Cigar City Warmer Winter Winter Warmer

Brewed by Cigar City Brewing
Style: Barley Wine
Tampa, Florida USA

Serve in Snifter

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A steady pour seems to be doing pretty well so I step it up with some aggression and I end up with two-fingers of beer and four fingers of froth in my Lost Abbey Teku glass including a couple fingers above the rim that quickly ended up in my mouth lest I end up with a mess. The foam tastes like hop caramel candy; very sweet, lots of bright citrus with a bitter back note and a strong, caramelized sweetness. The foam has some real thickness and heft to it, it almost feels chewy. The head is dense, creamy textured with a pale amber tinged, tan color and it leaves a thick layer of lacing on the sides of my glass. The beer is a concentrated brown color with some amber notes to it, but it certainly is trying to approach black; when held up to the light the beer shows a deep, concentrated ruby-brown hue that is quite brilliantly clear. The aroma smells of massively sweet malt notes up front that are backed by fruity, citrus laden hop notes. The hops contributes aromas of candied tangelo zest, syrup soaked lychee, candied pine needles, and even bright, ruby-red grapefruit notes as well as something that makes me think of amped up orange candies. Behind the hop notes are aromas of toasted whole grain, a touch of austere roast character (this is quite subtle, but if you really dig it tries to balance some of the sticky sweet notes from the front), wholesome brown bread notes, some spicy grain notes (sort of like rye in some ways). Really the best descriptor for the nose is that it smells like citrus zest that has been preserved in caramelized sugar.

Wow, down-right viscous and thick, the beer literally sits down on my palate and doesn’t want to go down my throat; almost as if my mind thinks I need to be chewing this before I swallow it. This is one of the thickest beers I have had in quite some time. The sweetness is laden with citrus and tropical fruit notes that linger long after a sip. There is perhaps a hint of bitterness (that is likely quite substantial) that is mostly hidden by the viscous sweetness and candied hop-fruit character; perhaps there is a touch of dark, almost roasted, grain astringency in the finish, but again it is just dominated by the sweetness. Some toasted malt, brown bread like grain character and a host of Maillard browning flavors help to add some complexity to the sweet, cloying, brown sugar laden, molasses like and candied hop notes that are the most dominant parts of this beer. The sweetness is certainly the most pronounced character of this beer, but the hops certainly give this a run for the money; this beer is definitely hugely hoppy, just not enough to actually balance out the sweetness. The hops contribute flavors of candied pine needles, tropical lychee notes, candied tangelo / kumquat / Curacao / grapefruit zests and concentrated orange-tangelo juice (almost sweet enough to be like a frozen concentrate). As the beer warms up a bit, the alcohol becomes a bit more noticeable and so does a spicy, toasted grain and crystal malt character.

I just ate some pastry cream my wife is making (it is nice to be married to a one-time pastry chef) and while this has now tempered the sweetness a little bit in this beer, it is still a damn sweet beer; the hop-fruit notes become a bit more dominant.

This beer is sweet and chewy enough that it makes me, someone that doesn’t really care about such things, think that this thing must have a million calories in it. Interestingly enough, while this beer is a lot darker and a lot sweeter, I see the similarity in flavor profile between this beer and Lil’ Warmer Double IPA that was made from the second runnings of this beer. For drinking fresh and enjoying the hops, I would seriously like to see the sweetness toned down in this beer; as it is though, it will likely age quite interestingly for a long time (assuming it doesn’t turn into a bottle bomb from all the available residual sugar). I had been forewarned about the excessive sweetness so was ready for it, additionally I was in the mood for something sweet tonight and this has certainly fit the bill; I could actually see myself really not enjoying this beer if I hadn’t known beforehand about the ample sweetness, but as it is, I am quite enjoying this beer. I would likely enjoy it even more though if the sweetness was tamed down considerably.

750 ml bottle courtesy of Craftbeerdesign (thanks Geoff!)poured on a 80 degree day to resemble Florida (could’nt find a way to raise the humidity). Poured a clear reddish brown with garnet highlights and a lasting amber head. Aromas of toffee, burnt carmel, prune, raisin, , earthiness, light citrus and light cocoa. Palate was full bodied and crisp with a smooth warming finish. Flavors of toffee, burnt carmel, prune, raisin and dark chocolate with a smooth warming lingering fruity chocolate finish. I’d drink this one again any day!!!

Head thick as cotton. Uh ohh. Smell is mild with a slight heat in the nose? Yeah, I said that. Taste is on its way to slightly sour with spice in the finish. Warming sensation in the throat. Spices beat the sour. As it warms, my desire for more cools. But it was cold out tonight and I thought I should pop it. Pass for this guy. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

This was a 2010 bottle that I managed to land in a trade (thanks Mark). APPEARANCE: Murky chocolate-brown color with a khaki colored head that stood over a finger tall and pretty much remained until the last drop. Good head retention with decent lacing. AROMA: Huge malty sweetness, brown sugar, burnt caramel, vanilla, and cinnamon rolls. TASTE: You’re immediately hit with an in-your-face malty sweetness. Caramel flavor along with a slight bitterness reminiscent of burnt sugar. Very little in the way of hop bitterness though. The candy-like flavor intensifies as this beer warms making for an almost cloyingly sweet finish. MOUTHFEEL: Full bodied with a thick and syrupy feel. Carbonation is moderate to high (especially for the style). MOREY’S BOTTOM LINE: While very grateful that I had a chance to try this, I found it to be overly sweet. Sweet can be good, but this was just a bit much. Maybe this would have been better when it was fresh? It’s probably safe to assume that 2 years in the basement made this even sweeter than it originally was.

Pours a cloudy mahogany brown with thin light tan head, minimal lacing. Aroma of caramel, herbal hops, citrus, vanilla, chocolate, cream, and a slight nutty character. Flavor matches well and is a great drink, only knock is a really slick mouthfeel, almost like it just wants to slide down my throat...it’s a conspiracy!

Pours beautifully with a thick fluffy head. Aroma is strong and rich. Palette is smooth and perfect. Taste is a bit off, but other than that an awesome beer. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Bottle pours dark brown red with nice head smells tastes of hops caramel honey. Too sweet at times with a bit of hops not bad not good.

first batch of WW. pours brownish red with nice head, nose is caramel, mzlt and brown sugar. first sip is velvetie balance of malt, slight honey. finish is sweet anc smooth

Bottle. At first sip and even smell I thought this beer was bad, but upon reading other reviews I found that the flavor as is was intended. I thought this beer was overly sweet with burnt sugar, sorgum & maple syrup with the booze coming through heavily. Big maltiness with the boozy sweetness. Just simply not my style as I prefer some hops to show up a bit but there were none to be found here.

Bombe incontrôlable d’agrumes macérés dans le caramel chaud. Le résultat est surprenant, un barleywine presque rafraichissant?

Tasted on 3/29/12 from a capped 750mL bottle obtained in a trade sometime in 2010, this has some age on it. Pours cloudy burnt orange with an average tan, orange tinted, head that slowly recedes to average lace. The nose is dominated by caramel, toffee, maple, and more caramel, with a touch of vanilla, and a lightly burnt note as well. The flavor is a bit more of the bitter burnt note, but otherwise, just the same, dominated by caramel, toffee, maple, and that same touch of vanilla. The body is full with average carbonation and a long caramel and lightly bitter finish.