Breckenridge Christmas Ale

This is a very pleasant beer. I had the 33 oz. bottle. The head wasn’t too impressive but seemed to have two stages. It has a juniper-ish aroma, and a sweet, malty taste with a warm (alc.?), long finish. The hops are in the background, but still quite noticeable.

Very dark color medium white head little bubbles everywhere. The smell of malt and caramel. Roasted chocolate and caramel, tingly and sweet. Good beer. very malty good christmas beer. Yummy.

The bottle label was different that what is shown on the picture here, and I found it better looking. The beer itself looked mahogany in color, clear, and topped with a one finger head. The smell made do a double take, because the strong hop presence was not expected at all. The citric smell was backed with some toffee and chocolate. The taste was quite outstanding due to the amount of things going on. The hops were noticeably bright and floral, while the malt was toasty and sweet. There was a rich smoky backbone, and a lingering buttery aftertaste. Even with all of this flavor density, this was not a big beer, but an easily approached one. A little tinny in texture perhaps, but not much given up there either. Fantastic pick from Windward Beverage Mart in Alpharetta at the recommendation of Paz.

Not really a Christams Beer but very good. Smooth with a malty flavor and hint of caramel, dark color not much head.

Poured a nice transparent black/brown with a generous sudsy tan head which slowly faded to a float of bubbles with nice lace. Smelled of malt, fresh-mown hay and herbs. Tasted wonderfully malty without any cloying sweetness -- all espresso, unsweetened dark chocolare, toast, smoke, and charcoal with hints of caramel, brown sugar, grapefruit and herbs. Not at all fruity. Bitterness was from the dark roast of the malt more than the hops, although there was a nice grapefruit-spruce-juniper berry background. Nice texture -- subtly carbonated and slightly thick.

2002 (bottle): (numbers up) - Deep garnet color, small dense fading head. Rich doughy choclolate and cinnamon aroma. Chocolatey buttery sweet toasty flavor, almost bocklike. Balanced finish. Nice. 2001 tasting (draft): Malty and zingy, with warming cinnamonish notes. Is it spiced? I don’t think so, but its got something unusual going on. I had this at a place that uses nitro to push all their beers, I don’t know if this is also nitrogenated, but it had some dissolved nitro in it and it was extremely creamy, with an almost warm-milk aroma. I don’t know if thats an intended part of the flavor profile, but it was interesting.

This is a very substantial, thick bodied Christmas ale. Deep copper color and long lasting deep off-white head. Aroma is truly warming. Flavor is deeply chocolate malty. Especially notable for this alcohol level are: 1) a strong hop level especially on the side of the palate, and 2) a very sharp, vibrant finish. The alcohol itself is perhaps slightly harsh. I am pleased with this offering, one of the best winter beers out there.

This stuff is differant every year. Two years ago it was BAD. Bitter nutty malt and pine sap. The 2004 is awesome. Mild malt,caramel and a bit of sweetness. Alcohol is well hidden. Very smooth well balanced brew. I loved the first 6 pack so much I bought 2 cases. This more along the lines of a great winter warmer rather than a true x-mas brew. Update. The more I drink this the more I like it. Nothing out there. Just so well balance a tasty.Obviously the 9 I gave was for the style and has Nothing on a St. Bernardus.