Maritime Pacific Jolly Roger Christmas Ale

Brewed by Maritime Pacific Brewing Co.
Style: English Strong Ale
Seattle, Washington USA

12-oz. Pours a hazy, creamy-looking darkish amber with coppery highlights. Thick, sticky-looking, lacy off-white film across the top. Intensely sweet and gooey-smelling caramel and butterscotch on the nose. Put it all together and what do you have? A grain bill monstrosity for sure. Semi-bold attack; medium body, palpable carb, rather assertive flavors. The mid-palate comes through on the promise of crackers, bread, caramel, and butterscotch that the nose makes, and goes it one better with some old leaves and smoky acridity. The hops really buckle down and cut through the goop with some bittering. Alcohol’s well-hidden. This is a mean little take-no-prisoners Christmas beer, and the ads for this one have historically been the coolest beer ads I’ve seen in print.

Good - could be great. Very rich, strong caramelly malt base. Toffee with hits of raisins and lots, I repeat, LOTS of spices (not heavy, just lots of them). Strong atgringent hop bitterness with a resiny finish. What really keeps this from reaching that next level is the slight metallic essence which is accentuated by the spiciness of the drink. 9% is not overpowering but you definetly notice its presence. Really good regardless.

12oz bottle courtesy of Ibrew2or3. Thanks again, Dave. Rust colored body with a small, lasting off white head atop. When it fades spots of lacing adorn the glass. Nose of various spices, dark fruits, figs, raisins, floral spicy hops and a bit of fusel heat. Flavor contains all of the promised notes, with tons of spice and full of dark fruits and hops, along with burnt malts. Finish is lengthy, a bit of heat, then fading into raisins and plums, malts and some spice. Palate is sticky, medium bodied, very coating. Very nice.

pour is a dark copper with a small creamy light beige head, good lacing. smell is inviting, caramel, malt, spice, brown sugar, touch of hops. taste is a creamy, thick, full of malt, spiced rum, caramel, end is nicely bitter and a little dry. overall a very nice brew.

Pours a murky caramel color with a ruby hue. Couple fingers of cream colored head after an aggressive pour that died slow and leaves sticky sheets of lace. Smells of sherry, fig, plum, molassas, a little spice, very sweet. Big flavors. Sherry type alcohol is predominant with a backbone of caramel, cinnimon, fig and dried plum. Feels full in the mouth with a slightly hoppy finish. Resembles a barleywine. A sipper for sure. A nice treat but probably be even better on a snowy winter day (hence winter warmer)

12oz bottle from Yonkman65, thank you Bruce. Poured dark copper with a little off-white head. Sweet and a little spicy, some dark fruits. Roasty/toasty flavor, some sweet spices and a little hop bitterness, pretty good.

Dark amber color, medium head. Rich roasted malts, slightly hoppy. Rich and full bodied. Smooth taste. Nice flavor. Good hop/malt balance. Mouthfeel is round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is malty, slightly bitter

Thanks to Gregory for this bottle. Nice solid winter beer, even for late March. Nice good mix of spice, malt, hops.