Boulevard Nutcracker Ale

Brewed by Boulevard Brewing Company
Style: English Strong Ale
Kansas City, Missouri USA

Serve in English pint, Snifter

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Large head that faded quickly. Brown. Aroma of alcohol and some spice, but not nearly as much as I would like. Flavor of a bitter. Thin palate. Reminds me of young's winter warmer, and that isn't good.

UPDATED: JAN 8, 2009 [December 7, 2008]
Bottle of the 2008. Pours a cloudy orange with a nice, pillowing white head. The aroma is a little spicy alright, hints of pine, copper, and some kind of baking spice are noted. The flavor is weird. It starts piercing and slightly metallic with an assertive European hop bite, though I find a bit of PNW hop twang similar to their pale ale. The finish is flat with suggestions of copper and nutmeg. this is not a sweet beer, but rather dry with lingering spice and metal. I think Boulevard is a reasonable brewery with a good selection of very drinkable beer at a reasonable price. This one, however, has missed my mark. Too coppery and metallic with a strange spice character.
[January 2, 2009]
I picked up another Boulevard 12 pack, par for the course when I need a lot of good beer at a good price right away. However, I have since begun to reconsider this course of action so long as the Nutcracker ale remains in the box. We happily enjoyed the first 10 beers, avoiding those fateful Nutcrackers which I kept hoping would magically transform into Lunar Ales, or even better, Bully Porters. But no, the next day there they were, staring at me from the near empty box. So, down the hatch they go. Every time I revisit this one my opinion of it falls. It seems like an awkward mess of weird English hops and coppery, metallic notes. I cannot find anything any longer I genuinely enjoy about this one, the little zing I associated with their pale ale is fading. This is a well made beer, just made entirely of ingredients I do not favor. I like the approach of loads of malt and hops in a complex, though messy, mix when it leans in the American direction e.g. Double Bastard, He Brew Monumental Jewbulation 10, but all I get out of this is paper, wood, blood, and metal. I will wait until the Nutcracker has passed before buying another Boulevard 12 pack.

Tasted from a bottle at the Parade of Darks in Denver, Colorado. Lightish orange appearance that’s fairly. Mildly spiced with nutmeg. Orange tasting brew that has a light to medium body and somewhat spiced. Kind of weird and not all that impressive.

nice amber pour with a thin beige head. scent of malts, earth and some fruits. i am picking up some dark fruits and molasses in this one. along with some honey and ginger. not that impressive.

Is listed here as an English Strong Ale. Doesn't taste like such to me. Aroma is of a cheap pale lager, such as one made with adjuncts (corn especially). Color is a nice deep auburn. It's slightly hazy. The label says bottle conditioned, but either it should be filtered or it should have more yeast in the bottle. Taste is thin. Malt profile mainly, but the malt is of a lighter taste than the color suggests. If tasted blind, this could pass for a macro beer or at best one of the feeble bock beers that some regional brewers (Grain Belt, Hamm's) made in the late 1970's or 80's. I'm sorry to contradict other raters, but I think this is a mediocre beer at best.

Too many flavors going on with this seasonal. A littley syrupy for my liking. Had a nice tan head that lasts.

BAH! HUMBUG! I love BLVD beers... i do. But something about this bitter and astringent finish makes me shy away... I’ll keep trying... maybe it will be a happy ending like zon (?)