Type of Beer: Spiced Ale
Alcohol Content: 5-6%
Beer Review -
Appearance: Pours an attractive red amber with little carbonation,great clarity and a nice two finger light tan colored head. Excellent lacing and head lasted entire beer.
Smell: Clean hop smell with some holiday spices (cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg), fruits and a soft malty sweetness.
Initial Taste: Very clean refreshing beer. There is no mistaking this is a spiced ale yet has the characteristics of a nut brown ale as well. The the dominant flavors are spicy hops followed by sweet malts and spices with a very nice nutty aftertaste.
Thoughts: Abita is known for great seasonal brews and this is no exception. This is what a Winter/Christmas brew should taste like. Very easy to drink with a great balance between the sweet and spices. There are notes of all the spices one would come to expect from a holiday brew of this type – nutmeg, cardamon, cinnamon and cloves. These spices are balanced perfectly with the sweet malts and nutty finish. There is lots of flavor yet soft enough to be a session beer. Highly recommend.
*You may notice there is a year (2009) in the title of this beer. This is because the recipe for this very special ale is different every year.
Type of Beer: Spiced Ale
Alcohol Content: 5.90%
Beer Review -
Appearance: This winter ale pours a rich chestnut color with a one finger thick light tan head. The head lasted OK and left little to no lacing.
Smell: I can sum this up in one word; Christmas. As strange as it may sound this beer reminded us of the Christmas season. Mainly it smells like gingerbread, nutmeg and cinnamon. Quite spicy yet really alluring. They hit the nail on the head with the bouquet of this one.
Initial Taste: Well those spices we smelled definitely carry over into the flavor of this beer. The cinnamon spiciness is almost overwhelming…quite disappointing. Once you wade through the spices you find a little bit of sweetness from the malts and a hint of nutmeg. The beer ends with a soft hoppy bite and some alcohol flavors.
Thoughts: This would be one of my favorite winter craft ales if it wasn’t for the taste-bud numbing cinnamon. If you look at some of the other reviews of this beer online you will notice there are quite a lot negative reviews due the overwhelming spices. Harpoon used to use traditional spices in this beer but due to the complaints of too much sediment in the bottle Harpoon switched to liquid spices. Other brewers do not like to use liquid spices do their nature to be overly strong. Sadly the addition of liquid spices to this particular beer make the smell nothing short of fantastic but pollutes the balance of this beer making it much too spicy. However, if cinnamon and nutmeg are two of your favorite things…then it’s possible this may become one of your favorite seasonal brews.
Type of Beer: Spiced Ale
Alcohol Content: 5.5%
Beer Review -
Appearance: Pours a deep, dark red mahogany. Coffee colored one-finger head that slowly relaxed into some of the nicest lacing I’ve seen on a seasonal beer.
Smell: Awesome. Smells like a Christmas dessert. Starts off with spearmint, nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves. This is followed by a delicious sweet chocolate malt scent that screams drink me!
Initial Taste: Full bodied, rich, spicy, hoppy, malty beer. Delicious. There is a definite taste of mint in this beer. Possibly spearmint. It combines very well with the chocolate, almost making it taste like mint chocolate. The spicy flavors of the cinnamon, nutmeg and hops are mixed beautifully with the sweet chocolaty malts that round out the ale.
Thoughts: This being my first beer seasonal beer from this popular craft brewery I have to say it didn’t disappoint. In fact this particular beer quickly become my favorite Christmas beer this winter. The spices are blended to perfection. Out of all the other winter/Christmas style beers we’ve tried we have yet to find another that uses hints of mint. This not only sets this beer apart but brings the flavor to a whole new level. Sadly I did not get the opportunity to try last year’s brew but I’m hoping they don’t change the recipe too much for next year. If you like Christmas beers and haven’t tried this beer, run as quickly as you can to your local beer store and grab a couple of these beauties. I will warn you however, falling in love with this beer can be a heart breaker as it’s only out once a year and it’s possible next year’s batch will not taste the same. So Merry Christmas and enjoy as much of this beer while it’s around. Cheers!
*You may notice there is a year (2009) in the title of this beer. This is because the recipe for this very special ale is different every year.
