HAS Anyone tried the Widmer BRRR yet?

So I read about this and thought it might be a nice winter warmer.
I was curious if anyone has tried this yet?

I am also wondering if this means the end of snowplow as the winter seasonal.

Haven't tried it yet, but it isn't displacing Snowplow. A number of breweries around here produce both a winter warmer and a seasonal stout.

big and hoppy. Not really my style, but I happily drink it. It's probably better on tap than bottled.

Sadly I went to the gasthaus last Friday and they were out of the BRRR. I'm eager to try it though.

As for the Snowplow, I've heard that though not gone, it's a much smaller production than in years past.

manager from the Bevmo around the corner says:

"I'll have Brrr in stock tomorrow".

Guess what I'll be picking up and tasting for you all.

Picked up some of the Widmer Brrr.

wow. Not at all what I expected.

Smelled the hops as soon as I opened the bottle.
Big Hop Flavor with a sweet aftertaste.
A moment later, It's like the hops were never there.
Next drink and pow.. hops are back.... oh, now they're gone...

This is a brew all it's own.

I'm wondering if this was really intended to be a winter brew.
Was this an experiment gone bad? Or, are the Widmer brothers redefining winter brew with this offering? Maybe to them winter brews don't have to have jingle bells and reindeer antlers. Maybe to them, they need hops and a name with no vowels.

This is not Jubelale ( which is awesome and takes up a ton of space in teh BeerFRIDGE ). It's not Winterhook, which is really nice. This is not Snow Plow ( which was my winter session beer).

This is different.
And for a beer with no vowels and a 7.2 ABV... it is not bad.

Wow! This beer is like taking a drink of Christmas tree! I love it, this is a really unique beer. HUGE piney Simcoe hop nose, Simcoe piney hop flavor, tastes like spruce tips in there too??, tons of crystal, and a great alcohol warmth.

Half way through the first pint I was wishing it was about 20* cooler outside so I could sit on the patio with it. I'll be saving one for the first hard freeze.

I had some of this down at GABF and was pretty impressed with it. In the Draft VIP area on saturday (or maybe friday) they were pouring this and something else and everyone else seemed to be going with the something else.

When I had a bottle of it it didn't taste the same as it did when I had it on draft. Though I could have been in beer overload that weekend

I just bought a 6 pack last night. It's a decent beer, but not what I would expect for a seasonal ale. It seems more like a standard IPA/Imperial IPA to me. Once TxBrew gets done with the changes to the Commercial Reviews, I'll post one.

david_42 said:

Haven't tried it yet, but it isn't displacing Snowplow. A number of breweries around here produce both a winter warmer and a seasonal stout.

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Oh dear God yes, please keep the snowplow around! Now if they would only make it year around, just kinda hard to get down when it is 115 degrees out.

I had two more bottles of this tonight. In my opinion this is one of the best Widmer products I've had. For a company that is on the larger side of craft brewing they definately did a top notch job here. The Widmer site gives grains and hops, so I'm seriously considering a clone.

Was trying to figure out what Alchemy hops were, and luckily found the answer here at Homebrewtalk. In my opinion I'm picking up chinook in the beer.

availability Late Oct. - Early Jan.
bitterness 50 IBU
alcohol by volume 7.2%
original gravity 17° PLATO
malts PALE, CARAMEL 10L & 80L,
MUNICH 10L, CARAPILS, DARK CHOCOLATE
hops BITTERING: ALCHEMY
AROMA: SIMCOE & CASCADE
goes well with Holiday favorites like turkey and ham

My local bar had it on tap a couple of weeks ago. I think it's far better than jubelale by Deschutes although generally I like Deschutes brews more than Widmer.

I'd be interested in a clone recipe. On their website they list their bittering hops as alchemy which is actually a blend of hops.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/widmer-alchemy-hops-26396/

I can't compare it to Jubelale or pick one over the other because I would marry Jubelale if I could. But I think Brrr would make a great mistress.

mysteryberto said:

I'd be interested in a clone recipe. On their website they list their bittering hops as alchemy which is actually a blend of hops.

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I'm using 1/3 each of Warrior, Horizon, and Zeus for my Broken Halo clone (Millennium is similar to CTZ).

They use lots of crystal 10 which is probably where the sweetness comes from.

