Alaskan Winter Ale
Winter comes early in Alaska, so we release Alaskan Winter Ale in October. The tender new growth of spruce trees has been used for brewing in Alaska since the late 1700s when explorers sailed the coast of Alaska looking for the Northwest Passage. Alaskan Brewing revives this tradition, adding spruce tips to its Alaskan Winter Ale.
3.3
621 reviews
Juneau, United States
Community reviews
bottle @ Chief Market / Lima OH --- best by 4/19/17 ---Clear dark amber, beige head that sinks rapidly to a thin cover, spots of lace. Taste is caramel malt, light carbonation, hardly a glimmer of hops, and more sweet to finish. This is flat enough to make me question the age, but April is still three months away. Not a keeper.
12oz bottle from the Malt Shoppe in Tosa. Orangey amber pour with a bit of an off-orange head. Sweet malts, some spruce, some other tangy components, and some spices. This is a very interesting blend, and quite unique of a brew. Had a few times a long time back and had little memory. Not bad if looking for that type of stuff. 13.4
Its alright, and it was at a decent price, I didn’t like the after taste. A weird carmely aftertaste that I was not a big fan of, but I have a 12 pack of it now so I guess I’ll drink it.
Never had an old ale before. tastes like a more complex version of an amber. this one is quite sweet with lots of different spices and flavors going on. I like it a lot.
B-. Pours a clear dark amber color with white head. Smells like you’re in the middle of a forest. Kinda harsh finish
Poured a clear copper. Some caramel notes and a hint of spice but unspectacular
Best by 03.21.17. A: Caramel, red grape, and cola. A: See through reddish amber body. T: Follows the nose, but with some very slight, almost undetectable mint that blends with bubbles on the back end. P: Slick, but balanced by bubbles. O: I thought that this was going to be an IPA or a winter warmer. Alaskan should give some indication on the label that this is an old ale. Anyway, it’s simple, but it’s a nice old ale.
Pour is a clear copper with a large white head. Aroma Is sweet caramel malt with some mint leaves. Flavor Is more sweetish caramel malt with some wintergreen and cherry. Kind of different and I liked it the more I drank it. Kind of a spruced up, no pun intended, amber ale
Clar amber, no foam remaining. Not too strong in aroma, but nice taste. Light carmale, some barley, bit sweet. Old Ale. (Houston 201605)
Pours medium amber with a thin laced head. Aromas grass, toffee, hay, spruce, slight caramel. Flavors toffee, slight caramel, hay, grass and slight maize. Medium sweet. This needs more concentrated malt and complexity.
Tap, The Beer Grotto, Ann Arbor, MI. Clear copper. Metallic caramel aroma. Sweet, some floral hops. Mostly sweet.
Here is a situation where I expected one thing and was very wrong. Draft pour pint at Frankies. Clear golden pour with an active fizz head. Sweet berry aroma and flavor. Very soft hops, and a fruity, sweet malt finish. Tasty.
Really nice dark brew. Pours dark with a small head. Easy to drink a few but now sue how many after that...kind of a heavy tasting beer.
Aroma seems to be ripe red fruit and caramel. Fairly clear medium yellow body with a white head. The fruit comes through as cherry and strawberry with a strange slightly sour over-ripeness. Body is fairly thin and kind of watery. I’m not getting any spruce/pine flavors. I’ve had this before and I remember it being very different, so I may have a bad bottle. I’ll re-rate after trying another one. *** Trying again in 2023*** Well, I guess this is just how this beer is. It still has the cherry/strawberry flavor (although no sourness this time) which is a bit like Juicyfruit gum and not good. Still no spruce/pine that I can detect. Not sure what they're going for here if this is supposed to be a winter ale.
A lot of unfermented sugar in here and some citrus tang. Very syrupy consistency, sweet and tangy finish. Doesn’t come together very well. Tap at Alaska Lodge at SEATAC.
