Back for the Holidays pt. 1

Welcome back, everybody, to the first Christmas Holiday edition of Younge's Beer Review! Tonight, i'll be looking at the first of a list of Seasonal Craft Beers up until the New Years. More on that soon, but I need to get something out of the way first. I want to apologize for missing the last few weeks of the review. I cannot really give a good excuse, but I've been a cheap bastard, and wasn't buying any beer worth reviewing. In any case, I am sorry for making you wait, so I promise this week will be a good one.

Tonight, we start off with one of my favorite Winter Brews, Sam Adams Winter Lager. I've typically been a fan of most of the creations of the Boston Brewing Company since I first tried the original Boston Lager. It's a bit of a standard bearer in American German-style Lager's in my mind, and the Winter edition does not disappoint in relation.

 Crisp and a fruitful to the nose, and with a lightly hopped, foamy first taste, the Winter Lager starts off very refreshing. That gives way to a wheat and oatmeal malt finish, leaving that pleasant quality of wanting just a bit more. It truly is mouthwatering, even to think about. In addition, the fruit aroma extends into a hint of flavor, likely owing to orange peel added to the recipe. Sadly, the promised Cinnamon hints didn't surface for me, at least not  during my tasting. Overall, this American Seasonal has a happy combination of just about everything that I like in a German-Style Lager, with a nice set of additional spices to add a touch of festivity. If there were anything to be improved upon here, it would be to make the spices more pronounced; they are rather subtle, at least to my tastes. Finally, it deserves a good rating for having just about all it needs to make a quality beverage.

Score: 9/10

Until next week,
Happy Drinking, and Happy Holidays!

-Devo