Vinter Varmer - Laurelwood Pizza Co. (CLOSED)

coastiefish

Oregon

3.2/5  rDev -19.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

22 bomber shared with katelovesbeer.
oct. 2011 release

A- darker than what I recall from last year. nice tan dense thin layer of head covering a dense dark brown sultry bodied brew.

S - Faint nose, bit of caramel, bread, spice (nutmeg, all spice) sweet and tiny bit nutty

T - Lighter taste impact than I recall from last year. The taste lacks for me a bit. Somewhat disappointing, but a little surprising as well. Nutty, roasted malts. This isn't as hopped filled as some claim in their reviews, however some are more sensitive to a hop presence. The hops are present enough to round out the beer, and leave a slight bitter lingering, but well rounded out with the caramel, nutty malt.

M - Love the mouthfeel. Good body- not big- but filling. Subtle carbonation.

O - Im slightly disappointed that this brew isnt a little bit bigger than it is. Its easy, its drinkable, try it. I may give it one more go this season, but there are so many other seasonals that are worth the time.

Serving type: bottle

10-21-2011 04:41:04 | More by coastiefish

iKrystin

3.75/5  rDev -5.5%

01-29-2013 06:25:57 | More by iKrystin

strongaf

Washington

3.75/5  rDev -5.5%

01-24-2013 06:20:52 | More by strongaf

Hopmodium

Washington

3.75/5  rDev -5.5%

01-19-2013 00:16:35 | More by Hopmodium

RoryOMoore

New Jersey

4.5/5  rDev +13.4%

01-03-2013 01:52:55 | More by RoryOMoore

MacStinson

Michigan

3.5/5  rDev -11.8%

12-21-2012 04:24:13 | More by MacStinson

philbertk

Washington

3.3/5  rDev -16.9%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

22 oz. Bottle purchased for $5.25 + Tax at Fremont, Seattle PCC. Thin no lace off white light tan wispy head. Clear bright dark bronze color hazes ugly brown at end of bottle.Roasted cocoa mild fruit ester mild hop front. Medium textured slightly sweet cloying mild roasted malt spice cocoa Wintery malty body. Balanced mild hop spice lingering sweet malt roasted end. Mildly hoppy with hints of rich roasted malt spice flavors and maybe some nutty hints. (3.0 / 5.0). 6.4% ABV--49 IBU's.

Serving type: bottle

12-18-2012 05:52:56 | More by philbertk

johnnyboy76

Oregon

4/5  rDev +0.8%

10-29-2012 00:15:02 | More by johnnyboy76

shelby415

Oregon

4/5  rDev +0.8%

02-26-2012 08:20:35 | More by shelby415

HuskyinPDX

Washington

3.6/5  rDev -9.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On tap at the Portland airport. Ahhh, this one is not retired guys.

A - Served a medium to dark from with a foamy ligt tan head. Great retention and lots of lacing.

S - Pretty nutty and roasted coffees.

T - Again nutty and lots of roasted malts. Finishes like a bitter coffee.

D - Great carbonation, very lively.
Medium body.

O - Nice beer. Liked this guys. Light drinker with a nice roasted finish.

Serving type: on-tap

01-16-2012 20:17:45 | More by HuskyinPDX

scootpolute

Washington

4.8/5  rDev +20.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

22 oz brown bottle with a very cool label ... it's a squirl holding a pint glass with a mouthful of beer!

Appearance: dark brown/copper beer with a patchy cream off-white foam head that clings to the sides of the glass.

Smell: Very pronounced nutty & hop aromas, spicy with background sweet malts and a faint bready grain aroma.

Taste: Whoa! YUM!!! This is one bold, VERY tasty (well balanced) and outrageously-good beer! Mouthfeel is ultra-smooth, full and creamy with a nutty/malty thick full-body. The initial taste is an awesome nutty-hop flavor on the palate (which ironically works well)! A spicy, stinging and salty plethora of hops & malt nuances literally overwhelm the senses. Earth, leaf and grass flavours pull-thru, then are followed by an alcohol presence and spiciness. The malt in this beer is definately present but gets its ass fiercly kicked by the nutty-hops. Malt includes some toasted, slightly bready and light honey flavours with an even malt sweetness. It hardly balances the beer, but does keep it somewhat control. Beer finishes with residual hop spice and malt sweetness, which tends to linger for some time.

