Upland Winter Warmer Microbrew
While browsing the microbrew section of my friendly neighborhood liquor store, I came across Upland Winter Warmer barley-style wine. A barley wine is essentially a beer that uses several times the barley and hops and packs a higher alcohol percentage. This one beer in particular has 9% alcohol, thus the “Winter Warmer” moniker. I was excited to dive into this unique brew.
Upland Winter Warmer has the aroma of roasted malt, alcohol fumes and a hint of plums. This beer should definitely be decanted for 10 minutes or so. It pours a deep mahogany with an off-white lace that subsides quickly. The taste is a chewy, sweet caramel with a bit of resiny hops. The higher carbonation lightens up the fullness of this beer. It has a full grain finish and isn’t brassy or coppery like most barley wines from the large amounts of hops. It is one of the most balanced barley wines I have had yet.
I paid $9 for a 6-pack. Upland is produced in Bloomington, IN and has distribution in the Midwest. If you can find it, I’ll definitely recommend picking up Upland Winter Warmer for a cold day.
–Matt Scheerer (of Red-Icculus.com)
March 12th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
a six pack of this would give someone a case of the gout overnight.
March 13th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
For being a big beer, it is definitely balanced. Everything Upland puts out is quality.