Wychwood Bah Humbug

Bah Humbug! Christmas Ale from the Wychwood Brewery of , Witney, Oxfordshire, England. If ever there was a beer to enjoy reading, or watching A Christmas Carol with, this beer is it! Marketed for the American market in brown pint bottles, this beer has a great label, a picture of Ebenezer Scrooge with flaming candle stick in hand, and Jacob Marley hovering in the background. This Christmas Ale is an English "strong" ale by style, brewed just for the Christmas season, and comes in at 6% abv. It is a wonderful beer to sip and relax with, and one that will surely fill you with Christmas cheer. In fact in the UK, this beer is known as Bah Humbug! Christmas Cheer. Bah Humbug! Christmas Ale pours to a beautiful, bright, deep caramel color with a thick and creamy white head, and a soft carbonation. The nose on this beer is wonderful with lots of good sweet and pale malt aroma, paired with some estery fruit aroma. The palate on this beer is soft and full with good sweet and biscuit malt flavors with a nice under toe of plummy/juicy fruit flavor. Bah Humbug! Christmas Ale finishes with more malt and fruity esters up front, then ends with just enough herbal hop bitterness to balance the malty/fruity flavor of this beer. This is an excellent Christmas Ale, one that would even warm old Ebenezer Scrooge’s heart. I really like the fact that Wychwood put this one in a brown glass bottle, instead of the clear glass you usually see Wychwood beers in. This beer should hold up much better in the brown bottle on the shelf, so look for this one even past the Christmas season. Retailing for $3 a pint bottle, this beer is well worth the price, and is a excellent beer to match with red meats and hearty fare. It is a nice drinking beer as well, and goes great with A Christmas Carol.

Another wonderful English ale, this is a deep red-brown, slightly cloudy, with a big, thick tan head that dissipates slowly to leave a thick foamy top -till the very end. The lacing is thin but sticky and long-lived. The aroma is a rich malty caramel with yeast bread, with a mild earthy sweetness but not toasty. The taste is rich, complex, with yeasty bread, caramel, tang, a mild hoppy bite, and a fruity finish. The flavour is thus tasty, zesty, complex and well-balanced. The palate is not as full or rich as I would prefer,& is lively, but the result is a wonderful, satisfying beer.

This ale is a beautiful coppery amber, generates a decent head. Aroma is strong and malty with a nice nip to it and a hint of spice. Flavor is rich and malty, with spicy sub-tones and just a whisper of molasses. It goes down very smoothly and pleasantly. There is no thinness in the taste or texture - this is a rich winter ale. Besides, you have to love the name!

50cl bottle from Vinmonopolet. It poured a dark amber colour with a medium creamy head. It has a sweet aroma and smells of toasted malts, caramel and cinnamon. The flavour is smooth and spicy and tastes of caramel, cinnamon and dark berries. It has a short aftertaste.

Finally a ’Christmas ale’ that makes you think of Christmas. Wonderful and subtle medley of fruity notes and spicy goodness. Cinnamon is evident without being overwhelming. Festive and fantastic.