Easton, Pennsylvania is located in the scenic Lehigh Valley, relatively near to New York City and Philadelphia, and home to the Crayola Crayon factory. It is also home to a great small brewery, the Weyerbacher Brewing Co. Weyerbacher is a British style brewer founded in 1995. The currently brew upwards of 15 different beers. They are developing a distribution channel beyond the tri-state area of PA/NJ/NY.

Weyerbacher Welcomes Winter
According to their web site (www.weyerbacher.com) Weyerbacher’s Winter Ale “is brewed with deep-roasted chocolate malt.” It was also winner of a Silver Medal at the 1998 World Beer Championships. I have had and much enjoyed their Autumn Fest Ale and was looking forward to trying this one as the winter cold demands a nice roasty beer to warm up with.

Pours Well, Warms Well
The beer pours with a smallish head as a nutty dark brown color fills the glass. The immediate taste sensation is that of the roasted malt, with a coffee chocolate underpinning to the finish. At 6.1% ABV, Winter Ale has enough bite to warm you up nicely.

Solid Performer But Not a Surprise
On balance this is fairly solid offering and I give it three stars as it is a solid performer in this category. Unlike some of the other winter ales available, this is not one that will bowl you over with flavor. I was a tad disappointed since this is the first Weyerbacher beer I’ve had that didn’t immediately win me over. My disappointment was tempered by another round.

This is not to imply that Weyerbacher’s Winter Ale is a bad beer. However, it seems a bit underdone, especially if like me, you like to taste the malt sweetness balanced with some hop bite as well. This beer has plenty of nice rich malt character but could use more oomph at the end. Flavor lovers may be a tad under-whelmed. Winter Ale’s rather mild flavor will not offend, nor will it immediately befriend.

As a winter seasonal, Weyerbacher’s Winter Ale is only available from November-March. The cost per six pack is around $7.00 in Northern, NJ.

Note: This review was originally posted 12/22/2000 in the “Best Seasonal Winter Beers” category (now a defunct category). Moved and updated 1/23/03.

Second Impressions: My second and third impressions of Weyerbacher’s Winter Ale are pretty much the same. It’s a solid beer, well crafted, and I do recommend it as a session beer for a winter night. I drink it fairly regularly in the winter months. Still, a bit more oomph in the flavor area would be welcomed by this beer drinker.

Another Weyerbacher beer I enjoy is their
Autumn Fest Ale. Try it next fall.


Recommended: Yes