Josephs Brau Winter Ride
Trader Joe's Brewing Company

Josephs Brau Winter RideJosephs Brau Winter Ride
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From:
Trader Joe's Brewing Company
 
California, United States
Style:
Doppelbock
Ranked #120
ABV:
7.5%
Score:
82
Ranked #25,205
Avg:
3.6 | pDev: 12.5%
Reviews:
229
Ratings:
372
Status:
Active
Rated:
Mar 04, 2024
Added:
Feb 14, 2008
Wants:
  9
Gots:
  25
Also known as Josephs Brau Winterfest and Josephs Brau Winter Brew.

Come on, it’s lovely weather for a Winter Ride Double Bock brew! Made for us by a West Coast craft brewery with an affinity for traditional Bavarian fermentation techniques, this merrily malty lager is an excellent way to celebrate the season and get a little refreshment at the same time. Whether you’ve been busy hitting the slopes, walking through a winter wonderland, or even just dealing with the holiday rush, Winter Ride Double Bock Lager will help bring about the perfect ending to a perfect day.

With its sweet notes of dark, caramel-y malts, lightly bitter hops, and smooth, crisp finish, we find that this delicious Double Bock pairs especially well with big, intense flavors. Try sipping Winter Ride alongside a plate of Truffle Pecorino and a spread of spicy deli meats. Just make sure you giddy-yap before this Winter Ride comes to an end.
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Rated: 2.78 by rangerred from Tennessee

Mar 04, 2024
Photo of stevoj
Reviewed by stevoj from Idaho

3.24/5  rDev -10%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25
12oz can from Trader Joe's. Dark, clear brown pour, thin creamy beige head sticks around. Light malty aroma, brown bread, faint winter spice. Taste is sweet toasty malts with a touch of savory spice.
Dec 26, 2023
 
Rated: 4.38 by Beecham from California

Dec 05, 2023
Photo of harrypowers
Reviewed by harrypowers from Massachusetts

3.77/5  rDev +4.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Pours a dark brown with a 1F head and light lacing.

Smells and tastes of toasted sweet malt and caramel with a slightly bitter boozy warm finish.

Medium body with light carbonation. Slightly syrupy mouthfeel.

This is a decent , sweet unnuanced brew.
Nov 27, 2023
Photo of BAKOJAX
Reviewed by BAKOJAX from California

4.6/5  rDev +27.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 5
It poured nicely in my opinion, nice amount of head and color. Liked the taste so much that I went back and bought all four of the sixpacks left after originally buying two.
Jan 08, 2023
 
Rated: 3.92 by Satsuma from Florida

Jan 07, 2023
Photo of KP7
Reviewed by KP7 from Massachusetts

3.51/5  rDev -2.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
This was surprisingly decent. Or maybe it was just all of the holiday cheer I had before it. It could definitely use more depth, but I would pick this over a lot of what passes for beer these days.
Dec 25, 2022
 
Rated: 3.68 by MJSFS from Florida

Dec 15, 2022
Photo of KenjiN
Reviewed by KenjiN from Massachusetts

3.12/5  rDev -13.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 1
Mahogany-colored brew with yellow head. Meaty, brothy, savory aroma. Taste is reminiscent of beef broth. This double bock is filling and warming. It doesn't have the complexity of the best doppelbocks, but it is great for the price.
Dec 14, 2022
Photo of BillAfromSoCal
Reviewed by BillAfromSoCal from California

3.44/5  rDev -4.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Medium brown with 2 finger tan head of relatively short longevity and no lacing in a mug. Some caramel+malt on smell and taste but a bit of unexpected bitterness on the back end. medium body. Inexpensive but I got what I paid for…low price for a lower tier beer.
Dec 13, 2022
Photo of maltmaggot
Reviewed by maltmaggot from California

