Diamond Knot Ho!Ho! Winter

Brewed by Diamond Knot Brewery
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Mukilteo, Washington USA

Serve in Lager glass, Tumbler

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Had this about two years ago. Very fortunate it was just put on tap during my visit to the area. Pours a beautiful clear dark amber with tan head and nice lacing. The aroma is light and brings forth sweet malts, roasted malts, sweet dark fruitiness and more roasted malt sweetness. Wow, the taste is very inviting forcing another sip. It is mostly moderately roasted malts mixed with some caramel, sweet black grapes, plums and a hint of sweet raisins. The malts combine with a breadiness about midway and slowly fade into the finish. I get mild burnt malts, roasty malts and some chocolate malts as the finish approaches where they’re met by some dark fruitiness that edges out the other notes for flavor supremacy. Throughout the taste experience is an under current of grapefruit bitterness that grows to a moderate state into the finish and seems to peak during the after taste where it is joined by roasty and chocolate malts.

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.

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.

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.

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

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)

Bottle shared from Greg, thanks! Lots of nutty aroma and flavors. Solid.

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.

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

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.

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.