Thomas Kemper Happy Cow Winterbrau

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 6

This beer tastes just like most of the other winter offerings from NW breweries. In fact, I made a batch that tastes very similar to this about a month ago. While normally I love this type of beer, I'm glad it's the end of the season. Nice 12 oz bottle with a cute cow and story that states that the beers living next to the brewery get to enjoy the spent grains. It has a "enjoy by" stamp at the top but the date is smeared as it was with all bottles from this sixpack - not smeared as much as only half the stamp made contact making the date unreadable. 6.1% Alc/Vol Pours a dark brown with a nice head that hangs around just long enough to leave a nice lace down the glass. Smells malty. Tastes, well, like Jubelale SN's Celebration, and the many others of the winter style. I prefer the other two to this one, but I may be judging harshly since it's now spring out and I'm tiring of the style. Lots of malt without much hops so it seems a bit out of balance. Mouthfeel is fine, although it seems to be lacking in carbonation so it doesn't really cleanse the pallet at all. Drinkability is fine, but again, I think I'm being harsh. If I was tasting this in November it would likely receive higher marks from me. Not a bad beer but nothing special.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 5

Dark Red color, medium head. Rich robust roasted malts. Smooth rich flavor. Slightly hoppy. Full round mouthfeel, smooth taste. OK winter beer. Finish is smooth. Aftertaste is malty, slightly bitter.