Saltspring Island Ales – Fireside Winter Ale

Rating

4 out of 5

Aroma

4.1 out of 5

Appearance

4.3 out of 5

Taste

3.8 out of 5

Palate

Total

4.1

4.1 out of 5

Overview

• Brewery: Saltspring Island Ales
• Beer Style: Winter Ale
• Pros:

  Nice balance of big flavour is a smaller bodied beer

• Cons:

  Hard to find

• Conclusion:

  Nice, light(er) winter ale from a gem of a BC brewery

Saltspring Island Ales – Fireside Winter Ale Review

Saltspring Island Ales may not make their beer extremely easy to find with limited distribution but it is a Where’s Waldo for beer fanatics. When you do manage to track down a bottle you are rewarded with a delicious beer and are the envy of all those around you. The Fireside is a winter ale comes in yet another classy labeled bottle with a sophistication to the look. In pouring the beer it appears a chestnut colour and is topped with two fingers of thick, lacing head. Through this dense top of head comes strong notes of vanilla, caramel, plum and apricot making for a smooth yet intense aroma. The Fireside’s texture is rather thin making for a crisper than expected winter ale. The flavour is deep however with big fruit tones, caramel and a vanilla smoothness to blend it all together. This winter ale is a great example of a fairly dark, flavourful and sweet beer that does not come across as being overly heavy. The result is a flavourful and very enjoyable beer – now all you have to do is find it!

Alcohol – 7%
Size – 650ml bottle
Price – $7.45 (Craft Beer Retailer)
saltspringislandales.com