Notes: This is great. I'm 'SO' glad that Jason ('The BROS.') agrees that this is a good beer, since many of the other reviews differ. Good to know there's 'sum' good taste out 'they-ah!' At times there is 'almost' too much sweetness (from the nutty-hop flavor), but I would have to agree with Jason, I wouldn't have much trouble drinking this one all night (maybe I will?!)...:~)

Serving type: bottle

01-07-2012 00:41:58 | More by scootpolute

hannaho

Washington

4.5/5  rDev +13.4%

01-02-2012 04:58:30 | More by hannaho

zaphodchak

Virginia

2.85/5  rDev -28.2%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

On tap at Laurelwood in PDX. Part of a taster tray

Offwhite, seasonally appropriate snowflake-shaped tracing on the surface. Deep red-brown body.

No nose at all? Maybe malt? I'm fishing, here.

Little here as well. Some bitter, dry malt, some aggressive booze tang without the warmth.

Smooth feel, but kinda weak.

Muddled, hardly a warmer. Either there was a line issue, I wasn't in the right mood, or this is a boring beer.

Serving type: on-tap

12-31-2011 20:55:27 | More by zaphodchak

Bfarr

Washington

4.28/5  rDev +7.8%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Nut brown, thin tan head with okay retention and no lacing. Sweet, nutty lager. Nutty and biscuit sweetness with a light hoppy linger. Light body, slick with a light bite.

An interesting take on a winter warmer. Light, smooth, and simple, this beer is balanced and has a nice meld of flavor. It stays clear and pleasurable throughout and a just a hint of warming. It seems a bit light for a winter warmer but it’s really quite substantial and enjoyable.

Serving type: bottle

12-29-2011 01:42:35 | More by Bfarr

golden1

Oregon

4/5  rDev +0.8%

12-24-2011 23:09:38 | More by golden1

oberon

North Carolina

4.1/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured into an imperial nonic a deeply roasted chesnut color with a tight formed off white head atop.Roasted nuts,fruity malt,vanilla,and spicy/earthy hops in the nose,a rich and warming combination.Roasted nuts is a huge player on the palate with some brown sugar sweetness and caramel,a light smattering of leafy hops in the finish.This is a quaffing flavorful winter warmer,well rounded.

Serving type: bottle

12-24-2011 01:38:11 | More by oberon

suncrust

Washington

4.1/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance: A clear, dark, root beer brown with faint reddish hues. Rustic aura. Thin head with little lacing down the glass.

Smell: Light aromas of dark bread, yeast, wet grains, and cranberry muffins. Very, very light piney hop characters with a little lemon zing to them. A sticky, slightly spicy, slight nutty, sweet caramel rounds out the aroma.

Taste: Dark fruits, maple syrupy sweetness, and piney hops dominate the flavor. Mild darker spices, more hops, fig, toast, and a bit of booze to round it out. Piney hop finish.

Mouthfeel: Smooth, subtle characters and a light body. Hops create an interesting sweet pine flavor that lingers in the aftertaste. Almost like a hoppy maple syrup... really tasty. Very clean and a bit dry.

Overall: Not a very full bodied winter, but very smooth and drinkable. Hops are really pleasant and balance the sweet, spicy characters flawlessy. This almost drinks like a hopped up bock.

Serving type: bottle

12-19-2011 00:16:17 | More by suncrust

twelveinches

Washington

4/5  rDev +0.8%

12-07-2011 06:57:18 | More by twelveinches

mrpunkin

Washington

5/5  rDev +25.9%

12-07-2011 05:13:39 | More by mrpunkin

draheim

Washington

3.9/5  rDev -1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

22oz bottle (no dates or codes, I think this was bottled in fall 2010) poured into an imperial pint.

Deep red/amber color (crystal clear) with a 1-finger khaki head that recedes and leaves some sticky lacing.

Not a very powerful aroma, some caramelly bready malt and faint spice.

Tastes sweet, malty, with a mild hop bite on the finish. Tastes kind of like a hoppy doppelbock maybe. The spice I typically seek in a winter warmer is subdued.

