So, it’s the day after Christmas and it’s a frigid 73 degrees with 92% humidity, so it seems a bit silly to be writing about Southern Star Winter Warmer, but bear with me! I write about beer in my journal as I drink, and then I post them on here as I see fit, and I originally drank this one while I grilled on my back patio as we endured the first sunshine after the big cold front week before last.
Southern Star Winter Warmer starts off all malt on the nose with a little extra toffee-like sweetness. Some Winter Warmers boast actual spices in the brew, but I want to say Southern Star Winter Warmer isn’t one of them – that, or the spices are so mild I can’t smell them?
It starts off mild and sweet, and the sweet malty notes play through all the way to the end. As it hits the palate, there’s a tiny alcohol warming, but it’s very subtle. Southern Star Winter Warmer ends with a solid malt backbone and a hop bitterness that’s so mild it’s almost not worth mentioning. There are toffee and caramel notes that play through from the nose to the finish, and it’s a beautiful winter song.
This Southern Star Winter Warmer reminds me a bit of Shiner Bock if I had to stretch for a big-beer comparison (although Shiner’s still technically craft). We strive to make macro comparisons for the sake of educating those that are brand loyal to something macro, but it’s difficult sometimes. This is a great beer to offer to someone that’s checking out craft beer but has an appreciation for the malty notes. It’s not really much like Shiner Bock at all in a bigger sense, but if they like that they might like this. Maybe?
I’ve given this one a 4 star because I think it’s great. Stylistically it hits all the marks, and more importantly, it hits the spot. The sweet, malty flavors balanced by the subtle heat of the alcohol make this a great beer for grilling in the winter or sitting around a campfire if you’ve got the time.
It poured a deep copper-brown with a creamy tan head that stuck around to party by the fire. As I sipped it and flipped the chicken, the lace left behind would of made your Granny’s curtains jealous. The mouthfeel was creamy and full-bodied because of the maltiness, and the low carbonation matched well.
To be completely honest, I held out on drinking Southern Star Winter Warmer for quite a while. I just didn’t expect to like it. Call me naive, but I felt like the brown can was unappealing for some reason, but I’m biased as an artist. I didn’t expect this beer to be as awesome as it was, and I’m always happy to be proven wrong.
The artwork on the cans of Southern Star Winter Warmer is all brown with an illustration of a tree nestling the white typography around the can. I haven’t seen it on tap yet to be able to describe the tap handle, but I’ll be glad to come back and edit this post if I come across it.
Southern Star has pretty solid distribution, so you should be able to find this Winter Warmer all over town if the weather is “right”. Check here for a few places that have it on draft. I found mine at HEB, per usual. We gotta get them to sponsor us one of these days!
Anyways, I loved this Southern Star Winter Warmer. How about y’all? Anybody care to chime in and describe the tap handle for us, so others can find it around town? Feel free to chime in below in the comments section. And as always, beers to you, Houston.
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Anthony's a Houston native, a Creative Strategist at https://ledgeloungers.com/, an adjunct instructor of Visual Communication at Lone Star College, and a UH Coog that loves good beer almost as much as he does his city. Anthony lives to help others and that's found a home helping some of the coolest breweries on earth with creative and marketing projects that can be seen on our Portfolio page. Fueled by hoppy lagers, sessionable IPAs, and gangster rap, he's ticked his way through H-Town, rocking the most unusual Nikes he can find. When he's not writing for us, he's with his family or very patiently rooting for the Rockets.
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