Christmas Ale
Begyle Brewing in Chicago, Illinois, United States 🇺🇸
Other Regular|
Score
6.92
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mcberko (47456) reviewed Christmas Ale from Begyle Brewing 1 year ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5.5
On tap at Begyle, pours a clear dark amber burgundy with a small beige head. Aroma has gentle cinnamon, a little nutmeg and toasted bready malt. Flavour is spicy upfront, with lots of cinnamon and a gentle floral character underneath. There�s not much else besides the cinnamon. Simple but pleasant.
trapped (8300) reviewed Christmas Ale from Begyle Brewing 2 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Can, from Trader Joe's, Chicago (Nov 2023). Pours clear dark amber-red with a small foamy beige head, caramel-grassy aroma, high carbonation, medium bitter caramel-cinnamon taste, thin smooth body, long medium bitter cinnamon-caramel finish. It's difficult to get any bay leaves flavor, but a nice winter beer.
WingmanWillis (38284) ticked Christmas Ale from Begyle Brewing 2 years ago
andyhwcinc (2108) reviewed Christmas Ale from Begyle Brewing 4 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Enjoyed at home on Christmas day, how fitting! One of the better holiday ales I've had, nails the spice / cinnamon profile nicely, lightly sweet with rich malt profile in the back end, surprisingly sessionable. Will probably go back to this one when the holidays roll around in the future.
superspak (10160) reviewed Christmas Ale from Begyle Brewing 8 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
22 ounce bottle into tulip glass, 2017 vintage bottling. Pours lightly hazy very dark brown color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense light khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of big caramel, brown sugar, toffee, cinnamon, bay leaf, brown bread, toasted biscuit, and nuttiness; with lighter notes of chocolate, cocoa, coffee, dark fruit, herbal, pepper, and roast/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/bready/light roast malts, spices, and light earthy hop notes; with great strength. Taste of big caramel, brown sugar, toffee, cinnamon, bay leaf, brown bread, toasted biscuit, and nuttiness; with lighter notes of chocolate, cocoa, coffee, dark fruit, herbal, pepper, and roast/toasted earthiness. Mild herbal, spice, and roast bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of caramel, brown sugar, toffee, cinnamon, bay leaf, brown bread, toasted biscuit, nuttiness, chocolate, cocoa, herbal, pepper, and roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Great complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready/light roast malts, spices, and light earthy hop flavors; with a great malt/bitter/spiciness balance, and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Slightly increasing dryness from bitter/spiciness. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body; with a very smooth, creamy/bready/silky, and slightly sticky/chalky mouthfeel that is great. Zero warming alcohol for 7%. Overall this is an excellent winter warmer. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready/light roast malts, spices, and light earthy hop flavors; very smooth and easy to drink with the very mild bitter/spicy finish. For an American style this was spot on, imperial red/brown base beer. Very rich English malt complexity and pleasant spice presence that isn't overdone. Clean American yeast with mild malt fruitiness. A very enjoyable offering.
CLW (16859) reviewed Christmas Ale from Begyle Brewing 8 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
Sample snifter at the source. Brown in color, some foamy head.Aroma and flavor mirror each other. Nutty malt, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Body is on the lighter side of medium. Nothing wrong with this just a very simple style and not really my type of brew.
McDermottDrink (4593) reviewed Christmas Ale from Begyle Brewing 9 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
22 oz. bomber sent for review. I get a light spicy smell after popping the cap. Not so much cinnamon, more of a general spice, a bit more prominent than in an Anchor Our Special. The color is a ruby red to brown, with a thin layer of foam that persists after several minutes. The taste is rather smooth. There’s kind of an English Old Ale base, but not very alcoholic at first. A lot of malt backs the spice up. Would not know much about the bay leaf: that’s the thing we have to take out after cooking with it. But it is a nice Christmas spice ale, only slightly similar to pumpkin pie spice. I also get a side note of red wine at the sides of my mouth. This is very much a beer for this holiday season, as I suspect it might get a phenolic edge if it ages too long, the bane of malty beers. So buy enough for this year, and open it along with your main course.