The Twelve Beers of Christmas - Blue Point Winter Ale
I’ll be going local for the next beer of Christmas. I live on Long Island and I support my local brewery, Blue Point Brewing Company down in Patchogue (bless you!). My friend, Daniel, lives across the street from this brewery and, more importantly, their tasting room where the regular line up can be sampled for free and special editions for a dollar. You can also order pints and growlers which makes the Blue Point tasting room a nice little weekend tavern. (The Blue Point website is pretty fancy and the flash animation begins with a panning image of the entrance to the tasting room.)
I’ve been drinking Blue Point Winter Ale for the last four winters. My first experience of it was in the bottle, but by volume, I’ve had more of it from the tap or a growler. The bottled product tastes a little different from the on tap variety. I’ll be providing tasting notes for the bottled beer.
Eyes: Rich brown in color with a velvety head. Pours clear and sparkling.
Nose: I get green apples and grapefruit. Yes, this is a hoppy beer, but not one of those muscularly hoppy beers that wrestles you to the ground and pins you.
Taste: Experience the malt, the wonderful malt. The brewer has successfully brought the malt flavor through those deliciously fruity hops.
Overall: A bitter, malty, dark beer with a hint of sweetness in the finish. Very satisfying. Have two!
My Rating: 13/20 or 6.75/10
Pro: Full bodied, dark ale balancing hops and malt.
Con: This is a regional brew and may not be available to the left coast readers.
[…] If you can’t make it to a Long Island brewpub this winter, keep an eye out for the Blue Point Winter Ale. It’s available in fine bars, pubs, and restaurants (and at grocery stores and beer stores in the bottle) all across the Island. This beer is dark and malty and has no spices in it. (If you are interested, check out the review of this beer that I wrote a couple of years ago.) In fact, the Blue Point Winter Ale is a good seasonal drinking beer. I usually keep several bottles in the beer cellar to enjoy with a home cooked meal or to relax with in front of the fire. If you have a keg system at your house, take a keg along to the brewery. They’ll be happy to fill your keg while you wait. […]