Hoppy Hoppy Claus Holiday Ale

Brewed by Hoppy Brewing Company
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Sacramento, California USA

Serve in Lager glass, Shaker, Tumbler

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08-Dec-06 (22 oz bottle: $2.99 at BevMo in La Jolla, CA) Years ago, I began experimenting with adding a bunch of spices to my pancakes and the first time, I went overboard on the nutmeg. The result was a bitter, unpleasant pancake and I tossed the whole batch. Just like those pancakes, the spices in Hoppy Claus have been added with reckless abandon. The grainy malts are moderately sweet and caramely, but are easily overshadowed by the strong spice component and a persistent bitterness from both hops and spices. Bitter spices seem to include an entire crop of ginger, plus nutmeg, clove and possibly cinnamon. Despite the moderate sweetness, the medium-bodied beer is quite dry right through to the long-lasting finish. Medium-high carbonation and enduring bitterness keep the palate lively and crisp, though a bit astringent. Spicy, grainy nose is more enjoyable because you can’t smell astringent bitterness. Copper in color and fairly cloudy initially, despite the lack of sedimentary evidence of bottle conditioning, but when the beer magically clears up over time, the cloudiness is obviously chill haze. Fluffy, light-tan head rises to nearly about half an inch in height before settling back down to a thin, filmy layer. Overall, there’s just too much focus on the spice for this beer to be truly enjoyable or a candidate for repeat purchases.

lots of herbs with a strange funkiness. hops are short and bitter with a spicy assortment

Pours copper and hazy with fluufy off white head, and some spotty lacing. Pumpkin spice aroma. Pumpkin, hops, and nutmeg. clove on the finish

Pours slightly hazy copper color with off white head. Smells like a pumpkin pie with cinnamon and nutmeg and some toasted malts. Similar flavors. Medium body with lively carbonation.

What an incredible different beer. Acquired via trade with Dirty_Martini...I owe you! I have never experienced a beer like this. The aroma was nutmeg and cinnamon....yes you read that right. The pour was a hazy brown with a thin white head with decent lacing. The taste was the same as the aroma with a hoppy bite. Very nice!

22oz bottle 12/31/11 (Binny’s Glen Ellyn)-44° in Lager Glass-Pours a light to medium amber with a small off white covering for a head. Aroma of spices, caramel, and matl. Taste of spices, malt, caramel, and toffee. This medium to full bodiedbrew is well balanced and goes down quite easily. Nice holiday brew.

Bottle. A reddish brown clear color with a foamy off-white head. A spiced (ginger, candy, pepper) hoppy malt aroma that finishes with a vegetable grainy, malt and caramel flavor.

Bottle thanks to bhensonb. Poured amber with an off white head. Aroma was a huge blend of spices and maybe some dark fruits. Flavor was spice, citrus, Orange, pine, and caramel. Body was medium with medium carbonation.

UPDATED: OCT 17, 2008 Bomber from BevMo. Dark amber/copper color with a nice beige head. Spicy aroma, seems to be nutmeg. Spiced and hoppy flavors. Kind of hard to tell where the spice ends and hops begin. Decent brew. Could use a little more balance between the bitterness and malts. Kind of dry. A little more sweetness would be helpful.

Decent sized tan head of varying sized bubbles. Spicy aroma with some ginger and nutmeg, vegetal aromas, some light roasted grains and grass. Color is a dark amber with good clarity. Spicy flavor as one would expect with lots of ginger and cinnamon, earthy vegetable and straw flavors, light roastyness and some tea leaves. Moderate lingering bitterness late swallow with more spices and a somewhat chalky palate. An ok brew that is heavy on the spice. Not something that I would like to drink regularily.