Your Guide To North Carolina Craft Beer Winter Seasonals
The seasons have been coming and going, and along with them come seasonal beers. Winter beers begin showing up some time in the week or two before Thanksgiving, some I’ve seen even as early as the final week of October. Some of my favorites all year include these dark ales, stouts, and porters. There is a good number of North Carolina beers that you should start breaking out for dessert after Thanksgiving dinner.
Cottonwood Frostbite, 6.5% ABV
Black IPA
12 oz poured in a pint glass.
The Frostbite pours black/dark brown, with a thin, slightly browned head. It has an incredible scent: sweet, slight malt notes, a definite fruity scent. The taste, unfortunately depending on who you are, doesn’t match the scent. It has a strong roasted flavor, malty, a slightly musky taste, and definite hoppy bitterness. It has a nice roasted grain finish.
Highland Oatmeal Porter, 5.80% ABV
Porter
12 oz poured in a pint glass.
This porter pours smoothly, a deep amber, almost chocolate brown, with one finger’s worth of head. There is definitely a roasted grains scent present, and a slight sweetness present, even slight notes of cinnamon. It has a medium body and almost a chunky mouth feel. The flavor is made up of roasted malts, notes of chocolate, and it calls to mind the flavors of oatmeal for breakfast. It has a nice solid oatmeal and roasted grain finish.
Carolina Brewing Company’s Winter Porter, 5.2% ABV
Porter
12 oz poured in a pint glass.
This porter pours smoothly, a deep copper-y brown, and leaves a thin, swirling head. It smells of roasted malts, roasted nuts, coffee, light chocolate, and slightly sweet yeast. Roasted malts, backed by slightly nutty notes, dominate the porter’s flavor, and light chocolate and coffee flavors are also present. It has a roasted malt and coffee finish.
Mother Earth Old Neighborhood Oatmeal Porter, 5.5% ABV
Porter
12 oz poured in a pint glass.
This oatmeal porter pours smoothly, and a deep brown color, with a slight head. It smells of chocolate, dark roasted malts/grains, and light notes of cocoa. It has a strong roasted flavor, very organic. There is a yeasty sweetness present, with chocolate flavors, and a definite sweet yeast finish.
Lonerider Pistols at Dawn, 7.5% ABV
Stout
1 pint 6 oz poured in a pint glass.
Pistols at Dawn is probably my favorite of all the seasonals I’ve had this year. It poured smoothly, thick, almost black, and with a slight head. It smells just like a coffee shop, with scents of coffee, dark roast, espresso, etc., and sweet chocolate. The taste was awesome. It had a deep, rich roasted flavor, notes of dark roasted coffee, and milk chocolate. It had a definite chocolate finish, reminding me almost of chocolate covered espresso beans.
