12 oz single.

Labeled as a brown ale, at first this doesn’t make much sense. With the Christmas theme fairly obvious from the labeling and name, the beer has a hoppier approach than I was expecting/hoping. I was hoping for a more spice based, malt bomb that would be a little more in keeping with the presentation. Of course on further thought, it becomes more obvious that an American Brown Ale would be more likely to deliver a hop note of this kind.

Interesting beer as the malt and caramel seem to constantly compete with a hooper side. I find myself craving more presence from the malt, and in the end I feel little dissatisfied.

The beer drinks every bit of its 7.7% aBAV, and to be honest it gets a little aggressive at the end of the 12 oz.

I dunno, I think that I thought that I was getting something else here, and as a result I was a touch confused. It’s a bit muddled for me, with no clear definition coming out in the end. I was hoping that this might have been a replacement for Old Fezziwig but alas, it’s not.

Bottled On 14 Oct 14, fresh for 180 days, 50 IBU.