Overall this is a pretty good winter beer - especially fresh in December,rather than August. A little malt-forward for my taste generally but the hops may also have faded somewhat.

Serving type: bottle

08-05-2011 02:44:11 | More by draheim

sprucetip

Alaska

4.08/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

on tap at the airport pub, from notes.

served to me without much head or lacing, with a murky mahogany color and not alot of activity.

Smell is rich caramel malty sweetness with spicy and nutty layers blending pleasantly, topped off by a hint of hops.

Tastes like the nose. Nutty, a bit spicy, and caramel malty sweetness all nicely balanced by modest hops that increase in prominence through the swallow.

Well carbonated, medium body and viscosity, gentle warming, and some bitterness in the finish.

Really nice flavor, body balance and complexity. I'd happily have it again.

Serving type: on-tap

12-16-2010 06:07:34 | More by sprucetip

Jason

Massachusetts

4.5/5  rDev +13.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

22oz brown bomber w/ no freshness date.

The impressive looking head leaves a thick dusting of lace on the glass, dark brown color with garnet hues. Bready caramel maltiness with light figgy undertones, piney citric hop rounds out the nose. Incredibly smooth and creamy. Clean toasty malt goodness meets some caramel sweetness but then the hops lay down a balancing bitterness. The alcohol lends a mellow warmth. Toasted graininess is slightly nutty. Finishes clean and semi-dry.

This is a beer I could drink all night long, seriously great stuff here.

Serving type: bottle

12-12-2010 03:44:08 | More by Jason

Reidrover

Oregon

3.63/5  rDev -8.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

22oz from "Lamb's Thriftway" Wilsonville, OR. $5.49 Pours a handsome chesnut brown with some dark red hints and a gorgeous thick tan head. Very malty aroma to this one, caramel,cereal and bread dominate Taste is also malt driven..semi-bitter malts..dark chocolate, french Roast Coffee and some hazelnut.Some candysugar sweetness then finished off by a deep hop bitterness..thats lasts. Nice mouthfeel, not to shabby. Overall a nice malty winter beer.

Serving type: bottle

12-08-2010 23:47:16 | More by Reidrover

czechsaaz

Washington

4.2/5  rDev +5.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Really nice malty aroma. Dark caramel and some roast malt and a little chocolate. Some fruity yesat notes too.

Looks brown in the glass but held up to light it's more red and clear. Pours with a small head that sticks around as a small rim of head aroundthe glass.

Definitely malt-forward flavor. Nice base malt with dark crystal and other dark roasted malts but not the black or heavy roast types. Good hop bitterness in the finish but the hops are not a showcase. Some fruity character too like black cherry or blackberries.

Medium-full bodied and the carbonation level is kind of right on. Enough to make it lively but light.

Very nice winter beer. Stronger than your typical IPA or anything I usually drink but not so strong that it seems like the full 22oz will floor you. Worth picking up again and it was under $5 at my local PCC.

Serving type: bottle

12-07-2010 07:52:16 | More by czechsaaz

ElGordo

Oregon

4.43/5  rDev +11.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Poured from my home system into a pint glass. Body is a pretty amber-brown color with some reddish highlights when held up to the light. Light, creamy tan head slowly recedes to just a thin layer; the body is still, with a few very small bubbles floating up slowly.
Aroma of sweet malt with a touch of roast, along with notes of vanilla, oak, and a hint of fruity hops. Palate is malt-forward, with some pronounced roastiness, a little vanilla and a touch of holiday spice before the swallow. After the swallow, the hops come through full-bore, tempering the sweetness of the malt with a good dose of bitterness and a strong note of pine. Finish is a lingering hoppy bitterness with a nice warming touch from the alcohol.
Body is smooth but not really creamy, full but not bubbly. The neutral mouthfeel actually complements the winter warmer style, as it allows the flavors to meld with each other a bit better than in a more lively beer. I'm a big fan of this beer every year, and was very excited to be able to get a corny filled for my home. Grab it if you see it, it's a fine example of the winter warmer!

Serving type: on-tap

12-07-2010 05:12:34 | More by ElGordo