Winter Warmer / Holiday Beer Style Definition

[SenorWanderer]

I know it's a little late in the season to get started on a beer like this, especially if it's in the 6%-8% range, but I have a friend that wants to brew one so we're going to give it a go.

This brought up the question during my research, what defines this beer? I know it doesn't have it's own style category (and that style categories don't always matter a whole lot), but there are definitely right and wrong answers for a beer like this. Searching for "Winter Warmer" on BeerAdvocate brings up this brief description:

These malty sweet offerings tend to be a favorite winter seasonal. Big malt presence, both in flavor and body. The color ranges from brownish reds to nearly pitch black. Hop bitterness is generally low, leveled and balanced, but hop character can be pronounced. Alcohol warmth is not uncommon.

Many English versions contain no spices, though some brewers of spiced winter seasonal ales will slap "Winter Warmer" on the label. Those that are spiced, tend to follow the "wassail" tradition of blending robust ales with mixed spices, before hops became the chief "spice" in beer. American varieties many have a larger presences of hops both in bitterness and flavor.

And from About.com:

History:
Winter warmers have been being brewed for as long as there has been beer and winter-time. They haven't always been called winter warmers but the practice of making a big, higher alcohol beer for late autumn/early winter festivals has always been a favorite practice of brewers. The general festival feeling of this time of year invites sumptious brews and the higher alcohol gives the drinker that warming feeling; so welcome once the weather has turned cold.

Style Point:
As popular and widespread the winter warmer is, no one seems able to agree on what the style should be. Often a breweries winter warmer is an enhanced version of their flagship beer. In other cases it is a medium bodied ale and lots of dark spices added. Whatever the interpretation winter warmers are almost always higher in alcohol.

Ingredients:
Not surprisingly the ingredients used to make winter warmers are as various as the many interpretations. Many feature liberal amounts of dark and black barley. Hops are usually understated (with a few startling exceptions) and the yeast can range from wild Belgium ale strains to the cleanest of lagers. Adjuncts are often featured and can include fruit, spices, herbs, chocolate, honey, candied sugar and anything else the brewer can dream up.

From these descriptions, and another on Wikipedia, a winter warmer appears to be a 6%+ beer that is balanced more toward malt then hops, with perhaps some more robust, fruity ester production, and optional spices. It's fairly dark with a good amount of caramel malts. Most descriptions and many commercial recipes reference Old Ale as a starting point or base beer, but there is a lot of room for departure from that.

So, what I'm hoping this thread will be, instead of a place to just dump your recipe, is a discussion of what you think works for this type of beer, or what you think doesn't (or didn't) work. What's your favorite commercial example and WHY? Can the commercial examples be further divided into sub-categories? What spices do you think would work well, and what spices would go well together? What about yeast?

I'm personally envisioning a dark amber/ruby colored beer with a tan head, lots of malty/biscuity/toasty/caramel flavor, but well balanced by some solid hop flavor and spice additions. I haven't a clue as to what spices i'd like to use. Orange peel maybe. Clove? Cardamom? Cinnamon? I don't have a good grasp of what spices are appropriate in beers like this or what they all taste like. Might have to make some spice teas over the weekend to do some taste bud research. I'm about to have a nice big yeast cake of WY3787 Trappist High Gravity so I'll probably use that, but I'm open to suggestions.

Ready, GO!

 

[LexusChris]

I'm not sure if there is an official answer, but I have always thought of winter warmers as being rich, malty and full of character (complexity). Something you'd sip a half-pint of, and savor the nuance of each sip as the beer gradually warms in between...

Commerically, I'd think of scotch ales (wee heavy's), old ales & barleywines...

Mmmm...getting thirsty now.. think I'll go pop a bottle of Shipyard's "Pugsley's Barleywine" or Stone's "Double Bastard"..
--LexusChris

 

[SenorWanderer]

Of course there's no official answer, that's why I wanted to start the discussion of what works and what doesn't.

Has anyone brewed a winter beer that was simply off? What about it didn't work?