Schlafly Christmas Ale

Brewed by Saint Louis Brewery
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Maplewood, Missouri USA

Serve in Lager glass, Shaker, Tumbler

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Date: February 21, 2012 Mode: Bottle Source: Crown Description: Translucent orangish brown pour with some head that faded quickly. Aroma was cinnamon, clove, spice and malt. Taste was pretty similar, but a touch too sweet for me. Little bit of carbonation and light to medium body.

THOUGHTS: Rather sweet and quite orangey. Very Christmasy, but in a non-traditional Christmas beer way. Very nice. Way better than I was expecting. Hid alcohol very well. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a clear, light to medium amber with an average, off-white head that mostly diminished and left fair lacing. The aroma had heavy toasted malt, caramel, honey and orange; slightly herbal and spicy hops; clove; slight pepper and Chrismtasiness. It sort of tasted like orange marmalade on toast with a little spice. The initial flavor was moderate to heavily sweet and lightly acidic; while the finish was moderate to heavily sweet, lightly acidic and slightly bitter with an average duration. There was orange, caramel and toasted malt, more orange, clove and spice, maybe a little pepper, slightly herbal hops and genuine Christmasiness. The slightly more than medium body was a little syrupy and slightly sticky on the lips and then rather dry with fizzy carbonation and a dry and ever so sightly alcoholic finish.

Bottle. Pours an amber color with a white foam head. Has an aroma of caramel, Belgian spice, nutmeg, clove, and earthiness. Sweet caramel taste with nutmeg and clove. Gentle spice and perfect bitter layer. Similar to its pumpkin ale brethren. Tasty.

Bottle. Pours dark amber with tan head. Nose/taste of cinnamon, clove, caramel, nutmeg and sweet malt. Spices seem fresh and authentic. Medium body.

I was dubious looking at this beer. What was a thin filmy head to start with was mostly gone by the time I brought it to my chair. Leaving a fairly still looking, chestnut colored glass. But things improved, slick and slightly syrupy, good malt sweetness and a nice sharp hit of candied orange, clove and cinnamon. dry enough to not be cloying. warming, nice.

Pours a deep orange with a medium sized well retained head that leaves a little bit of lacing on the glass.

The aroma is spicy but not particularly rich or inviting, it smells a lot like raw clove and that’s about it, maybe some sweet floral notes and a dash of fruitiness in there as well. By no means does it smell bad, but it’s pretty straightforward and like I said it’s not especially inviting.

The flavor has lots of nice spice, the clove seems more integrated and less "raw" than in the aroma, the orange peel is nice but not overwhelming, and it doesn’t say there is cinnamon in it but I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some as part of the recipe. The maltiness balances light toastiness and fruitiness well and the bitterness in the beer seems to come as much from the orange peel as the ever-present (but not dominant) flavor the hops provide. This doesn’t come off as a particularly strong beer, I thought the pumpkin ale was boozier than this is.

All together an enjoyable beer.

Someone once told me this is like the pumpkin brew just with a different a label ... No its not. The spice is definitely present in the nose, but something seems a bit subdued in this one. I’ve laid off the Xmas ales this year, so I was expecting to be blown away. It’s merely a meh brew.

12 oz. bottle from Total Wine in Chesapeake, VA. Brownish-orange pour with an off-white head. Cloves and brown sugar are the most distinct aromas. The cloves are well balanced in the flavor but the hops and orange peel are only barely noticeable. The cloves somewhat amplify the alcohol warming as it is felt a bit more than in most 8% beers. Nicely done.

Very nice beer. Not too over the top like some of the spiced beers get. This one had just the right amount of spice to add some aroma and flavor but still allowed the beer to come through.

UPDATED: JAN 31, 2012 Pours clear amber. Aroma of cloves cinnamon nutmeg, oranges and bread. Flavor is malty, oranges, nutmeg, also nutty flavor maybe pecan. Reminds me of fruit cake flavors. Creamy palate feel. Overall very drinkable and enjoyable