Winter is coming. Winter beers that is. The beer shelves are filling up with winter seasonals. Which just happen to be some of my favorites. Of course spring, summer, and fall seasonals are some of my favorites as well. I guess I’m just a man for all seasons.
So last night I grabbed a six pack of the winter seasonal from Blue Moon, the Winter Abbey Ale. Or at least I thought it was Winter Abbey Ale. The label looked somewhat like I remembered it from last year. And when I opened the first one, it tasted like I remembered from last year. But on closer inspection, something just seemed different about the label. And then it dawned on me. They actually changed the name. It is now called Mountain Abbey Ale.
After a couple of more beers and some sleuthing, I discovered that this is actually the third name this beer has had. And I’m pretty sure it is the same beer. Today’s version tastes like I remember from 5 years ago. Wait a minute, who am I kidding. I can’t remember a taste from last week let alone 5 years ago. But I *think* it is the same taste.
For a seasonal from a large mega brewer the beer isn’t that bad. Yes it tastes ‘big brewery’ so you will never confuse it with a beer from a Belgian abbey, but it is drinkable. If you can’t find it this year, look next year. Of course it will probably have some new name by then.
Here are the respective labels from 2013, 2010, and 2008.
2013
2010
2008