Newcastle Winter IPA - The Caledonian Brewery Company Limited

RonaldTheriot

Louisiana

4.23/5  rDev +32.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Newcastle Winter IPA has a fairly thick, foamy, off-white head, a clear, slightly bubbly, copper appearance and minimal lacing on the glass. The aroma is subtle, but one can pick up tea, malt, and possibly a touch of hop sting. Taste is of tea, nuts, brown bread, bread crumb, sweetness, tannin, and an underlying hop bitterness. Mouthfeel is light to medium, and Newcastle Winter IPA finishes semi-dry, mild, and highly drinkable. Overall, this is a sublime, intricate, and delicate offering. I think this is a really nice beer!

RJT

Serving type: bottle

11-19-2012 00:35:09 | More by RonaldTheriot

woodychandler

Pennsylvania

3.23/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

No question of where this one came from - many thanks to my local, in-person trader, tone 77!

From the bottle: "Brighten your Day"; "We aim to pleasantly surprise with our winter ale, a unique Limited Edition brew with the drinkability you expect from Newcastle. Our recipe echoes the style of 18th century India pale ales, which were subtly higher hopped than British pale ales. This brew has a seductive malt, caramel and zesty character which accompanies a balanced and creamy finish. Our inspiration for this unexpected winter brew? Well, we just want to make our long British winters more palatable!"; "Brilliant British Ale"; "From the One & Only"; "Drink Cool".

My pour produced just better than a finger of dense, tawny head with very good retention. Color was a deep copper with NE-quality clarity. Nose was malty sweet with a caramel scent and a light, grassy hoppiness. Mouthfeel was medium and the taste was definitely of caramel on the tongue. Finish was semi-sweet and easily quaffable. It was tasty, but not sustaining for a hophead such as myself. I am not sure that it would make winter more palatable for me, but to each his own. Not bad, not unexpected, but not sustaining, either.

Serving type: bottle

05-21-2013 00:04:36 | More by woodychandler

ajtorres311

Florida

3/5  rDev -6%

05-15-2013 16:45:34 | More by ajtorres311

aty11b

Texas

4/5  rDev +25.4%

05-14-2013 01:29:12 | More by aty11b

tone77

Pennsylvania

3.43/5  rDev +7.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Poured from a brown 12 oz. bottle. Has a bronze color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is malty? No noticable hops. Taste is also malty, sweet, caramel, not what I was expecting. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall is a good beer, but not what I am expecting in an IPA.

Serving type: bottle

05-11-2013 18:28:41 | More by tone77

mikeburd1128

New Jersey

3/5  rDev -6%

05-11-2013 15:18:26 | More by mikeburd1128

Guden

Maryland

4.5/5  rDev +41.1%

05-08-2013 02:07:54 | More by Guden

tommyguz

Pennsylvania

2.25/5  rDev -29.5%

05-07-2013 14:23:03 | More by tommyguz

Skeeze

California

2.75/5  rDev -13.8%

05-04-2013 17:18:05 | More by Skeeze

pweis909

Wisconsin

3.26/5  rDev +2.2%
look: 3.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25

What I like most: there is an interesting aroma to this beer. It reminds me of apricots. Is this a yeast derived stone-fruit flavor or hop-derived flavor, such as the apricot flavor people claim to get from amarillo hops? I don't know, but it is the most interesting part of the beer.

What I like least: the caramel sweetness is overpowering. This beer is too sweet. Quite unbalanced for anything called IPA, in my mind, and in any event too sweet to really like.

Some things of note, which I am rather neutral toward: the color is dark for an IPA. But it's just color. There is a bit of a chocolate flavor underneath the caramel. Maybe that is not to style, but it doesn't kill the beer and makes it sort of interesting. The carbonation is low and the beer comes across as soft-textured. Sorry I can't be more articulat than that. In my mind, this enhances drinkability, but the sweetness from the caramel malts diminishes it.

Serving type: bottle

05-04-2013 02:49:29 | More by pweis909

Sande

Kansas

2.5/5  rDev -21.6%

05-03-2013 02:49:20 | More by Sande

GaryFields

Indiana

1.75/5  rDev -45.1%

05-03-2013 01:15:03 | More by GaryFields

bmurray10

Texas

3.5/5  rDev +9.7%

04-22-2013 18:00:45 | More by bmurray10

nebula1999

Connecticut

3.25/5  rDev +1.9%

04-21-2013 16:09:50 | More by nebula1999

kvnstfrd

Missouri

3.69/5  rDev +15.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Poured into a 16 oz. goblet. Pours a dark amber color; looks a lot like strong tea. A two-finger off-white head with tons of sticky lacing. Smells of caramel, cherries and other ripe fruity aromas. Some nice, earthy hop aromas in there, too. Taste is malty, fruity and sweet up front with a smooth transition into a herbal, hoppy finish. Mouthfeel is a just little on the thin side, but carbonation level is low and not dry at all. Overall, probably the best English IPA I’ve ever had. This is a nicely balanced and complex beer that I hate to see called a "Limited Edition." SO much better than Newcastle’s flagship Brown Ale. Hopefully, it will at least become a yearly, seasonal brew.

