Great Divide Hibernation Ale

Tasting notes

Dec. 13, 2022

I bought a 6-pack to try again after many years had passed since my last taste. Great Divide calls Hibernation Ale an Old Ale. It blurs the line between Old Ale, Strong Ale, and Winter Warmer. I think it is best classified as a Winter Warmer. Burnt caramel dominates the flavor, sort of a  softer version of Arrogant Bastard. It is an interesting sipper.

Rating = 4 glasses.

Brewer: Great Divide Style: Old Ale Tasting notes: (1102) A 3-yr. 3-mn. old bottle. A hoppy brown ale w/ a creme brulee bite. Downgraded from 5 glasses. (1012) A 3-yr 1 mn old bottle. A thin English Barleywine w/ old ale sour flavor. Makes me wonder what more age would do. (1010) A 1-yr 10-mn. old bottle. Cream brulee, heavy on the brulee, w/ a sourish finish. (1001) A two-year old bottle. A toned down Old Ruffian? Old Ale w/ hops? Nice malty start followed by hoppy bite w/ a little sour, chocolate, coffee, and caramel. Seemed a tiche thiner than I remembered, something like Fullers Vintage Ale. May be the age. (6) Sweet caramel malt, an "Old" sourness, and pleasant spicy bite. (5) Burnt caramel. (4) Toffee, coffee, and chocolate. (3) Wonderful. Caramel followed by sour bite. (2) Less impressive. Malt lacking. (1) Wonderful. Caramel malt nicely balanced with a bitter, piney hop finish. Flavorful but not overpowering. An English Barleywine or Old Ale w/ a touch more hops. Good to drink. Fine to sip. I want more. Comments: Great Divide Hibernation Ale is the brewer's seasonal release in Winter. The brewer achieves a wonderful spiciness without adding spices. Spices are frequent trademark of winter beers. It blurs the line between Old Ale, Strong Ale, and Winter Warmer. Previous ratings: 5, 6, 5 glasses Rating: 4 glasses

Lickinghole Creek Twelfth Night

Twelfth Night is quad version of a Christmas ale. The recipe adds several spices to the wort. The result is awful. I poured almost all of 750 ml down the drain.

Rating = 0

Smuttynose Winter Ale

I succumbed to a stack of Smuttynose Winter Ale on a visit w Lisa to Kroger's today and bought a 6-pack. I thought it was a wittier. I tired one tonight because I thought it would be a a nice aperiti. Well, surprise!  The ale is actually a winter warmer reminiscent of a Belgian style dubbel. Beeradvocate classifies it as a dubbel. I think that I will group it w winter warmers. The brewer states that the beer contains no spices.

The beer reminds me of Great Divide Hibernation Ale and Anchor Old Jubilation.  It is nice and malty with some caramel and spicy sweetness. Pleasant and Christmassy.

I give it 4 glasses. Upon further examination I may move the score to 5.

Old Jubulation

Brewer: Avery

Style: Winter Warmer

Tasting notes: (1012) A spicy brown ale. It tastes like Christmas. Downgraded from 5 glasses. (1011) A hoppy brown ale? A subdued Arrogant Bastard? Strong Ale might be the better classification The brewer calls it English Strong Ale. (0801) A good brown ale? (0801) Big caramel malt with a spicy finish. (0801) A Brown Ale / Stout? Thinking about a 6 and buying another 6-pack. (0801) Burnt toffee. Quaffable and sippable. Very nice.

Previous ratings: 5 glasses

Rating: 4 glasses

Winter Solstice

Brewer: Anderson Valley

Style: Winter Warmer

Tasting notes: (0912) A brown ale w/ spices? Upgraded from 1 glass. (0912) A big malt bomb w/ spices. Well crafted but missed my mark.

Rating: 2 glasses

Dinner w/ Book Club

I enjoyed three beers while having dinner at ML's with my wife's book club: Harpoon Winter Warmer,De Dolle Stille Nacht, and Bell's Expedition Stout. They demonstrate the variety of styles available to beer geeks.

