Does the winter warmer exist?

Pennine · Oct 16, 2022

DocAnna said:
Ok arriving a bit late to this. Yes a winter warmer does exist and I agree with @Brewnaldo that the flavour should come from the grain rather than spicing. I've made a winter Wassail twice and you've prompted me to try again, two different recipes with merit to them both. One of the joys of a beer like this is that it improves with age, with the flavours mellowing and a rounded more warming whole. I'm going to try again this year with Marris otter in place of Pop's Pale ale malt and see if I can find the red crystal which I couldn't last year.

Short version, yes of course the winter warmer exists, it needs a relatively high alcohol, with dried fruit flavours and a wee bit of chocolate there - we're looking for a Christmas Pud of a beer!

Anna

Thanks for posting these, I found the second one which pointed me in the right direction. I like the idea of a little chocolate.

I think I have almost everything, although I like your idea of a red crystal, they had some red rystal rye at the LHBS I might swing back over there and pick some up.

Pennine · Oct 16, 2022

Northern_Brewer said:
To be more precise, Young's Winter Warmer is the new name for what used to be called Young's Burton, which was in the spirit at least of Burton ales. But these days "winter warmer" gets used to cover all sorts of things, including some spiced Christmasy beers. I'm not sure if "Young's" are still doing it, but Sainsburys do an own-label one that's brewed by the Eagle brewery so at least has some of the heritage to it.

Burton ales were 18th and early 19th century beers that have nothing to do with the IPAs that Burton later became famous for - they were darker, maltier, but still quite bitter. You see the distinction made in old advertising - mirrors etc, most people probably don't realise that they're advertising two different styles of beer :
View attachment 76402
The Wikipedia entry is not too bad :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burton_ale
and it recently got an official BJCP description :
https://www.bjcp.org/beer-styles/17a-british-strong-ale-burton-ale/Popular in Burton before IPAs were invented, widely exported to the Baltic countries. After 1822, reformulated to be less sweet and strong. Most popular in the Victorian Era, with several different strengths available in the family. The strongest versions evolved into English Barleywines. Became less popular after WWII, eventually dying out around 1970. Some versions exist as Winter Warmers, Barleywines, or Old Ales, but the name has lost favor in the market.

Characteristic Ingredients
Bready and biscuity English base malts. Substantial portion of ‘high kilned’ malt. Historical versions often used brewing sugars and corn. More modern versions can use crystal malts for flavor and chocolate malt for color. English ale yeast. Traditional English hops, often dry hopped.

Style Comparison
Has some similarity in malt flavor to Wee Heavy, but with substantially more bitterness. Less strong than an English Barleywine.

Vital Statistics

IBU
40 – 50
SRM
14 – 22
OG
1.055 – 1.075
FG
1.018 – 1.024
ABV
5.0% – 7.5%

I read through the wiki and came across this article, that's exactly the style I was thinking of.

https://zythophile.co.uk/2016/10/28/snug-beers-and-snug-bars/
Here is another

https://zythophile.co.uk/2007/10/08/come-back-for-the-burtons/

Pennine · Oct 16, 2022

Placeholder....

YeastFace · Oct 16, 2022

There's a recipe in Modern Homebrew Recipes, if you have a copy?

If not it's:
33% Maris Otter
33% Mild
7% Munich
7% Flaked Corn
13% Crystal 80 (Vorlauf)
7% Dark Candi Syrup (Boil)

28g Challenger @ 60
28g Goldings @ 10
28g Styrians @ 0

WY1968

For 25l
OG 1.060
FG 1.015
ABV 5.9%
IBU 27
SRM 20