21st Amendment Fireside Chat Winter Spiced Ale

One of my favorite things about winter is trying winter spiced ales (warmers) as the breweries can really get creative with the style. I have been looking forward to writing a review on one of my favorites from last year, 21st Amendment Fireside Chat Winter Spiced Ale. In my opinion, 21st Amendment has solid beers across the board minus the Watermelon Wheat (My wife loves it though, so it has an audience). The brewpub was founded in 2000 and is located a couple of blocks from the Giant’s stadium in San Francisco. Besides the fantastic beer, 21st Amendment is known for their creative art design (and names) on the beer cans (Check them out here: http://21st-amendment.com/beer). Fireside Chat is named after president FDR’s depression era radio addresses which, per the brewery website, “were like a kick in the butt and a hug at the same time”. This spiced English ale has an ABV of 7.9% and an IBU rating of 45. Seven malts, two hops, and a top fermenting ale yeast were combined for the base ale and spices (probably cloves, nutmeg, allspice, and other secret ingredients) were thrown in the mix to produce the final product. Time to taste…

Appearance is dark amber brown with about a half-inch of tan head. Aromas I pick up include nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves. Pretty much anything you could think of in mulling spices, but nothing too overwhelming. The tastes I encounter are nutmeg, cloves, sweet malts, chocolate, and a bitter finish which definitely lingers until my next swill. The mouth feel is lighter than I expected, but still a slight syrupy coating. Not much carbonation to speak of. Overall, I enjoy this beer quite a bit and the find the balance between spices, malts, and bitterness to suit me quite well. I am going to rate 21st Amendment’s Fireside Chat 4 Mugs out of 5 on the Draft Notes Scale. One of my favorite winter spiced ales for sure, but probably not for everyone. So try it at a bar before you buy a 6 pack. I find that the number of ingredients in spiced ales can complicate the tastes and we all may pick up one spice (or malt) more than others. Therefore, I find it interesting to hear what others pick up or find to be the dominate taste/aroma. If you happen to pick up a can or two, please comment with your opinions.

To learn more about 21st Amendment Brewery, check them out here: http://21st-amendment.com/. Also, who is coming with me??? A winter warmer beer fest – http://www.ashevillebeerfest.com/ – a nice way to celebrate Australia Day on Jan 26th.