Trafalgar Celebration Ale

Bottle: Poured a deep burgundy color ale with a nice foamy head with average retention. Aroma of sweet malt with dry cranberry. Taste is a nice balance between sweet malt with a nice mix of fruit which may include dried cranberry, orange peel and nice mix of spices. Body is slightly thin with some adequate carbonation. It is my first beer from this brewery but I have to admit that I am quite impressed.

Dark, dark brown, no make that red. Very thin head that fades quick. Smoky caramel and spice scent. Very thick complex taste. Mostly licorice in the aftertaste, but warm nuts, honey, and smoked (bacon) before. Some rich spice in the front. A rather nice complex taste. No hint of the high alc content. Would have prefered less licorice myself, but still rather nice. Frighteningly l just picked this up, in August, and it lists a best before of May. Somehow seems to have lasted.

Dark ruby color, some head and lace. Big, enjoyable aroma of grape/orange and some hops. Light hoppy and candyish fruit flavors. Good carbo. A little bit timid and watery, but a nice beer with plenty of stuff happening.

Strange fizzy carbonations, just like pouring a bottle of pop. Falls back to nothing. Slightly cloudy brown beer with a ruby tint. Plums and candi sugar jump out of the glass. There is also some sweet nuttiness, and coriander and clove spiciness. Flavour is similar to aroma, coriander and spice on the front, followed by dark fruit, and finishing with some faint nuttiness and the slightest suggestion of bitterness rounding it all out. A fairly complex beer that is both interesting and quite good.

About 6 months later, this beer has not held up well at all. Same weird collapsing head. Diacetyl jumps out of the glass, some thin acetic aromas, dried fruit, vineous, the toasted malts are still there but are muted underneath all of the faults. This is also souring quite a bit. Maybe an infection issue. Not sure if it’s the fault of the brewer, so I’m going to leave the rating as is. Too bad, a malty beer like this one should have improved a bit.

Bottle courtesy of and shared with blankboy. Dark brown pour, small white head - it was huge but faded instantly. Spicy, orange peel, yeast aroma. Nice malty taste - impressive given my now lower expectations from this brewery. Roasted lingering aftertaste. A little watery. Lots of burn caramel hints as well. If it were not a little watery, this would be one of the best Ontario beers available. As is, it is easily Trafalgar’s best offering and I congratulate them on their achievements with this one.