and I’m very very excited about the next 11 beers.
In my rush to get this blog out on time it’s been pointed out that for some reason I’ve lost all of my notes for Twin Parallel and is it was the second beer I had; I literally can’t remember anything about it. As such I can only apologise and but it down to a user / idiot error.
I’m not sure why, it might to the use of the word tea in the title but it’s already messing with my brain a little bit, I’m sure it won’t be anything like it, I don’t know maybe it’s just the way my mind works I guess and association.
Anyway,
The beer itself poured fantastically and maintained a head for a substantial amount of time even with the glass not being spotless as can be seen in the photo, will make sure that doesn’t happen again. It has that nice amber hue to it which gives the impression of murkiness which reacts to torchlight with to reveal a much lighter but not quite opaque visual.
The nose is giving a mixture of sweet and bitter notes, the sweetness certainly comes from a fruity place as well. Thankfully I’m not getting any hints of Yorkshire Tea or Earl Grey just yet so my earlier worries have relaxed a little bit.
This tastes a lot heavier to me than the double helix even though there is only .2% difference, the hops are just more impactful and leave a more bitter punch across the tastebuds. The sweetness to the nose doesn’t really make its way to the palate, with the occasional spike appearing but nothing that I can definitively pick out as Peach or anything else for that matter.
This feels more of a traditional beer which is backed up by the primary bitter notes. A good beer, but I was more drawn to the first two as it stands.
The bottle states: -
“Hold on tight for this quintessential storm in a tea cup. Light in body and bright in flavour this refreshing Pale Ale is a classic in the bitter sweet tasting experience”.
Thanks for reminding me, I have to concur it is a very light drink and went down very easily, without any sense of being overly bloating or any difficulty in drinking due to it just being “too much”.
I’ve noted in the beers that Helix has a big brother in the Double Helix DIPA so it’ll be interesting to get a gauge on the flavour profiles and how tasted it is, especially if there’s two of them on the horizon.
Helix is an extra pale ale and just on the pour alone you can see that this is the case with the beer having no haze to it and being almost waterlike in its consistency and viscosity. It’s head also faded reasonably quickly.
The nose seems similar to the previous beer in that there is a light fruity note hidden behind mostly beer hoppy notes.
Hmmm very tasty if a shade on the bitter side of the hops. When you first take the drink it’s heavily carbonated in the first instance with the bubbles popping all around and acting a large proportion of the thousands of tastebuds at once. The roof of your mouth seems to be the focus for the fruity notes before making its way down your throat, whereas the bitter hops sit all along the tongue. Although it’s only 4% and tastes light on the mouth there is a lot of flavour going on and although initially quite over the top bitter, once your palate adjusts this quickly becomes much more balanced and enjoyable leading to a really tasty beer.
The bottle states
"For when regular simply isn’t enough. This super charged extra pale ale blends delectable pine and resinous notes with a satisfyingly crisp, hoppy finish”.
Well, this is a lively little beer, straight from the pour we retained a head Mr Whippy would be proud of and this time it’s nothing to do with glass cleanliness as it was completely bob on. Double Helix is the above’s big brother as noted as such I’m expecting the flavour profile to be the same, but with that added thickness owing to the DIPA and ABV. Aside from it being incredibly lively it poured quite thickly and unlike its younger brother has that haze and heaviness about it.
The nose is quite strong giving the impression you’re going to taste the strength of the beer, there is no real hint of fruit coming through at all, as such I’m expecting a full-bodied hoppy experience.
Ok so I was right on a number of factors here, firstly it tastes very very thick and almost has a caramel like nature in both initial taste and viscosity, it has that lovely attribute where the beer coats the mouth was an oily like sheen and forces you to explore the beer. It’s also very much a beer, there is no fruity notes at all to guide you through just a sweetness which gives way to the hops and the woody after taste, which it shares with its younger brother.
What I’m trying to work out is…do I like this. Is there quality at play here, or course and I get what they’re going for. If we look at the bottle it states
This Double India Pale Ale has a hoppy resinous effect and at 8% this piney beast has the potential to knock you sideways, so please drink responsibly.
So, I agree that everything that they’ve gone for they’ve accomplished, I just think that on a personal level the after taste is just a bit too aggressive for my palate, as I struggle with your woodier finishes.
It might be just because I’m a sucker for a nice tropical fruity IPA, but even just pouring this beer I was excited. It looks rich and inviting without being too heavy and had that perfect amber pour with a strong yet delicate head at the same time. I’m pretty sure and confident that this is going to be a banger!
The nose is subtle, unlike the Helix brothers there isn’t that overall beery smack on the olfactory system, this is a lot more subtle with a sweetness from citrus very subtle but hiding all hints of its 6% abv.
Now this is fantastic.
I harp on a lot about balance and how important it is in a beer, too fruity it’s like drinking squash, too bitter it’s unpleasant on the palate etc and Citrus Kiss has full on nailed the balance.
