Breckenridge Christmas Ale

In the bottle. YUCK! Smells and tastes like vinegar. My guess is an acetobacter or lactobacillus infection. One certainly does not expect this kind of mistake to get out of a commercial kitchen. I give it the Death sentence rating until Breckenridge ships me a free case to compensate me for my emotional trauma.

Dark coppery color thats clear and bold with a finger high cap of softly lumped dark ivory. Resides to keep a bubbly collaring and the lace is stretched-thinner-then-thin in a sheeting effect along with some tiny dotting. Aroma is of a dry wood, slight ginger, and rosemary-like musk and a bit of cooked vegetables; seemingly quite light and takes a good wiff in to get it. Flavors insist on following the smell; why oh why? Its light and pale, bordering a boring and very understated taste. Quickly sweet, wiped away by a strange woodish mint thing and the continued vegetable musk. It does remind me alot of deep-fried mushroom appetizers, and that is not something I want to find in a seasonal winter ale. Feel is close to medium approaching thin, definately empty and nearly depleted of anything that would perhaps help this concoction. No sir, I didn’t like it.

Clear caramel-y brown is the color, the head is a small thing, soon gone, best unremarked upon. Aroma, cola-ish, coffee tones and nuts, a smidgen of spice? No, not really. Taste: a bit dull, brown ale-ish, just a touch of toffee, but all in all, dull. Light in body, with nary a finish to be found. Unremarkable all the way. Warm? Not much. Wintry? by a long stretch, maybe...nothing very Christmas-y about it..."malty and warming in character, with a semi-sweet, full-bodied flavor," says the label...it’s a slight stretch of the imagination, but true in many respects. Very run-of-the -mill, just malty and wintry enough...actually gets better as we get further in, but I’m no more impressed. Yeah, I can drink it, but it’s nothing to shout about.

12 oz bottle, fresh: hazed orange brown with a thin tan cream. Citrusy, caramel hop aroma with bits of holiday spice and anise. Fairly thick palate, with dark fruits (black cherries and raisins) and nicely hopped. Acidic hoppiness finishes a beer that would have been bitter with a bit more depth and malt character…

12 oz bottle - Whole Foods, Austin, Tx. Pours a orangeish to medium copper color with a tight khaki colored head - decent lacing, good bubble action. Sweet aroma - reminiscent of caramel and overripe frut. Flavor has some nutty notes to it with a bit of cotton candy sugary sweetness, but it starts to fade quickly. Fades a tad near the end. Mouthfeel is a tad thin for a "Christmas Ale" and turns a bit metallic. Alcohol hidden well. Not bad, expected more though.

Malt and alcohol aroma. Standard strong ale appearance, dark with a red hue. Flavors of malt, alcohol, light spice, and sugar. Sweeter than many strong ales. Thin body.

Nothing special. Bottle. Poured amber, no head, little aroma. No big taste either. The alcohol is hidden, but so is the taste. Maybe it was a bad bottle, but, if it was as good as the label, it would have been better.

This was a gift from the most benevolent Heemer77 and a good one. Murky medium brown with just a slight ring of head. Nose is very mild yet this is still a flavorful ale. Definitely Christmasy with a bit of caramel sweetness, toffee and slight notes of chocolate and vanilla. Medium bodied and somewhat creamy with subdued carbonation. Deceptively easy drinking for relatively high gravity. A few of these could definitely warm you and some friends on a cold night in.