No-Li Winter Warmer

Brewed by No-Li Brewhouse (Northern Lights)
Style: American Strong Ale
Spokane, Washington USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

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Bottle. Pours a hazy dark brown with some reddish tinges and a moderate light tan head on it. Nose is quite malty with a lot of spices on it and some almost toffee tones. Taste is definitely malt forward with some slight bitterness to it and the spices really coming through. Interesting beer.

bottle. Brown with one finger head. Mildly spiced warmer-style beer. Slightly above average for the style.

Small off-white head atop clear dark amber body. Aroma is moderately sweet, grapefruit, caramel, some pine, light cherry. Taste is moderately sweet, grapefruit/pine, caramel, light cherry. Medium body, some resin, light acidity. Quite hoppy, which really isn’t a characteristic of a winter warmer. Tasty though.

Tap at Paradiso Georgetown. Deep orange pour. Wispy head. Nose is sticky, orange candies, bourbon. Taste is hoppy, bourbon, very bitter, nutty, red DIPA almost. Not bad. Denser, bitter palate. My friends enjoyed it.

Location: 22 oz bottle from State Line, 3/26/13

Aroma: The nose is sweet and a bit malty, some grapefruit, bread, earth, butter, and metallic notes
Appearance: Pours a cloudy burnt orange color with a thick froth of lasting beige head/heavy lace
Flavor: A balanced flavor with a light early bitterness, mid-sweetness, and more bitter on the finish
Palate: The body is medium, it has a creamy feel, a soft carbonation, mild stickiness, and a dry finish
Overall Impression: I thought this one had some good components, but it has some flaws to it as well (I caught some buttery and metallic notes that both felt like brewing flaws). It also isn’t at all what I was expecting from a Winter Warmer (nutmeg, cinnamon, roast - not so much), but I’m perfectly fine with that. I guess I could have gone a bunch of directions with this score, but I settled here (deducting slightly from the overall for the flaws).

22oz bottle. Poured a slightly hazy deep copper color with a thick white head. Aroam was nice light pine notes, covering up a rich malt character. Flavor was a little earthy notes, touch of spice character, with notes of hop. This was really enjoyable and quite good.

On tap. Hazy red/brown with an off white top. Scent is sweet malts, bread and caramel. Taste is bread, spice, pine with a piney finish.

Bottle @ Chad’s house, picked up at Wilburs Fort Collins. Pours a dark red appearance with a tan head. Caramel, light buttery, dull hoppy, uninspired aroma. Somewhat spicy hoppy, a bit buttery, toasty malty, caramel, a bit fruity flavor. The first miss from these guys.

Reviewed 1/9/2013. 22 oz bottle into a Samuel Smith pint glass. A: Pours a dark chestnut color with high levels of haziness. The head is a somewhat fluffy one finger light caramel color. Good texturing, retention, and lacing in general. S: The well-hopped nature comes out immediately - there seem to be a lot of Centennial hops in this one, as the grapefruit peel and piny qualities make themselves known somewhat strongly. After a slight period of warming up, caramel, marzipan, toffee, and delicate winter spicing pop up. An enjoyable aroma that harkens back to Arrogant Bastard. T: It’s hoppy, but pleasantly so. Definitely a pine-forward hop profile, but the hops also seem to bring forth a slight nuttiness forward, as well. It will take a couple sips, but some very subtle spicing (ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, maybe even some vanilla) enters the back end nicely. The general balance of flavors is the trump card here - it could have been overhopped, but it skirts the line between winter warmer and IPA nicely. Once it warms up, it becomes sweeter and less hoppy. M: It’s a bit tingly and sharp, likely due to both the malt backbone and the carbonation. The flavors linger strongly on the finish and aftertaste, leaving both a lot of bittersweet syrupiness and slight hop oils. Feel wise, it does a good job of fulfilling the premise of a typical winter warmer. O: I know I compared this to Arrogant Bastard in the aroma synopsis - but with the nuttiness, the piny hops, and the subtle spice esters, this bears a passing resemblance to Stone’s ubiquitous strong ale, albeit with a bit more balance and craftsmanship. I wouldn’t necessarily seek it out, but I’m nonetheless enjoying this one very well.

22 oz bottle. Pours hazy dark reddish amber with a smallish creamy off-white head that goes to a thin film and leaves some lacing.

The aroma is figgy bready malts with some piney hops.

The flavor is sweet caramel malts, molasses, toffee and dark fruits with a decent piney hop finish. The mouthfeel is medium to full bodied with low carbonation.

Overall, a nice winter warmer. Good balance of sweet caramel, molasses and fruits with the piney hops.