Ascot Winter Reserve

Brewed by Ascot
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Camberley, England

Serve in English pint

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Bottle conditioned as Santa’s Reserve, 500ml from Bellingers Garage, Grove, Oxon. Reddy brown with tan head. The spicing is apparent in the aroma giving the, accurate, impression that this is heavy with it. There is a sweetness to the body, a fruity malt that is big on the palate, then the cinnamon comes through and a dry ginger, plum duff in a glass. perhaps it should be drunk mulled, not sure, but just a little over the top for me.

bottle condition. Tried at chistmas ale test 2009. A spicy ESB with a bit to much spices and sweetness.

Cask at the White Horse. It pours deep mahogany brown, with a thin off-white lace. The nose is cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and some caramel sweetness. The taste is dark fruit, wood, chocolate, port-like, leather, nut, touch of caramel and lots of Christmas spice, with a dry, woody finish. Medium body and soft carbonation. Good stuff.

Cask at the White Horse, London. Pours clear, shiny ruby with a very slight head. Big berry and spice aroma. Light to medium sweet flavor, winter berries, cinnamon and other spices. Medium in body with fine carbonation. Faintly dry finish, some leaves, cinnamon, sweet malts, fruit cake. Not bad.

Cask (gravity dispense from stillage) at the White Horse Old Ale Festival on 29 November 2008. Dark brown colour. Not much life to it. Very strongly spiced aroma. More of the same on the palate - full on "Christmas" spices, heavy on the cinnamon. Also a sort of medicinal, herbal edge. To be honest, I found the spicing far too heavy-handed and any other elements were somewhat overwhelmed. If you like strongly spiced beers this may be for you but, although I didn’t find it undrinkable (as I have with some American pumpkin beers), it’s not really my thing at all. The score reflects simply my personal taste.

(Gravicask at Old Fountain, Old Street, London, 25 Nov 2010) Dark brown colour with brief head. Malty, spicy nose with ginger, cardamom and caramel. Malty, spicy taste with notes of dried fruit, toasty malt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and coriander. Medium body, slightly sweetish. Mild bitterness, a bit overshadowed by the spices. Very nice and spicy winter warmer.

Pours clear amber brown with nice thick tanned headleaving some lacng. Aroma of dark bread, roasted malts, melassis, slightly y and sweet. Lean acidy mouthfeel. Flavor is sourish, malty, fruity with some sweetnessrAcitedy fruity palate. Finishes shortlived with a dry bitter aftertaste.

Bottle with Craig, consumed at mine 09-04-10 picked up at Bellingers, Jet Garage, Grove, Nr Wantage, Oxon, April 2010 Very strange aroma that comes across as a weird sort of mixture of washing up liquid and heavy spice, Fairy should take a sniff of this and consider a new product for their line-up. Pours hazy brown, taste is strange (like the aroma) but not dislikeable, its far too heavily spiced in truth, with cloves, nutmeg, star anise and all sorts of weird and wonderful stuff coming through, ok so its a bit overkill and does numb the tongue from time to time but I actually don’t mind it for all of its faults. With regard to the spiciness Its a bit like the equavalent of me making a good curry and going "oh shit did that say teaspoon, bugger Its got a tablespoon now", so its got too much but it can still taste ok and this does, just! A6 A3 F7 P3 Ov13 3.2

bottle at fins ... red brown ... big spiced cinamon and nutmeg nose .... toffee malt ... big cinamon ...tasty but over spiced but not rougj and bit 1d

BBF 2010 very spicy wintery nose. pepper cinnamon ginger and nettles. darkest brown colour. tastes a bit like spiced bitter cough syrup, but its fairly light on the palate. odd