Posted by Greg Clow in beer, beverages on January 22, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Those who keep track of beer articles and reviews in the press and online will know that in the weeks leading up to Christmas, a whole lot of coverage is given to beers that are brewed especially for the winter season. Usually ales, and often brewed with the addition of spices or other flavours, these are generally strong and fuller-bodied beers, perfect for drinking with a hearty holiday meal or sipping on a cool winter evening.
Once the holidays have passed, however, these beers are all but ignored until the next batches are released the following year. While this may make sense for beers that are specifically branded as Christmas or holiday beers, what about all those beers that are more general "winter warmers"? After all, winter has barely gotten started by the time the holidays are finished, and given how cold it's been in Toronto the last few days in particular, a nice warming ale is just about the perfect sort of beer to be enjoying right now.
While each brewing culture has their own styles and traditions associated with winter beers, the brews most commonly considered as "winter warmers", at least in North America, tend to be British-style strong ales. Oddly enough, credit for this can be given primarily to an American brewery - specifically, San Francisco's pioneering Anchor Brewery, who in 1975 brewed the first batch of Our Special Ale, a dark spiced ale intended to pay homage to a beer style that was all but extinct in its native Britain. It proved so popular that it became an annual release for Anchor, and as the US craft brewing industry gained momentum throughout the 1980s, more and more small brewers came out with their own winter ales.
In 1990, Seattle based beer importers Merchant du Vin realised that these holiday beers were hot stuff, so they commissioned Samuel Smith, a UK brewery that they had represented since 1978, to create a new seasonal brew. The result was Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome, a 6% ale that has become such a ubiquitous annual tradition that many believe it's been around for a lot longer than 18 years. (An honest mistake, considering that the Samuel Smith Brewery has roots extending back to 1758.)
Unlike many other winter seasonals, Winter Welcome is brewed without spices or other ingredients aside from the standard malt, hops and yeast. Even so, there are hints of fruit and spice in the aroma, along with notes of toffee, mint, fresh bread, and mellow hops. The body is a little lighter than I generally want from a winter sipper, but it's still pleasant, as is the flavour, which holds notes of sweet malt, caramel, toasted nuts, faint spice, and a moderately hopped finish. It's certainly not the most robust or warming winter ale around, but it's still a beer that I look forward to each year.
Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome is available at select LCBO outlets in limited quantities as part of their Winter Warmers promotion (LCBO 408005 - $3.95/550 ml). There are also a few bottles of Samuel Smith's Old Brewery Pale Ale floating around from an earlier limited release, and their Nut Brown Ale will be hitting shelves soon as a new year-round listing.
