Refrigerated bottle poured into a glass. Aroma is spruce, color is tranlucent amber, and pours with a medium off-white head. A little lacing, medium body, and lively carbonation. Taste some roasted malt and finished bitter spruce. More like an IPA than an american amber, not that great.

12oz bottle thanks to Uly
Appearance: Pours amber with a medium sized frothy off- white head and a good amount of lacing
Aroma: Pine, grapefruit and biscuity
Taste: Malty, grapefruit and pine resin
A nice Amber

Bottle. Pours clear reddish brown. Nose and taste of caramel malts, hops and yeast. Fairly light body.

Bottle. Cloudy dark orange, creamy golden head. Resiny hop aroma stacked on caramel malt. Medium body, sparkly mouthfeel. Light smoky and berrylike notes, caramel, fitting hop balance. Quite pleasant.

A hoppy red ale with a taste that runs more toward the bitter than the rich. The taste is underwhelming and somewhat bitter without enough of the favorable characteristics of hops. It’s not without positive aspects, though. For one thing, it’s a great looking beer. It has a spot-on color for an amber ale and a huge white-amber head. The nose is malty and sweet. There are a fair amount of hops. They mostly come through with bitterness, which is rather unbalanced with an understated caramel malt. The mouthfeel is somewhat watery. As a somewhat watery and unbalancedly bitter beer, it’s not the most drinkable brew in the world. The lack of spice and underwhelming flavor really hurt my enjoyment of this beer. I’m trying to evaluate it merely as an amber ale but Santa is right on the bottle. It needs some nutmeg, desperately. At least, a bit of cinnamon. I mean, why would Santa keep a private reserve of over-hopped amber ale? I need a ginger cookie.

Bomber into English pint. HO! HO! HO! Christmas in May, gotta love it. Aroma is grapefruity hops, cheddar cheese. Pours a brilliant clear reddish amber, slightly hazy; has a medium head with good retention and killer lace that sticks to the top of the pour line for the entire beer. Taste is bitter with very little in the way of sweetness. How un-Santalike. Taste is coppery, like Rudolph’s blood. Mouthfeel is creamy and highly carbonated with a nice aftertaste. I think it’s a great Christmasy beer, and I think it’s one that my kids should leave Mr. Claus in place of those crappy cookies and milk I choke down every year. HO! HO! HO!

Pours ruby with a large persistent head leaving loads of lacing. Beautiful.Nose shows lots of hops as expected, with resinous pine and citrus notes. Malt plays a big part as well, with loads of caramel and some toasty notes.Very similar flavours, with the toasty caramelised malt definitely taking centre stage. Still, there’s a fair bit of hops, with grapefruit and piney resin.Very creamy and slick, lovely.

Location: 12 oz bottle from Gilly's, 11/15/09

Aroma: Aroma is earthy hops, pine, caramel, a bit of citrus, and some spice as well
Appearance: Pours a nice, mostly clear, dark red color with a frothy beige head and spotty lace
Flavor: The taste has a nice earthy hop flavor with just enough caramel and spice malts for balance
Palate: A meduim body and a nice, smooth mouthfeel makes this a particularly easy drinking brew
Overall Impression: This is a nice smooth, hoppy amber with enough malts to give it balance. It is fairly simple, but the simplicity is well executed and enjoyable. A nicely made beer that fits this season pretty well.

22 fl oz bottle. Pours hazy dark orange with a small yellow and collapsing head. Aroma is mild spiced, roasted malt and light hoppy. Semi sweet fruity and roasted malt flavoured with a light spice note on the back of the tongue. Light roasted caramelish finish, subdued bitterness.

Clear amber with large beige head. Sweet aroma with roasted malt, caramel and hops. Citric hops in the flavour followed up roasted malt and caramel notes. Bitter finish.