This ale brewed with spruce tips is 6.4% and pours a pretty amber-orange that reminded me of an IPA. The nose is malty sweet toffee with a minty evergreen edge to it.
Med-full bodied with a scratchy carbonation. The flavor is weirdly candyish - cotton candy, mint, toffee. The spruce tips come through in the finish. It is odd, like a sweet berry cake or pie that ends with mint and pine. Not at all what I was expecting but I’ll give them points for originality!
Bottle from Mitsuya. Pours a dark copper with a very small, thin white head that dissipates almost instantly. Malt aromas with some light spruce and bamboo. Body feels thin but malt-forward with a harsh, paint-thinner-like boozy notes on the finish. Not good.
12 oz. bottle. Dark copper color, with some bubbles, but no head. The nose is rye, caramel, pine, and bread dough. Sweet and very malty, with no real hop bitterness, but some spice and light roasted bitterness. Medium to heavy body, very thick, clingy, and a little acidic. This is a nice malt bomb. Sweet and chewy, and the spruce adds a lot.
Nice malt and spice (spruce) aroma. Clear amber with low head that disappears immediately. Taste is malty simple, unidimensional with no complexity. Overly boozy for 6.4%. Tastes like an italian doppio malto beer, boozy and thin. I will skip in the future.
Bottle from Jeremy. Copper color poured with thin head. Caramel and fruit flavoring. Some pine but nothing outstanding.
Pours a coppery red in the glass. Sweet dried froot aroma. Some citrus and cherry mixed in. Clean sweet malt flavor with a hint sweet citrus. Overall, a drinkable brew.
Clear amber. Small off white head. Malty. Syrupy Sweet. Caramel. Bread. Sweet toasty finish. Source tips not really showing up. Not a lot going on really.
Whole grain crackers, lots of caramel malts, candied fruits, nutmeg, dark-fruit esters, and a bit of orange are spiked up by slightly piney hops. Was not at my olfactory best when I had it, but I wouldn’t have known there was spruce in it. Firm mouthfeel, with gentle carbonation and a medium body. The taste is light malty bitter and medium caramely sweet. Some dark fruits and molasses, combined with the spicy hop bitterness, give Christmassy flavors. Sweet finish that leaves a short-lived, biscuity aftertaste. Not awfully rich, but tasty. I didn’t think it was the least bit cloying.
On the red side of orange, Alaskan Winter had me smelling banana from the moment I popped the top. While there is little in the way of head or mouthfeel, this old ale has a fantastic banana nut-raisin bread flavor & the use of spruce brings vanilla notes. This is a light & refreshing winter seasonal & very easy to drink.
(Best before 04/04/16, drunk 11/13/15)
Bottle sample at Sioux Falls fest. Clear golden color. Caramel aroma. Taste is mostly caramel malt.
Bottle at home. Pours Amber, fast dissipating white head. Aroma is caramel, dates, faint spices. Taste is toasted malts, light caramel, faint rasin and dried fruit. Not bad, a bit plain. Medium body and high carbonation. Decent.
Pine like fizzy some caramel and biscuit. Slightly sweet. Finishes of pine bark and some light toast.
No aroma or taste of spruce in this beer. The aroma was sweet to me like the sweetness from malt. Amber and clear in color with very little head or carbonation. Tasted very sweet with a sweet finish.
Excellent head, but little lace. Neutral amber color and crystal clear
Strongly malty, nice crystal; slightly sweet. Mild hop.
Some sherry-like flavors from the sweeter malt. Some fruitiness. The aftertaste is very short, but has a touch of hop to it. Good hop in the middle of the taste. Full body, low carbonation.
This is a relatively rich and slightly warming (from alcohol) beer. Understandable to be offered during the winter.
A sweet aroma comes a clear golden pour with a thin white ring and no lacing. The taste is fruit sweetness, spices, caramel and malts. Medium body and medium carbonation. Overall, ok, but too sweet (Big Red) for me.