Newcastle Werewolf and Winter IPA

I was recently contacted by Newcastle to see if I wanted to try their two newest seasonal releases, Werewolf and Winter IPA. I've always had an appreciation for Newcastle because their Brown was one of the first non-light beers that I actually enjoyed.

The Werewolf is described as a Blood Red Ale and should be available on the market now. Maybe I'm just a jaded craft beer drinker now, but to me this tasted a bit like Newcastle with a slight fruit injection. Perhaps this would be a good beer to try to get a die-hard Newcastle drinker to expand their palate.

The other forthcoming Newcastle seasonal and the one I was more excited to try was the Winter IPA. As an English style IPA, one has to approach this beer much differently than an American hop bomb. Hops are used to impart a more subtle bitterness, rather than an explosive palate-wrecker.  While I prefer more hop character in my IPAs, this is not a beer I would complain about. I would probably place it in the same category as the Werewolf, where I can see it being used to lure mainstream drinkers into more complex and flavorful territory.

You can read more about Newcastle's seasonal line at beernews.org.