Serving type: bottle

04-21-2013 13:00:27 | More by kvnstfrd

Mike099

New York

2.5/5  rDev -21.6%

04-14-2013 04:59:39 | More by Mike099

h4ger

Connecticut

3.5/5  rDev +9.7%

04-14-2013 00:44:39 | More by h4ger

Pelicanrocks

United Kingdom (England)

3.5/5  rDev +9.7%

04-13-2013 19:54:38 | More by Pelicanrocks

garymuchow

Minnesota

3.71/5  rDev +16.3%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Not sure on the age on this. It seems certainly towards the end of the season for this.
Surprisingly malty, toasty and caramelized aroma. Soft english hopping is definitely in the background. Pleasing enough.
Very clear brown/copper. Smaller head than expected.
Flavors are similar to aroma with greater hop presence. Still largely a malty drink with more blending of the hops throughout, but not really very bitter, more of hop flavors-and they are nice. Soft drying on the finish. Prickly spicy carbonation and hoppy start.
Really quite a light body, esp. for a 5.2% abv. Feels much smaller than that, although flavor holds a touch of alcohol qualities (or features of what I'd expect from a 5% drink).

Serving type: bottle

04-13-2013 02:15:49 | More by garymuchow

griffinn

Oregon

3.1/5  rDev -2.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25

There isn't much that can be said about this "IPA." I wouldn't exactly call it an IPA, it's more like "IPA-inspired." It's really just a standard brown ale a little higher on the level of hops. Indeed, it's remarkably similar to Newcastle's standard offering. Just a bit hoppier. I call it a "Crossover IPA."

This was my first IPA, and for me it served as an introduction to the world of IPAs. It's not at all bad - it's well-balanced enough, feels fine in the mouth for a macro brew, and it's a fine IPA for someone who has either never tried a hoppy beer or isn't a particularly big fan of them. It's worth buying a six-pack on sale (it's probably on clearance at the grocery store right now) if you're craving hops and you're either on a budget or your store doesn't have anything better. But for the seasoned drinker, don't expect anything terribly exciting.

Serving type: bottle

04-12-2013 06:22:13 | More by griffinn

Greggory

Pennsylvania

3.5/5  rDev +9.7%

04-07-2013 00:05:49 | More by Greggory

Jamison85

Indiana

3.5/5  rDev +9.7%

04-02-2013 13:14:01 | More by Jamison85

JMad

Texas

3.25/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 2.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25

The beer pours a very dark amber/ light brown color with a very thin white head that quickly dissipated.

It's aroma is of toasted malts and butter with a light spruce smell in the background. Tastes of sweet bread and caramel with just a slight herbal bitterness and a little bit of fruit on the finish (apple/pear). The liquid is medium bodied with low carbonation and a tasty, lingering finish.

I guess this is ok for an English IPA, but it really wasn't what I was expecting. Although, this beer seems pretty sessionable, I could probably knock down quite a few in one sitting.

Serving type: bottle

03-30-2013 04:23:55 | More by JMad

BuddyE

Louisiana

3.25/5  rDev +1.9%

03-26-2013 03:53:07 | More by BuddyE

hustlesworth

Ohio

3.15/5  rDev -1.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 3.5

A- insanely clear burnt copper. Off whit colored foam is like creamy-ish and kinda soapy-ish and mostly lackluster as it sizzles down. Lacing however is abundant. Fizzy looking.

S- mostly caramel, butter, and toffee with a brown sugar twist and a slight whiff of earthy citrus hops. Notes of browning orchard fruits and sandalwood.

T- mostly fruity and grainy with nice hops at the end. Keepin it real tho. Citrus hoppiness blends with the caramel malt sweetness on the front end and the woodsy, earthy side of the cone plays against toasty and pear flavors to provide a pleasant and transitional balance throughout the glass. Buttery. Finishes grainy and citric.

MF- artificial and overdone. Way too fizzy, taking what would normally be a pleasant dryness to a whole nother level like damn homie why u so carbonated and prickly son u ain't soda?!! And after all that it still feels like residual sugar on my cheeks that better English IPAs just don't tolerate.

D- it's like a pretty damn decent beer that is almost budweiser flavored, and it's simply just an example of a pretty good mass produced beer. Or more accurately, a seasonal relatively small batched beer that was produced in a mass-productive fashion. Either way, it doesn't suck but it's not awesome.

Serving type: bottle

03-25-2013 09:55:17 | More by hustlesworth