Winter Abbey Ale

Due to the season, I felt obligated to try some big name winter beers. I was able to pour myself some of this Blue Moon Winter Abbey Ale. This is by Blue Moon which is owned by Coors, which is owned by Miller, which is just freaking huge. It is 5.6% abv, which is heavier than your average macro brewery.

The brew pours out a dark red with little to no white head. It basically started off as lacing on the top. It smelled like winter fruits and bready malts.

The flavor was sweet but not heavy or syrupy. It had a lot of bread doughy flavors. There were hints of toffee mixed with just a bit of caramel. At the end there were light flavors of dried fruits. This gave it a hint of spiciness that added a winter feel to the beer. It finished off with a light herbal hop flavor that was not very prominent.

I would probably not buy this beer for myself again, but if someone offered it up I wouldn't turn it down. This is a situation where a big name brewery tried to make a craft beer for the masses, and it just feel flat. There was nothing distinct about this beer and nothing impressive. Other than the fact that the abv was higher than your average Coors product, there wasn't much to redeem it.

Try it for yourself, but do it at your own risk. I think I got the beer for a buck at some Kroger sale, so no big loss.

I give it a 1.5