You take a mouthful of beer and it almost doesn’t want to leave your mouth until its ready to do so and swallowing becomes a conscious thought to do. You get that citrus punch all over the mouth with an orange and grapefruit undertone, which gently fades away to a much lighter pine hoppy residue which is not overpowering and is a perfect accompaniment to the first citrus twang.
The bottle states:
“Bold, bright and bitter, Citrus Kiss lingers on the tongue for a lasting flavour. Combining hints of zesty orange, grapefruit and lemon with hops and barley, this surprising IPA leaves you wanting more”.
It’s hard to disagree with this, although my rookie palate didn’t pick up the lemon but I do want more of this, there is the lingering on the tongue and mouth. The only thing is I’d say it’s not actually too bitter and far more welcoming than the helix beers before it.
As we reach just over the half way stage, I have to admit I’m a bit disappointed that I can tell I won’t be getting this out before Christmas now, the aim being that I talk about Mr Winter’s brewery’s 12 beers of Christmas before Christmas actually arrives, but a mixture of illness and holidays for the best part of 6 months now means I’ve always been behind where I wanted to be on my schedule.
Anyway, lets push on.
As the photo shows we have another lively one here with a gigantic head on the pour, I don’t believe this is anything from my side, but visually 99 flake aside it looks crisp and light. As an aside it’s going to sound bizarre but this bottle felt heavier for some reason, probably just in my head but there just seemed to be additional heft.
The nose is where I’m struggling to work out what we’ve got going on here. There isn’t a hugely defining smell at all, with everything being very subtle, with nothing popping out immediately. As such I’m at a loss as to where this beer will take me in the taste department.
Ok wow, smell and taste are absolutely miles apart here. With the very first sip you get a light refreshing tingle across the top of the palate of the familiar citrus tones that they’ve used along the way so far. This fades fairly quickly leaving a fairly dominating hoppy bitter feel across the mouth which lingers for just the right amount of time before fading away into the memory.
The bottle states:
“The missing link in the ale world, there’s nothing unnatural about Evolution. Bringing together four varieties of American hops. It has a tropical aroma and crisp flavours of lemon and grapefruit on the palate”.
A bit artsy but again hard to disagree with what they’re saying and you know…they would know. It’s far more enjoyable that I thought it was going to be based on the lacklustre smell, but it did taste delicious.
A new day and broken up from work until the new year, I have improved optimism and vigour… I WILL GET THIS BLOG OUT BEFORE CHRISTMAS. Let’s go!
This is one of the first beer from Mr Winter’s brewing which has not been lively and left a giant head on the drink, on the contrary this poured quite flat but still looks appealing. To the nose it’s a little bit richer than the previous beers and has a sweetness to it with caramel notes almost. With that caramel note comes a sense of heaviness as well.
Hmm tasty.
It’s a far cry from some of the previous beers from the brewery, first of all its quite a flat drink to the taste as well as the nose and is akin to getting a beer from a CAMRA style pub. First off the bat you get a bit citrus hit which plays on the outsides of the tongue. The rest of the mouth is coated with the rest of the beer which leaves the bitter malty hoppy notes dancing on the palate just reaching the border of unpalatable before dissipating off.
Where this beer really comes alive is with a cheeky mouth swill, by forcing the drink to aerate it comes alive and the citrus notes all of a sudden become a bombastic cacophony across the whole mouth and merging with the bitterness and the hops instead of being separate entities.
The bottles blurb states.
“This golden ale is pure alchemy. Combining carefully cultivated yeast and British barley with American and Slovenian hops. It balances a malty body with tangy citrus zing to leave you wanting more”.
I approach this beer with trepidation, as my palate has progressed brown ales are still something which I haven’t had too many of and isn’t my go-to. Whilst I’ve loved IPAs for years and have a brand-new fondness of Stouts, the brown ales have never really piqued my interest, so let’s see how Oddball goes.
On pour alone and to the naked eye this is really thick and dark, but get a torch behind the glass and a ruby hue shines through, which makes the drink look far less daunting. I’m not getting much through the nose, this could be a combination of covid having previously affected my smell (something I’m still trying to work out if it did fully), if the glass is too full (quite possibly) or if there just isn’t much going on. What I am picking out is a sugary molasses syrupy sort of smell which would indicate the drink will have a coating effect around the mouth.
Cards on the table, this is not for me.
It’s a very rich beer to start with but doesn’t have as big a coating effect as I expected, however it is ram packed full of flavour profiles which I’ve historically and still don’t like. There’s a peat-like muddy flavour that sits across the lower half of the mouth abusing the palate, or mine anyway. Even with whisky I prefer the cleaner crispy ones, not the ones that taste like a bog. This muddy, woody flavour I really struggle to pull any real joy from.
Looking at the bottle notes to try and help my palate understand it a bit better it says
“This brewed madness is where insanity meets clarity. Grab a pogo stick for a hoppy, yet spicy journey with bitter notes and hidden biscuity undertones”.
On paper that sounds pretty epic, but I can’t ascertain the biscuit notes there is however the faintest of spicy tongue tingle. I think for a brown ale liker or lover this would be bang up their alley and would probably say I’m talking rubbish about it tasting muddy, but sadly this just isn’t for me.
