Cigar City Christmas in Ningxia Old Ale

Brewed by Cigar City Brewing
Style: Old Ale
Tampa, Florida USA

Serve in English pint, Snifter

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Date: December 29, 2009
Mode: Growler
Source: Tasting
Appearance: hazy brown, wispy off white head
Aroma: sweet caramel and chocolate aroma, lots of spicyness, nice touch of wood
Flavor: sweet spiced chocolate flavor, caramel sweetness, light sicyness, touch of wood
Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 14/20
Rating: 3.4/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **+ /4

CItrusy, spicy, sweet, strange but satisfying. I really had trouble pegging down just what was going on in this beer.

Growler from CCB. Pours a dark brown with orange and reddish highlights and thin white foamy head that laces the glass. Aroma is sweet and malty with notes of chocolate, light spice, booze, caramel, toffee, coriander, fruity sweetness, brown sugar. Flavor is very similar with notes of spice, chocolate, toffee, caramel, molasses and brown sugar with a slight bit of hop presence and floral esters. Medium body with a chocolaty, pleasantly boozy finish. Nice ale.

Growler… Hazy burnt-orange ale with a small, creamy, off-white head. Good retention. The aroma is malty and spicy – praline, fig and coriander. Full-bodied with an oily mouthfeel and lazy carbonation. Flavor-wise, the highlights are chocolate, tobacco, vanilla, toffee and a whisper of acidity. Lengthy, bittersweet finish.

Pours a real nice brown with red/purple highlights. Nose is sweet dark fruits, big cherry notes, sweet toffee, hints of smoke and mild roast, vanilla, plum and pear. Flavor is rich roast, sweet dark cherries, sweet plum, fresh vanilla bean, subtle hints of chocolate and mild spice. Awesome!

Growler, courtesy GoT. We drank this one while tailgating at the St. Pete Bowl. The pour yields a dark, muddy brown colored body with a small head of dense tan froth. Skinny, jagged flares of lacing mark the glass. The aroma shows a darkly toasted toffee malt base, with notes of roasted cocoa, fig, and sharp, earthen berries. There’s a touch of bitter spicing in there, intensifying the already potent citrus-pine hop element. Flavors follow suit, bouncing back and forth between the bitter elements of coriander, orange peel, and pine resin, and the malty side, which includes toffee, caramel, cocoa, and a bevy of dark fruits. The berry note is there, tipping the scales towards the sweeter side of things. The palate is big, thick, and sticky, with lower carbonation levels and a warm, lingering fruity finish. Interesting stuff, but I definitely prefer the base beer over this version.