Abita Christmas Ale

Brewed by Abita Brewing Company
Style: Amber Ale
Covington, Louisiana USA

Serve in English pint, Shaker

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Beer pours medium brown in color, though it appear ruby red when held to the light. Has a small dissipating tan colored head. Aroma is malty with some smokiness. Flavor is also, malty, smoky with a bit of hop bitterness in the dry finish. Pretty tasty. Would be willing to drink again.

On tap at brewery. Clear reddish medium brown with almost no head. Earthy hops spice and caramel aroma and taste with a brassy finish.

Aroma is light piney-hops and spices. The flavor is spices, malts and a light hoppiness in the finish.

Bottle 355ml.

Clear medium to dark amber colour with a average to large, frothy, good lacing, mostly lasting, off-white to beige head. Aroma is moderate malty, toasted, caramel, sewer, wood, spicy. Flavour is moderate sweet and light moderate bitter with a average to long duration. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft. [20111208]
5-3-5-3-9

Bottle 355ml.

ABV: 5.5%. Clear medium brown amber colour with a small to average, frothy - fizzy, good lacing, mostly diminishing, off-white head. Aroma is moderate to light heavy malty, caramel, wood, light roasted, light to moderate hoppy. Flavour is moderate to light heavy sweet and bitter with a long duration, caramel, dark hops. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft, finish feel is light metalic. [20120128]
7-3-7-3-13

0.33l bottle shared with ClubGonzo and Inbreak. This is a crystal clear dark maple syrup colored beer with a small sidesticking just off-white head. I get mainly malts and a good amounts of american hops. It has a somewhat thin texture and a soft carbonation level. Flavor vise this is actually a bit boring. Light malty and sweet. It just feels really really one dimensional in almost every way. Not bad tasting, and it gains some points for that, but it’s definitely not something I have to drink again. 18.04.2012

From notes: Poured clear red-brown, with a 2-finger bone-colored head. Aroma was caramelly sweet, with a mild spice note. Medium-body, with a mild finish. Flavors were all mild too. Hops, spice and a touch of caramel sweetness.

Bottle from Systembolaget, Sweden 2011. Short and not so big off white head. Clear red-amber color.Dusty caramell malty aroma. Toasted malts dominate the taste with some caramell sweetness but with a dry taste from all the dark malts. Who do you give this as a christmas present?

Bottle: Dark red colour, with a creamy big head. Aroma is dominated of sweet maltynes, fruits,flowers, dry hopy "nose" in the end. Flavor had a sweet malty, thin mouthfeeling, some caramellynes, fruits and some dark chocolate and caramelly, and a bit coffee in the end.

Medium amber color, week head minimal lacing. Good balance of hops and malt. Crisp clean finish.

A: Pours a murky mahogany color body with a fleeting one-finger off-white colored head. Lacing is nice, but the glass put a kibosh on its retention (not like people give a crap about head retention, anyways). S: Black pepper, coriander, nutmeg, and strong citrus notes - seemingly not from hops, but perhaps a bit of orange peel added to the brew? It’s strange, but it somehow works. T: Ack. This doesn’t. Starts off with a one-two punch of black pepper and orange peel (not citrus hoppiness), without a solid malt base to hold it up. The finish is strangely ashy, where the malt backbone goes from nearly non-existent to intrusively burnt. It didn’t completely offend my taste buds, it just left them wholly unimpressed. M: Far too watery on the finish and thin bodied in my opinion. Strong carbonation helps a little bit, but not nearly enough. O: Aesthetically, it’s pretty nice. And I did get it down fairly easy. But, still, it’s not a good beer. I give Abita credit for trying something different with their Christmas ale, but I’m thankful this won’t be around for much longer.

The scent is floral hops and roasted malt. The taste is malty and slightly grainy and harsh with a hint of hops and spices.