Chiltern Glad Tidings

Bottle, from the brewery. Good to look at - pours a dark brown with a fine head. Sweet, malty aroma is toches of spice and fruityness. To taste this is sweet malt, fruit and pleasing spice character that is well in keeping with the rest of the beer. Unlike other Christmas spiced seasonals this one’s spice is fairly subtle and most enjoyable. The best of the Chiltern bottled beers for me.

Bottle conditioned. Deep ruby red brown bordering on black, thin shortlived off white head and low condition. Heavily spiced in the nose with aromas of clove, cinnamon, nutmeg and traces of citric fruit in the background, maybe even a touch of cola. In the mouth it is a little more balanced and stout-like, with the chocolate and spices mixing as well as could be expected. Some dry chocolate powder notes in the finish and low spiciness lingering longest, but with a touch of beefiness right at the end.

Silk Tork and I agreed that this is an odd beast, and a rather disagreeable one. As well as the medicinal spirity notes on the nose, there was an underlying rather sickly aroma that did not appeal at all. It put me in mind of rose water and was floral in a perfumed, rather than hoppy way. All this carried through on to the palate, if slightly more subdued, and leaves an nasty aftertaste. Still, I did manage to finish it, so I can’t be too condemnatory. Cask, Pigs Ear Beer Fest, East London, December 2003. (4/3/5/2/9 = 2.3). RE-RATE: Bottle, June 2006. Far better than the cask version previously sampled, which I can only assume was not right. Plenty of spice in evidence which, on this occasion, meshed well with the Stout elements, although the mouthfeel was quite light.

Gravity fresh @ Pig's Ear Festival, East London. Deep Heat. Wintergreen. A strange aroma - interesting rather than inviting. The aroma repeats on a milder note in the flavour. Not an attractive beer. A flat, spicy and medicinal mild.