3.23/5  rDev -10.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3
Winter ride, huh..? Well the first few drinks I had of this and my sleigh went off into the trees and hit a stump.
L: Beautiful mahogany brown with garnet highlights, kaki head with minimal lacing
S: Crème de caramel, banana, grains and light spices, vaguest hint of chocolate
T: For the style, watery. You know that thick bready malt backbone that doppels are known for? No where in the vicinity. In place of this is a watered down booziness that is not at all smooth. Sticky, yes. Not full and rich, but flat and insipid, all washed out with a vague fusel sting.
F: The feel of this I think is not bad, but could stand a bit more viscosity.
O: I know if it wasn't labeled 'doppelbock', I wouldn't have been paying as much attention. However, though it has the trappings of this style, it fails to deliver where it counts. You know, the taste.
Dec 10, 2022
Photo of Brutaltruth
Reviewed by Brutaltruth from Ohio

4.18/5  rDev +16.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Good grief---this one was unexpected!

From the 12 oz bottle in a snifter via Trader Joe's. This solid doppel pours a
nice dark mahogany with a very nice head of khaki foam that settles to a thick
ring, thin swirling layer, and shows some light lacing. Nose of toffee, caramel,
dark breaded malts, and touches of cherry and fig. Flavors are outstanding with
dark brown sugars, caramel, toffee, dark breaded malts, cherry, fig, date, and light
herbal hop notes. Very nice mouth feel; medium verging on medium light body, smooth,
rich, lightly warming, and finishing sweet with balanced herbal hop touches.

Overall----WOW. An unexpected stunner!

Cheers
Feb 17, 2022
Photo of Christianriveraaa
Reviewed by Christianriveraaa

3.63/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
A very dark brown pour with very little to no carbonation rising to the surface. The foam is about a fingers length - no very high. The nose is sweet - reminds me of a caramel toffee feel. Kind of like if you were to make this into bread. The taste has a strong Toffee taste to it with slight caramel flavor - the flavor is very strong as the high 7.5% of the beer sticks out very much. The feel is a bit different as I am accustomed to a stout. This is easier to drink I must say but like I said with 7.5% be careful as it will sneak up on you! Probably will buy again in the near future as it was a pretty good beer for the price.
Feb 17, 2022
 
Rated: 5 by Dalkri from Massachusetts

Feb 16, 2022
 
Rated: 3.46 by Meddwol from Michigan

Dec 12, 2021
 
Rated: 3.75 by kds2437 from Texas

Dec 10, 2021
 
Rated: 4 by Brian_Pheiffer from California

Dec 04, 2021
 
Rated: 3.75 by AndrewFord666 from Illinois

Nov 21, 2021
Photo of scootny
Reviewed by scootny from New York

3.64/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
"It's the malt, maltiest time of the year." A brownish red brew with a light tan head. Perfectly clear and decent lacing.
Low carbonation activity.

Nose is sweet with caramel and toffee. Caramel malt and brown bread with a light, earthy hop bite. Some dark fruit notes

Taste follows nose with a broad toasted,malty front. Lots of caramel, toffee, a hint of molasses. Some raisiny, plummish, fruitiness in mild proportion . Earthy hops give a clean finish with a nice crispness.

Feel is lighter than I find typical for a doppelbock with an easy drinking quality that lends itself to at least two or three at a go. Nice carbonation combines with the hop balance to make it surprisingly thirst quenching for a beer of this weight. With the abv of 7.5 watch out!

This is a solid holiday brew at a superior price point. Get a case when it shows up.
Jan 19, 2021
Photo of TinFang
Reviewed by TinFang from California

3.94/5  rDev +9.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Tried this a few weeks ago and bought another 6x yesterday. Not outstanding but then the other doublebocks I tried were all making an effort to be ne plus ultra. I would buy this again since it’s a nice seasonal break from IPAs.

Best by 7/18/21. 7.5 abv.

Clear redish cola brown with a beige head. Some lacing. Has glass appeal.
Smell of malt.
I like the toasty malt/hop balance. Advertises Munich malts on the bottle, hop varieties are not identified.
Good mouthfeel.
Jan 10, 2021
Josephs Brau Winter Ride from Trader Joe's Brewing Company
Beer rating: 82 out of 100 with 372 ratings