I'm finally trying this brew tonight and although it doesn't fit the mold of a typical winter brew, this stuff is phenomenal. I'd probably classify it as an IPA. The piney, citrusy hop flavor/aroma is spot on for a hophead like myself. This would be an excellent year around brew if it were actually available. I'll be stocking up on Snowplow and Brrr this winter.

My wife brought home a sixer of this yesterday. We tried a bottle tonight and I thought that it was a nice amber ale with a pleasant hop flavor. I poured a bottle of this and a pint of an amber I have on tap and got them confused when I brought them into the kitchen, the color was so close. The way we were able to tell was that the Brrr had more hop flavor then ours.

Brrr is the best Winter beer I've had.
It's also the best Widmer beer they've made.
Gotta love that SIMCOE!!!

I believe Brrr is based on the '06 Spring seasonal Hoppy Red. I haven't had Brrr yet but did enjoy the red.

First one I tried, I was not blown away. second one was much better, then I had the third bottle and was liking it way more. I really liked it after the fourth.

Then I realized it was 7.2%.


Brrr definantly sneaks up on you.

I had this today and was floored by the taste and aroma. This beer got me more excited about a beer than I've been in a while. If there are any Seattle folks out there, it should remind you of Big Time Brewery's IPAs. IMO that brewery produces the best beers around, I just wish they bottled. Some of you said that this beer's sweetness comes from higher amounts of crystal, I've gotta try that. Have any of you had any luck cloning this since your original posts?

Drank this all X-mas break, i absolutely love it. Best Widmer beer by far. Not as good as Jubelale, but a close second.

After several suggestions to my husband, he finally decided to check Brrr out. But unfortunately he wasn't into it. Feel free to stop by & check out his review on it.

Click here for Brrr Review

http://thejoereview.com/

Betty said:

After several suggestions to my husband, he finally decided to check Brrr out. But unfortunately he wasn't into it. Feel free to stop by & check out his review on it.

Click here for Brrr Review

The Joe Review

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So your first post was specifically to link a review to this beer? Note: If you read some of the responses in his comments (specifically #7), you get the idea that they are specifically out to bash this beer and get the word out on one bad experience.

I personally feel your husband might have got a hold of a bad bottle and might want to take a second look at this beer, but maybe it just wasn't his bag.

I really like the Brrr. I picked up a six pack of it to try and then picked up another. Still lovin' on the Jubelale but this stuff is dang good.

Haven't been able to find Snowplow anywhere. Is it out?

ChshreCat said:

I really like the Brrr. I picked up a six pack of it to try and then picked up another. Still lovin' on the Jubelale but this stuff is dang good.

Haven't been able to find Snowplow anywhere. Is it out?

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I've seen snowplow around town. Though I think it was only in 22oz bottles and I thought last year it was in 12oz bottles.

Yep, Snowplow is out, only in the 22oz'rs.

Nice desert beer!

They've got Snow Plow at Fred Meyers in 22 down here in Salem, not really my cup of tea but whatever.

Found it! They just got it in at Haggen. I have a 22 for my dessert tonight after dinner.

ChshreCat said:

Found it! They just got it in at Haggen. I have a 22 for my dessert tonight after dinner.

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What a great dessert beer! I haven't seen it in six packs like years past but the 22's are abundant. I'm glad they decided to continue making this stuff because it's great.

HOOTER said:

What a great dessert beer! I haven't seen it in six packs like years past but the 22's are abundant. I'm glad they decided to continue making this stuff because it's great.

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It was pretty good. I don't think I liked it as much as I would have because I was probably prepared for something else. Next time, I'll be drinking it when I'm in the mood for it.

Snow Plow is not being shipped to SF bay area. Unable to source it anywhere.

I may have to rely on PNW members to help me out.
my v.2 clone batch turned out lousy... had an off-taste I can only attribute to crappy yeast. Will bash out a v.1 this week...

only 4 bottles of Terminator clone left... hmmm... decisions decisions

Just as good this year as it was last. Maybe a bit better?

McKBrew said:

Just as good this year as it was last. Maybe a bit better?

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I was thinking the exact opposite. I bought a six pack about three weeks ago and it tasted kinda green. I was really turned off by it. Last year it was one of my favorites, so I'll try it again in a couple of weeks and see if my impressions change.

This beer is outstanding....a nice take on a winter session beer. I hope they bring it back next year!