I had never had a beer from Cleveland’s Indigo Imp brewery before, but thanks to the magic of beer trades, a friend in Cleveland was kind enough to introduce me to them. Hence the first beer for me from them: Indigo Imp Winter Soul, described as an ale brewed with spices. A little more on beer trades, they can be tricky, but if you follow certain steps you and your friends can gain access to some great beers from outside your area for the cost of several dollars a bottle extra in shipping.
All Indigo Imp ales are bottle conditioned and open-fermented. They suggest on the label that you pour carefully to avoid rousing the yeast, but I like to stir it into the liquid and pour into my glass. More from the label of this beer:
Indigo Imp beers are Real Ales: unfiltered, unpasteurized, and naturally carbonated. They are robust in flavor and aroma. Only the finest ingredients are used to produce these unique, open-fermented beers.
And about this beer, the Winter Soul:
The very spirit of winter. A deep amber ale brewed with Caramel malt and Cascade hops with just enough sweet orange peel and cinnamon to be impishly delicious.
Alcohol content is not given on the bottle or on the company website, but the beer seemed to be in the 5% to 6% range to me. Supposedly one bottle out of six of Indigo Imp beers are dipped in wax; these are called “Imp bottles”.
Indigo Imp Winter Soul pours to a rich amber color with a thick creamy head formation and an inviting cinnamon and vanilla nose. There is a lot of caramel up front, and a hint of apple fruit reminds me of a caramel apple from my childhood. Some citric orange peel, slightly bitter in its fruity intensity, blends nicely with pungent cinnamon. I’m not getting a lot of the Cascade hops the label promised, but the spices do balance nicely.
This is a very nice winter brew overall, and I can easily imagine it satisfying on a cold winter’s night. The spices are not over the top but seem to be in perfect proportion with the rest of the beer. Definitely a winter treat I would buy were it sold in my area.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft
(G)=Growler