Young’s Winter Warmer: A survivor from London’s beer drinking past

Young’s Winter Warmer: A survivor from London’s beer drinking past

Below is the commercial description for Wells-Youngs Winter Warmer

COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION

Cask: Seasonal – October to Jan.

Production moved from Youngs to Wells & Youngs in October 2006. Brand acquired solely by Charles Wells in 2011.

Ingredients: Maris Otter and crystal malt with cane sugar added to the copper with Fuggle and Golding hops.

The definitive winter beer and a long-time Young’s favourite, Winter Warmer is a champion cask ale that is an essential warmer during the winter months.

“Rich ruby coloured beer, almost red in bright light. Complex fruity nose with hints of candy. Luscious and full bodied, with a powerful mouth-coating flavour leading to a bittersweet, vinous finish.”

I tried a couple of halves in the Paternoster on Monday, a Young’s pub by the Stock Exchange. They were charging £4.40 a pint which for a 5% beer in the centre of the City of London is far from outrageous.

While I was there I met the three wise men and talked about Jeremy Corbyn but that is for another time.

The cask Winter Warmer was in decent condition and was indeed very drinkable. The description above is a bit hyperbolic but it actually tasted much as I remember it. That is a distinct improvement because some of the early Bedford brewed versions didn’t seem to me that good.

Of course memory of taste is a very difficult thing indeed to capture. It may well be characterised as much by mood and context as anything.

The fact remains that there was a time in London when the arrival of Young’s Winter Warmer in Young’s pubs was eagerly awaited and celebrated.

That was certainly the case in the 1980s. It was the only winter ale regularly available in London in those pre-historic days and at 5% it was also (after Fullers ESB at 5.5%) the strongest regularly available too.

Winter Warmer was typically sold direct from the cask on the bar-top of Young’s pubs (and nowhere else). Unlike Fullers who had very few pubs outside of West London in those days (for example the Anchor and Hope on the River Lea at Clapton, the Star Tavern, Belgravia) Youngs did have a smattering of central, north and east London pubs. So you could with a bit of effort get to drink the beer.

The world has moved on beer wise a lot since then but if you see Young’s Winter Warmer on the bar this Xmas you might be surprised at how drinkable it is. A survivor from London’s beer drinking past