On the 3rd day of Christmas, Frank About Beer drank for me - K-9 Winter Warmer from Flying Dog Brewery.
Winter beers are typically darker and made with a variety of spices and flavors that don't typically show up in beer any other time of the year.
In the case of K-9 Winter Warmer, it's a dark, brownish-red English ale that features, among other things, cardamom (a spice typically found in SE Asian cuisine). It has medium carbonation, and is a toasty 7.4% ABV alcohol content.
The label describes the taste as having notes of chocolate and vanilla. To be honest, I didn't notice any vanilla, but there was some chocolate in the aftertaste. As you can imagine, the predominant flavor is the cardamom, which tastes like a cross between nutmeg and a variant of ginger. I honestly would have liked more chocolate flavor to balance it out a bit - but keep reading.
I'll admit this was initially a "miss" for me, until a dinner mate offered me some vanilla ice cream. With chocolate sauce.
Holy. Crap.
Suddenly, everything came together, and the overly sweet ice cream meshed beautifully with the herbal spices of the beer, and it was DELICIOUS.
Bottom line? By itself, it really may not appeal to you but, if that's the case, try pairing it with some strong-flavored food (like ice cream or salty nuts) and see how well this beer goes with it. You'll be pleasantly surprised.
Check back tomorrow for the next beer in our #12BeersofXmas series.
Cheers!
Christian & Eric
