Stone/Nøgne Ø/Jolly Pumpkin Special Holiday Ale

Brewed by Stone Brewing Co.
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Escondido, California USA

Honey golden with a little bit of a head on it. Powerful juniper notes are first noticed as well as a cloved spice hint. Some herby, almost ginger-ish aromas mingling with citrus and green apple smells. Fairly sparkly body with a more subdued spice profile and a touch sweeter and must to taste, barnyard, a little funk. Pretty solid and going in a lot of different directions for sure. Pretty potent as well.

Really suprised at how much this smelled like my recent pumpkin beer, which I had heaping amounts of pumpkin pie spice and nutmeg. Off the original pour, lots of clove and nutmeg. Beautiful, beautiful pour....viscuous, mahogany brown..huge 3" head in my Maudite glass. I could only pour about half and the rest was taken by the head. Stunning lacing clinging to the glass. After it warms up, spruce tips, some Southern Comfort, the caraway seed, fruit cake spices, and some sweet licorice. Crazy insane aroma, that seems all over yet together. Flavor has some nice toasted malts, gingery, medium piney-bitterness (chewing on needles), spiced earth, and rye. This beer was gone before I knew it. Very well done and very enjoyable.

Dark brownish ruby color with a medium-sized dense pale beige head. Some lacings. Lots of big aromas. The spices, sage etc that they used in this brew are really prominent. Sweet caramel, wood chips, juniper twigs, holiday spices and a honey-like note. The taste is very sweet and malty with a powerful musty spicy character. I get the same note of honey as in the smell. Fudge, cola, a quick hint of leafy hops and a herbal freshness. The finish has a nice herbal bitterness to it, lingering sweetness and a sudden punch of warming alcohol. There’s a lingering spicy note (probably a combination of caraway and sage) that isn’t too pleasant. Full bodied and very smooth. Medium carbonation. Very easy to drink. First of all, I had kind of a hard time to review this one. It’s not the ordinary set of flavors and it got me quite puzzled. Anyhow, a good and very interesting beer, but not great. It’s slightly too sweet and the spices in the finish get a little overpowering. But still, an interesting beer worth a try. Serving type: bottle (Copy of old Beer Advocate review)

12 oz bottle.Brewed october 2008. Pours brown/dark amber with a small off-white head.Aroma of dark malt, spices. Taste of dark roasted malts, liquorice and junipher. Stong bitter punch towards the end.

Tasted 11/12/09. 12oz bottle. Hazy and brackish with a brown hue. Khaki ring of head. Aromas of juniper and a touch clove. Medium bodied with a lot of dark esters. Thick, tart and dry palate. Mellow smooth with caramel and toffee notes. Good holiday spices.

Dark brown. Tan carbonation. Rich and spicy winter brew. Drinks like a barleywine at this point- big malty body and resinous hops and spices. Full body, balanced carbonation. Nice after dinner brew.

12oz bottle from last year. Lovely little dark rosey brown pour with a smallish off-white head. Aroma was muted initially, but blossomed to the lovely scent of a late harvest herb garden out the back of a bakery. Flavor profile expanded upon this with a bit of spice but mostly some caramel and fruit cake. Finish was by far the best part with an off-dry, caraway mouth coating. Quite lovely!