3.3 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 13/20 BillKismet (2760) - Seattle, USA - JAN 26, 2008
Deep amber, nearly red hue, well-carbonated, crisp head. Served too chilled at the bar I was at so it took time for characteristics to unwind. Mildy hoppy and malty. I do not usually care for the hoppy winter ales, but this is well done. Some candi and brown sugar notes mixed with hop bitterness. Hop flavor does not develop too much.
3.2 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 12/20 Drake (5232) - Charlottesville, Virginia, USA - MAY 1, 2012
Bottle from a Total Wine somewhere in Virginia. Pours a clear dark rust color with a medium sized creamy dark tan head. Good head retention. Aroma of toasted malts, caramel, nuts and a spicy finish. the taste is tart fruits, cherries, spice, faint toasted malts and a bitter hop finish. Medium bodied.
3.2 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20 burg326 (1113) - Florida, USA - MAR 31, 2012
22 ounce bottle that poured a brown color, aromas of roasted malt, spice, nuts, wood, and some citrus hops. Flavors are some spices, nuts, earth, wood, and roasted malt.
2.5 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 9/20 jgb9348 (3496) - Arlington (Pentagon City), Virginia, USA - MAR 11, 2012
Nice crisp old, lightish copper coloured body with an orange glow and a nice sized, two centimetre tall tan head. Aroma of bright hops, alcohol, coriander seed and a nice metallic note with some earthy bite. Medium-bodied; Strong hoppy note at first then fades to a orange and citrus flavour followed by a metallic punch and then finished by a bitter earthy and super pungent nutty flavour. Aftertaste is very rich and potent and way too bittering with not much other good flavour - just strong and way too potent. Overall, an interesting beer that’s fairly complex, but a lot of the flavours are way too strong and not in a good way. I sampled this 65 cL bottle purchased from Total Wine in Manassas, Virginia on 19-January-2012 for US$2.99 sampled at home in Washington on 11-March-2012.
2.7 AROMA 5/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 10/20 kp (10404) - Woodstock, Georgia, USA - FEB 25, 2012
Name: Ho! Ho! Ho!
Date: December 07, 2011
Mode: Bottle
Source: Total Wine, Vegas
Appearance: hazy dark amber, creamy beige head, icy lace
Aroma: sweet earthy caramel aroma, dry spicyness
Flavor: lightly sweet caramel flavor, dry earthy spices, light bitterness
Overall: yet another spiced winter warmer
Aroma: 5/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 5/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 10/20
Rating: 2.7/5.0 Drinkability: 6/10
Score: ** /4
2.4 AROMA 4/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 10/20 unclemattie (3352) - Georgia, USA - FEB 22, 2012
UPDATED: FEB 23, 2012 22oz bottle. Brown color, thin white head. Aroma of roasted malt syrup. Spice and citrus hops. Tastes is tart (slight infection), holiday spices, toasted malt, dark syrup extract, and wood. Not spectacular in any way. Just a tick. (3253)
3.5 AROMA 5/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20 MrPickles (373) - Waunakee, Wisconsin, USA - FEB 16, 2012
Bottle shared from Greg, thanks! Lots of nutty aroma and flavors. Solid.
3.1 AROMA 5/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 13/20 madvike (1477) - Middleton, Wisconsin, USA - FEB 16, 2012
Bottle shared by nuplastikk...thanks Greg! - Pours chestnut brown with a thin foamy tan head. Light fruity, nutty nose, but not pungent at all. Real nutty taste with some chocolatey notes and a bit of light herbal hoppiness. Kind of powdery cocoa as well, real dry. Nice carbonation and and medium body.
4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20 nuplastikk (2615) - Madison, Wisconsin, USA - FEB 16, 2012
22oz bomber from Elise split at Madison tasting. Unfiltered brown ale, nice steady west coast hop depth. Smooth malt tones, stikcy green tinged brown chocolate. Like a nut brown in a lot of respects, this is a pretty solid offering. Some cookie dough in the finish. Well balanced, well done
3 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 12/20 deyholla (3528) - Waukesha, Wisconsin, USA - FEB 16, 2012
Bottle shared by someone at Madison tasting. Pours a clear brown with a gray head that dissipates nearly completely. Aroma has a decent amount of sweet grain with some backing earthy grains and must. Flavor has lots of earthy grains with a bit of sweet grains and a light chocolate note.
3.6 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20 glennmastrange (1638) - hobe sound, Florida, USA - FEB 10, 2012
Bottle. Moderate grain and roasted for the malt, light to moderate perfume and citrus for the hops, musty for the yeast, with candy sugar, coconut, fruit wine and faint vinegar in the background. Head is average size, frothy turning creamy, off-white with excellent lacing, and is mostly diminishing. Color is slightly hazy copper. Flavor starts slightly sweet, lightly acidic and faintly sour, then finishes lightly acidic and lightly to moderately bitter. Palate is medium, slightly creamy and has a soft carbonation and a lightly astringent finish. A bit of Belgian flair in this Spiced Beer. It has both qualities of a savory English Strong Ale and a refreshing Belgian Ale.
|