Bristol Christmas Ale

Brewed by Bristol Brewing Company
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Colorado Springs, Colorado USA

Serve in Lager glass, Shaker, Tumbler

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Bottle shared by Irishboy. Pours darkly ruddy with little or no head. Aroma is spicy - but perhaps more towards pumpkin pie than Xmas. Med + body. Flavor is so pie spice. It works, but it’s a rather different Xmas ale. Judged without regard to season, it’s a nice spiced ale.

Bomber poured a clear reddish brown with a small lasting tan head. Aromas of toffee, cinnamon, cardamon, clove and molasses. Palate was medium bodied and smooth. Flavors of molasses, toffee, cinnamon, clove and cardamon with a smooth lingering spiced finish.

Draught at Bristol. Pours a clear tawny with a spare fizzy off-white head, diminishing, with fair lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (cookie, chocolate, toast), heavy hops (herbs, spruce), light yeast (sweat, fresh leather) with notes of alcohol, clove, brown sugar, allspice and corriander. Long duration, moderate sweetness, bitterness and acidity, well balanced, mineral notes, fresh taste with raw hops and spices, creamy malt and caramel roasted nuts, toasty. Medium bodied, creamy texture, average carbonation and bitter finish.

Tasted from a bottle at the Parade of Darks in Denver, Colorado. Dark pale orange appearance that’s mildly clear. Head is very spicy and similar to Anchor Christmas with hints of cinnamon, nutmeg, and especially ginger. Big ginger flavor with the other aforementioned spices with medium malty body. Spicy finish and aftertaste. Pretty good Christmas beer.

Bottle. Head is initially average sized, frothy, brown, mostly diminishing. Body is medium brown. Aroma is lightly malty (cookie), with strong notes of clove, clove, clove, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, etc. Flavor is moderately to heavily sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly to moderately sweet, lightly acidic, moderately bitter, unclean. Medium to full body, watery/syrupy texture, lively/soft carbonation, lightly to moderately alcoholic. This is the definition of "spice bomb" (esp. cloves). While the spice odors are certainly not offensive, it’s about as over-the-top and unbalanced as it gets...it’s almost hard to tell there’s beer underneath it all. Do you like chewing a mouthful of cloves? Me neither.

Bomber - pours a clear amber - nose is full of cardamom, cinnamon, ginger/gingerbread - medium bodied, full carbonation - fairly dry and Biscuity, which is a relief, since the label says it is made with molasses - cardamom is showcased well up front - the tail end is spicy ginger and cinnamon - fairly crisp maltiness throughout - a solid Christmas brew.

Pour out of 22 oz bottle, dark brownish red with white head, aroma brought notes of ginger, cinnamon, slight cardamom, nice caramel, toffee, hints of dark fruits in there, slight molasses. Taste is a mix of sweet caramel, toffee, lots of spice with cinnamon, ginger, clove, some hints of cardamom, more spice notes that muddle a bit, finishing fairly spicy, bitter, slightly dry. Eh, much too over spiced but it is fairly easy to drink.

Bomber from Ratman!!! Nose is pumpkin pie, with all the cardamon, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger even lacking the pumpkin. Cherry brown with a small beige head. Flavor is very spicy with a light bitterness.

Deep mahogany with a clear reddish tint, non-lasting light beige head. Nice winter-y aroma of cinnamon and clove with some nutmeg with a nice sweet plum/raisin maltiness. Flavor was a little light but the taste was at least well thought out. Nice tones of cinnamon and ginger play on a earthy sweet, slightly fruity palate, with some nutmeg toward the finish with a somewhat earthy peat tone. Kinda tastes like a spiced Scotch Ale.

Draft at a local. Pours a minimal, short duration, off white head, over a clear brown (SRM 30) body....nose is cinnamon, lighter clove, cardamom, slight dark roast malt (coffee, chocolate) touch of toffee/caramel......taste is dominated by cinnamon, clove, cardamom, with sensation of toffee/caramel sweetness, minimal hints of chocolate....mouth feel on the light of medium, carbonation low. The spices, although a major aroma and flavor component, were done with a lighter hand than in many others, leading to a more nearly balanced malt and spice combination than in many of this genre. BJCP 7/3/13/4/7