Harvey’s Christmas Ale pours to a beautiful, bright, tawny brown color, with no head formation, and a very soft to almost no carbonation. The nose is the first thing that jumps out at you. Very fragrant spicy/vinous aromas pair with malty/bready aroma and alcohol heat. The palate on this beer is truly joyful. Rich and buttery, the mouth feel on this beer is slick and oily as it slides down the throat. There is a lot going on in this beer. Flavors of sweet malt, raisin, currants, plum, toffee, treacle, a touch of spice, and hints of vanilla coat the tongue. Harvey’s Christmas Ale finishes with more complex malty/spicy flavors up front, then ends with a wonderful, soothing, warming burn. This beer is 8.1% abv, so this is a beer that would even warm Ebenezer Scrooge’s heart. Stick a stake of holly in this beer, this is Christmas pudding in a glass. Marketed in 9.3 oz brown bottles retailing for $3, with a picture of Santa Claus on the label, this beer brings real Christmas cheer. Its safe to say, I will be going to get some more, and if you can find Harvey’s Christmas Ale in your market, you should buy some too. I would not dare match this beer with anything. Enjoy this beer solo, slowly sipping and savoring it. I enjoyed this beer while reading a few staves of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, and it really put me even more into the Christmas spirit. Merry Christmas from Merry Olde England.

Bottle from the cave, BBF may 08. I popped this not expecting much, but thought it would be a nice nite cap. My god what a beer. Aroma is packed with rich toffee malt, packed with a balancing hop resin. The taste is a similar beauty, soo full soo drinkable. Its just the perfect balance between the british hardcore malty barley wine and the american hop resin based barley wine. Mind blowing. Im going to get another case of this straight after i finish uni, even if it means exstending my overdraft.

2001: Musty, cherry, wood, pepper, tobacco, and vinous aroma. Quite impressive. First sip took me by surprise with such a soft mouthfeel and slight carbo. Very subtle oxidation. Some sort of candied fruit; could it be raisins? Round, soft, and juicy. Supplies a tinny tinge on my tongue. Dominant lingering cedar/evergreen aftretaste. Hops are more noticeable in the finish at room temperature. Also a dry finish. This is a world-class English beer. Indeed, Sherry fans would enjoy thoroughly. Old ale/Barleywine/Strong ale? This defies classification.

2003 Another huge UK Christmas beer. The English do these right, much better than we do in the US. Our Christmas beers are generally overhopped and unimaginative. This one may be heavily hopped, but they are perfectly balanced by malt. This one is good, it is rich, dark, thick, and plummy like a Christmas plum pudding. I can taste the breeding in this brew.

Very pleasant and enjoyable beer. Dark mahoghany in color. Lasting white head. Malty and fruity. Good beer.