Welcome to your weekend: Spooky Halloween Edition!



Brought to you by spooky plastic pumpkins with
special guest Saranac Pumpkin Ale.
Also remember to check in today for a special Untappd badge!

2012 Winter Warmer Recap & bonus review!

It is the end of winter warmer month here on Jolly Good Fellows. Something new we wanted to do was recap the winter warmers we reviewed, discussed, and drank over the last 31 days.

The last bottle, read the review below.

Beer we reviewed on the blog

RJ Rockers First Snow 

St. George Winter Scotch Ale

Saranac Big Moose Ale

Great Divide Hibernation Ale

Heavy Seas Winter Storm Category 5 Ale

Winter warmers we discussed on the JGF beercast

Great Divide Hibernation Ale (Recommended)

Full Sail Wassail (Recommended)

Widmer Brothers Barrel Aged BrrrBon ‘11 (Recommended)

Winter Warmers we didn’t write or talk about but enjoyed on Untappd

North Coast Old Stock Ale 2011 – 4 stars

New Holland Cabin Fever Brown Ale – 3 stars

Magic Hat Howl – 3 stars

Schlafly Winter ESB – 3 stars

Smuttynose Winter Ale – 3 stars

New Belgium Snow Day – 4 stars

New Glarus Snowshoe Red Ale – 4 stars

Long Trail Hibernator – 3 stars

Samuel Adams Winter Lager – 2 stars

Top of the charts

Great Divide Hibernation Ale

North Coast Old Stock Ale 2011

Pleasant surprises

Heavy Seas Winter Storm Category 5 Ale

Schlafly Winter ESB

New Belgium Snow Day

Mild disappointments

Samuel Adams Winter Lager

RJ Rockers First Snow Ale

One final bonus winter warmer review, while I’m writing this I am drinking my last bottle of New Glarus Snowshoe Ale. I don’t believe New Glarus brewed any of this during the last year and I am not sure when or if they will again. (Somebody correct me if I am mistaken.) The Snowshoe Ale is a well crafted quality beer.

This particular bottle was originally purchased back in May 2011. It poured a clear coppery, amber color, with a small head. On the drink it has a very malty presence with minimal carbonation. The malt stays with you into the aftertaste but clears pretty quickly.

While labeled as an Irish amber ale it shares a lot of similarities to the winter warmers that have been covered over the last month. The alcohol comes in at 5.7% ABV, not as heavy as you would expect but that is in no way a detriment. While it has some hop to it, if you come to this beer expecting a more hopped American red ale you may leave disappointed.

Here is the "party line" on this beer. 

Settle in with Wisconsin’s Snowshoe Ale. This beer is brewed with a blend of American and German malts. A complicated decoction mash process ensures a rich malty flavor. We also infuse generous amounts of Yakima Golding and Bavarian Hallertau Hops to add a special note of warmth for your winter evening’s enjoyment.

Expect this beer to be a beautiful copper-red, with a fruity ale body and a spiced hop finish. Then sit back and rejoice in the season because it’s these Wisconsin winters that keep the whiners out. 

So there you go, we end winter warmer month with a bit of regret, but remember beer is meant to be drank and enjoyed and on that front I am pretty satisfied.

Let us know what winter warmers were your standouts, surprises, and mild disappointments down in the comments!

Untappd Potential

Beer is nothing if not a social beverage.  Whether served alone or with good food, beer is in the social mix.  It seems only natural then, that as socializing has moved into the virtual & digital world that our beverages of choice would follow.  Well, despite advertising, there is still no app for delivering a cold one to your phone or mobile device, but the social aspects of beer has made the leap.


Untappd, available for both IOS and Android devices, is a neat free little app that allows you to interact with your fellow beer drinking compatriots from either across the room or across the ocean.  The app allows you to “Drink Up” and check into your current beer you have been enjoying by either looking them up in a database or if not available by inputting something new. You then can rate and comment on your discovery.  By logging in with your Twitter or Facebook credentials, you can automatically share those thoughts with your online friends.  You can also add a new set of friends and followers on Untappd. It takes a foursquare approach to location, allowing you to check into various venues where you are drinking your ale or beer of choice.


Brian’s favorite feature is the set of recommendations that are generated based on what others are drinking and what you have entered into the app.  Broken down into Macro, Micro and Craft brews, he found the suggestions to be interesting and tasty.  You can also choose between local and global to help narrow or broaden ones perspective.  Well thought out and well executed.


Skye has been using Untappd now for several weeks and it has become an enjoyable addition to his beer drinking experience for several reasons. One of the things he really enjoys about the app is the ability to build a “Wish List” of beers. See a beer a friend or another person is enjoying, boom, you can quickly add it to the wish list. While that is cool, the real fun for Skye has been the badges that can be unlocked. By doing certain things, going certain places, or drinking various styles or amounts of beers you unlock different badges. For example, the Beer Connoisseur badge is unlocked by drinking 5 different beers from 5 different countries. Another is Brewery Loyalist, enjoying 10 beers from the same brewery in 30 days.  These badges focus my drinking experience and then he starts working towards unlocking them (This is one of Skye’s little compulsions rearing its head again.)

Available in either English or Spanish, Untappd does require the user to be at least 17 years or older to download.  (Gee, imagine that.)  Last update was 22 December 2011 with an average of 4 stars for 100 ratings.  Another review of the app and little bit of background on the company are offered on Crunchbase.

Jolly Good Fellows is on Untappd; our username is beerfellows. http://untappd.com/user/BeerFellows