Dundee Festive Ale

Bottle... Hazy, dark, orange ale with a small, frothy, khaki-colored head. Good retention. The soapy, spicy aroma is a union of ripe apple, ginger snaps, dark bread and lactic acid. Full-bodied with a whole-milk mouthfeel and frisky carbonation. Malty-sweet flavor with gobs of caramel and traces of chocolate. Decent bitterness, but still leans toward the sweet side of balance while offering a suggestion of ginger bread. Mid-length, crisp, moderately bitter finish. Bottle courtesy of cheapdark!

Bottle. Head is initially small, frothy, light brown, mostly diminishing. Body is clear dark amber. Aroma is lightly malty (cookie, grain/husks, caramel), with light notes of allspice and pumpkin. Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly sweet, moderately bitter, unclean. Light to medium body, watery texture, lively carbonation. It’s got an acceptable if simple aroma, but the poor aftertaste and flimsy mouthfeel ruin any hope it had of being drinkable.

Whoa Nelly let me tell ya bout tis beer, which surpirsed me by about 5 tenths of a point. The label is great. The pour is medium brown with a 2-finger off-white head. The aroma is caramel malt, brown sugar, maple syrup, oats, cinnamon. smooth and crisp and rather complex palate. This one is a keeper.

Dark mahogany body with a nice khaki head on top. The aroma has some light notes of cinnamon and anise. There is also a little bit of iced tea and apple cider. The taste is like sweetened iced tea with a little bit of added cinnamon and anise. There is also some spicy clove in the finish. A spice driven beer if I’ve ever had one. I would guess that the base beer is like a super bland, nondescript amber.

Bottle from Kroger. Poured clear ruby color with an average creamy off-white head that diminished slowly with minimal lacing. Average spice and malt aroma. Medium body with a thin texture. Moderate sweet spice flavor with a medium sweet finish of short duration.