Harpoon Winter Warmer is spiced mild ale. Cinnamon and nutmeg tastes stand out without being overbearing. This is a fine beer for the holidays and a good example of Winter Warmer that feature spices.

De Dolle Stille Nacht was FANTASTIC: a complex medley of orange zest, candy sugar, spices, alcohol and funk. It is Belgian Strong Dark Ale and the alcohol is 12% by volume. The brewer bottled the beer in 2006 and it had been sitting in my cellar for almost two years. I want to buy more and age some longer.

The Expedition Stout, while good, was a disappointment. An unsalted soy flavor diminished the beers flavor and bursts of alcohol made the beer "hot". Perhaps this is a result of oxidation? The brewer bottled the beer almost two years ago. A similar vintage a week earlier was a fantastic chocolaty treat.

The two different experiences with Expedition Stout indicate the difficulty of reproducing consistently craft beer. The brewing process is complex and the result is alive. The ability of the large brewers to produce products that are consistent across time and location is amazing.

Anchor Our Special Ale 2008

Anchor Our Special Ale 2008 is a fine Winter Warmer. The color is dark mahogany. The smell is malty with a tiche of chocolate in the background. The taste follows the smell with some spiciness dancing further in the background. It is a pleasant sipper and would accompany well robust meats or dessert.

With a second taste I might classify the beer as Brown Ale. The beer leads with a pleasant malty sweetness with undertones of milk chocolate and smoke is ends with a spicy flavor. Hops bitterness is mild.

Anchor Our Special Ale is also called Anchor Christmas Ale. It is sold from November through mid January. The recipe changes from year to year. I think that the changes are minor.

Anchor is one of the first commercial craft brewers. Fritz Maytag acquired the brewery in 1965 and was a pioneer.

Anchor is best known for its California Steam Beer, a lager that is brewed like an ale. Steam Beer uses a special lager yeast that ferments quickly and at temperatures that are higher than typical lager yeasts. Anchor has a trademark on "Steam Beer". Other beers of this style are called "California Common".

These notes are based on tastings from a 6 pack in November 2008.

Troegs Mad Elf Ale

I recommend Troegs Mad Elf Ale as an adventure. It is an interesting Christmas brew, brewed with West Coast Cherries and Pennsylvania Honey. The cherry flavor predominates and is unusual and done well. It is dry and grows on me as I drink the beer. Spices seem to lurking in the background. I can't tell yet if I really like the beer or just like it. It might go well w/ food.

The style is ambiguous. BeerAdvocate classifies it as Belgian Strong Dark Ale. I think it might be better placed as Strong Ale, Belgian Amber, or Winter Warmer. The alcohol clocks in at 11%. The more I drink it the more Winter Warmer fits.

New Inventory

Today I purchased 2 bombers of Stone Double Bastard Ale and one 6-pack each of Anchor Our Special Ale 2008 and Troegs Mad Elf. I am stocked for the holidays.

The bottle of Double Bastard that I had last year was quite tasty - a cross between a triple IPA and a hoppy English Barleywine. Loads of sweet malt and bitter hops that created a pleasant and surprisingly easy drinking beer. It is Strong Ale, a category distinquished by high levels of alcohol and charateristics that do not fit another established category. The alcohol clocks in at 10% by volume.

Stone is known as a world class brewery. Posters at BeerAdvocate rate four of its beers in the top 100 beers on the planet. Double Bastard is currently ranked 56. The brewery is home to a restaurant and the head brewer is an advocate of pairing food and beer.

My attraction to Double Bastard Ale is slightly unusual. I think that the flavors in Arrogant Bastard, its parent, are overpowering and unpleasant. Oak Aged Arrogant Bastard Ale is nice but I have not been moved to purchase a second bottle.

A bomber is 22 oz. or 650 ml.

I have never tasted Mad Elf. It is Belgian Strong Dark Ale brewed with cherries, honey, and chocolate malt. The alcohol clocks in at 11% by volume. I plan to drink some and age some. If I like the first couple of bottles, I may buy more for aging.

Our Special Ale is also a new beer to me. It is Winter Warmer. Anchor releases it every year in November and the recipe varies from year to year. It contains spices. I hope that it tastes like Christmas.