2° Below Winter Ale - New Belgium Brewing

1whiskey

Oregon

3.58/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12 oz bottle poured into my Jubelale label pint glass. Nice amber color with a brilliant two finger frothy head. Active carbonation with lots of bubbles dancing around. Great lacing.

Smell is interersting, grainy and sugary, with some sort of hop aroma that I can't quite nail down.

Taste is initially very sweet, more sugary than malty, but a sturdy toasted grain flavor jumps in to save the day. Finishes with some indecipherable hop flaver, clearly noticable but puzzling to try and identify. This is certainly a unique interpretation of an ESB, and definately a curveball for a winter seasonal, but I'm enjoying this. A little bit of alcohol warming presents itself in the second half of my glass, but that's part of the appeal of a winter beer anyway.

Mouthfeel is quite pleasant, with seemingly millions of tiny bubbles sloshing their way around my tongue on their way to their final destination. Body is medium to heavy, even chewy, but this is a pretty easy drinker.

Overall I found this a unique, somewhat perplexing, but generally very enjoyable beer. However, if this is the replacement for my beloved Frambrozen, then this is a signifigant downgrade.

Serving type: bottle

02-16-2007 06:00:10 | More by 1whiskey

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