Alright here we go, flavour time. With this being a milk stout, I’m expecting that lactose tang on the mouth and I’m expecting complete flavour country on this one, I’m also expecting that nice filmy coating of flavour.
The nose to this is deep, rich and full of coffee notes, with that lovely bitter note behind it, there is a slight sugary sweetness coming through as well, which I hope will be reflected in the Vanilla.
This beer is actually a lot sweeter than I was anticipating, with the sweetness being the prominent flavour profile, the coffee notes which were so forth coming in the nose is actually quite restrained and is barely there at all. It could possibly. It is incredibly smooth to drink and I think that even if you weren’t a stout fan as such, you could really enjoy this drink. Ironically if you are a big stout fan, who likes the strong imperial stuff, you might find this a little lacking in the “stoutiness”. It is there but the sweet notes are certainly the paramount flavour.
I really could have done with just a bit more coffee to really emphasise the latte name.
The bottle notes, hit everything I’ve mentioned above I feel, in a bit more succinct way.
“Reach out and delve deep into this velvety stout. This unexpected blend of coffee and vanilla leaves a smooth and sweet lasting attack on your tastebuds”.
First of all, great name which immediately conjures all sorts of complexity in the drink, where different people are going to be picking out different notes. It really helps create a mental picture before even tasting.
Rorschach poured much in the same way as the Vanilla latte and to the naked eye would be difficult to differentiate. The nose is surprisingly more subtle than the vanilla latte, with the sweetness from the previous beer naturally ramped down. There isn’t a huge amount of anything else coming through, however there is the bitter sweetness which just plays in the background.
Oooh this is nice.
Is what I first said and…I think I like it, however there is a very strong aftertaste which again as has been the issue with a few of Mr Winters’ beers, the bitterness is bordering on the abrasive. There is a first hit of sweetness albeit a heavy dark cocoa infused sweetness rather than from anything else. It’s a smooth drink and doesn’t leave any film or anything on the mouth and truth be told the more that I have the more that the initial aftertaste dissipates and becomes more nuanced and balanced.
As such I’m back to my initial though of Oooh this is nice.
The bottle states:
“Discover your dark side with this moreish stout. A bewitching blend of chocolate and cara malts creates a seductive combination of liquorice, coffee and caramel flavours”.
I have to be honest I’m not really picking up liquorice or caramel, although I could be confusing the caramel with the chocolate notes I suggested earlier on. I’m quite happy there’s not much liquorice as there isn’t much on my “I do not like” flavour list but liquorice is one of them.
There is something about a ‘Mild’ that conjures up the image of 70’s tv shows where the characters are sat in smoke filled pubs with a watery unappealing beer, their friend comes in, orders a pint of mild and gets poured the exact same mud water.
I’m sure that this beer won’t be like that, but it’s funny how the brain associates sometimes.
To the pour it doesn’t look incredibly appealing to me, it’s pretty flat on the pour but also looks like quite a thin and dark drink. I will say it doesn’t look like mud water though so that’s a definite plus, instead it has a tar like colour, but without its consistency.
The nose is bizarrely quite fresh, it could have something to do wish it coming out of the fridge. There is a slight chocolatey hum to the smell which has set the salivary glands on notice that something nice could be about to happen, though my brain is making me question that.
Hmmmm a bit of subtle genius here.
Instantly you can tell that this is a weaker beer and is reflected in both taste and mouthfeel. It’s incredibly light to the taste. At first its hard to discern a flavour profile, but what we have is a light chocolatey beer which is inoffensive and very much lives up to its ‘mild’ moniker.
The bottle notes that: “It might be mild, but this ale packs a powerful punch. Expertly melding roasted notes with hints of nuts, chocolate and caramel, get your taste buds ready for a taste explosion.
I agree with the roasted notes now that it’s there and is the perfect accompaniment to the rest of the flavour profile I’m not sure I’m all in on the powerful punch though and feels much more subtle and delicate.
Final Thoughts:
In retrospect the title might have been a little harsh when I said, mixed results. There were some absolute BANGERS of beer in this bundle which I would return to very happily. That said there was some issues for me with balance in some of the beers, which led to a bit aggressive aftertaste on occasion.
All in all, though, I was pleasantly surprised with some of the beers, the mild that I’m finishing as I type this has grown on me even more and changed my preconceptions about what a mild is. The citrus kiss blew my mind, but the stouts I felt were lacking a bit of punch.
On a personal note, I’m going to strive to be ‘better’ with this blog moving forwards and more regular, truth of it is I’ve been ill in some regards or ‘something’ for what feels like the best part of 3-4 months in one way or another. All being well a clean bill of health will see this back on track. I’ll look at statistics at the end of the year and see where I’m at but that’s purely an ego thing, but quite humbling too that so many people have taken the time just to click the link so once again as always, thank you.
Next County: Suffolk
Next Brewery: Shorts Farm Brewery
