There is an innate fear that I have in writing what I'm about to in the next few sentences. A fear that by putting my thoughts into actual words that I am jinxing an entire city, and that is a heavy burden to shoulder. Still, to pull this article together, I feel that I have to say it...it has been a very mild winter by all accounts; maybe the most mild I can recall in recent memory. So, my review beer this week is also mild by many people's standards of a Winter seasonal - Bell's Winter White Ale.
Now I've said before and I'll say it again, I am a big proponent of drinking the style of beer you like no matter what the season, but many people prefer lighter beers in the warmer months and heavier beers in the cooler months. If you're drinking based on that theory then Bell's Winter White is a good choice for the type of 60 degree January weather we've had recently. This Belgian Witbier is light compared to your traditional Winter stouts, porters, etc., and is quite a break from them as well with its orange-hazy color and delicious aroma from the Belgian yeast. I should add a disclaimer for those of you who don't know - I am a big lover of Belgian beers, and so anything that has a Belgian yeast strain in it is usually high on my list. At 5% ABV this is an easy drinking beer that is not heavy on the hops, but is heavy on citrusy flavor. The readers of both Ratebeer.com and Beeradvocate.com rank this Winter Seasonal fairly highly as well with scores of 88 and 83 respectively.
So, I suggest breaking away from tradition, sort of like Mother Nature has done so far this year, and have a Bell's Winter White Ale. Trust me, you probably want to do so this week because I'm fairly certain that I've cursed us and you'll probably have a hard time getting out of your house next week when we get two feet of snow dumped on us.
Follow Lville Beer on Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare; we can chat about beer, life, girls, or whatever...I'm flexible...not yoga-like flexible, but conversation-like flexible...oh well, you know what I'm talking about.