Harveys Christmas Ale (Cask)

Brewed by Harveys
Style: Barley Wine
Lewes, England

From cask at Charlies Bar, CPH. Fruity, malty and light spicy aroma. Warming light alcoholic flavour with caramel, spices, sweetness and hoppy notes. Very nice.

Cask-conditioned at the Royal Oak, London SE1. Reddish-brown in colour with a slight, off-white head. Sweet aroma of caramel, earthy hops, wood and spice. Flavour of barley sugar, red fruits, oak, the house yeast and spice, with a hoppu, dry finish. A great beer on a cold day.

Cask @ Charlies Bar, Cph.
Pours lightly hazy red-brown with little off-white bubbles on the surface. Aroma is sweet, caramel, toffee, vanilla, Christmas Pudding, lightly vinious, prunes. Low, but lively carbonation, lovely oily mouthfeel. Flavour is rather swee, herbal, some holly, vanilla, light oak, walnuts, prunes, raisins, strawberries. Softly vinious. Lovely that! Good balance between the sweet and the bitter - light chocolate dryness in the finish. Lovely!

Cask at Charlie’s Pub, Copenhagen
Dark amber to brown color, hazy; a few lonely bubbles on the surface. The aroma is mild, vinous. It has a good body structure, very rich caramel flavor and malt, quite sweet, with a light woody astringency, light wine sourness that brings also a light fruitness; if possible, in the end there are some very light spices. The bitterness is quite high; the alcohol is present only as mouth warmer. Lovely.

Cask @ The Wharf, Aalborg. Pours a golden reddish colour with a small off-white head. Complex aroma; sweet with notes of yeast and blackberries (or is it blackcurrants) – like the black english wine gums. Also a tad perfumy, but not much. Complex flavour as well; sweet, dusty, tart and with yeast and candy notes. Sweet finish, a bit of alcohol, a dry bitterness and tart notes – like a mix of red wine and port. A distinct difference between the initial flavour and the finish. A bit cloying., but otherwise nice. 27-11-09.

Cask at Charlie’s Bar, Copenhagen. A chestnut brown beer with a thin light tan head. The aroma has notes malt, caramel, as well as lighter notes of notes and spices. The flavor is sweet with strong notes of malt, caramel, hops, alcohol, and very ripe berries, leading to a bitter and alcoholic finish.

From cask at Charlies. Pours hazy dark orange with no head, golden glare. Light spiced and roasted malty aroma. Sweet malty and overripe fruity flavoured. Velvet mouthfeel. Sweet lingering malt flavoured and slight spiced flavoured. Sweet overripe fruity lingering sweet flavoured into the finish. Lovely.

Handbottled @ Chriso’s pre GBBF Shindig ’09.
Clear medium brown color with a average to large, frothy, good lacing, mostly lasting, off-white head. Aroma is moderate malty, roasted, caramel, light to moderate hoppy. Flavor is moderate sweet and bitter with a average to long duration. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft. [20090801]