Sly Fox Christmas Ale

Brewed by Sly Fox Brewhouse
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Royersford and Phoenixville, Pennsylvania USA

2006 bottle; not the best time of season for it, but oh well. When poured it still had alot of carbonation; had to pour carefully. Color was dark auburn, with a big khaki head. Aroma of caramel, cinnamon, clove and other spices; some light nutty and vanilla hints. Flavor had a good malty backbone for the style; soem caramel and vanilla-ish flavors. Good spicing at the end; not too overdone. Surprisingly good flavor; sessionable for the style, which is unusual for me to say.

I tugged on the cork until my hands hurt then I decided it was time to break out the corkscrew. Wasn’t too sure I would like this beer after I popped the cork and the beer spilled all over me. After I cleaned up the mess and sat down I poured the christmas ale into a glass and not surprisingly the head was huge. After it settled down I was able to get a lot of ginger and, fruit and sweetness in the nose. It kind of tastes like a gingerbread cookie. This actually is a good christmas beer. The dry finish is nice to offset some of the sweetness. I honestly wasn’t expecting much from this brew but was pleasantly surprised.

2006 bottle provided by Eyedrinkale at DLD, thanks Mike: Caramel hued with a long lasting frothy head and very good lace. The aroma has notes of pumpkin pie spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, clove), grainy, caramel, flowery and yeasty. The taste has a biting spice overtone supported by some fruity and caramel notes. The finish is a tad yeasty and nutty. The mouth feel is dry and chewy. A nice complex beer but the spice character does become a tad overbearing in the end.

Sampled from a 750ml brown bottle this beer poured a slightly hazy ruby-caramel color with a huge tan head that lingered. The aroma was a lovely and richly complex mix of strong sweet and nutty malts, caramel, ripened fruit, ginger and spices. The flavor was a nicely complex mis of nutty malts, caramel, brown sugar, cocoa, ginger and allspice. Drier than I had been led to believe. The ginger, fruit and cocoa continue long on the finish. A remarkable beer, and one I will be looking forward to again next year.

Bah humbug. More of a Christmas cookie than a Christmas ale. Malty back bone, but the whole thing is overwhelmed by spices. Long after I’ve put the glass down and gone upstairs to enter my review I still taste gingersnap, clove, cinnamon. Pleasant sweet spice nose. Rich clear copper pour with a huge light brown head. Sweet, overly spiced, malt backbone, more spice, tannic nutty mouth feel. Sounds ok, but it just doesn’t work for me. Drain pour.

Ugh. I didn’t like this. Just eat a good Christmas cookie instead, so heavy on the spicing. The carbonation plus spices came through like an artificially sweetened ginger snap. Smell nice, looks decent.

750 ml bottle. Deep amber red beer with a thick creamy and persistent head. Good looking beer really. Aroma is loaded with sweet christmas spices. Loads of ginger, nutmeg, coriander and light cinnamon. Fairly sweet malts but balanced by the ginger and spicy cinnamon. It’s quite light and refreshing, yet warming at the same time. It could use a more interesting yeast, but it’s quite nice nonetheless.

750ML Bottle courtesy of Summer Secret Santa 07. Aray of spices and sweet nutmeg aroma. Amber body with light tan head. Flavor has for the most part spicey carbination to it. Sweet nutmeg syrupy flavor thickens body and gives a cinnamon candy flavor. Sticky nutmeg sweet aftertaste left on the palate. Good Brew thanks John.