Festivus Ale
Market Garden Brewery in Cleveland, Ohio, United States 🇺🇸
Spiced / Herbed / Vegetable / Honey - Spiced Regular|
Score
6.60
|
|
Sign up to add a tick or review
3.2/10
—
Appearance 4
Aroma 6
Flavor 2
Texture 4
Overall 1
Clear amber. Smells plenty of spices. Yes, even before I drink it, I'm alarmed. Taste is as expected, heavy on the spices, so much so you may not even be able to tell its a beer, except but maybe perhaps for the warming sensation that follows each slug down the gullet. Difficult downer, negative nellie, holiday hozer. Way to much personality for this lager lover. Oh well, its another dizzying tick. Medicinal finish. Not this one again. What's up with these overly spiced holiday brews? Who could luv these bastards?
Tried
on 18 Jan 2020
at 21:29
8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
12 ounce bottle into tulip glass, best before 1/29/2018. Pours lightly hazy/cloudy golden amber/light orange color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and rocky off white head with good retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of big cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, clove, honey, brown sugar, toasted biscuit, herbal, floral, and grass; with lighter notes of caramel, golden raisin, pear, red apple, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of spices, brown sugar, bready malt, and light fruity yeast notes; with great strength. Taste of big cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, clove, honey, brown sugar, toasted biscuit, herbal, floral, and grass; with lighter notes of caramel, golden raisin, pear, red apple, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Light-moderate herbal/spice bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, clove, honey, brown sugar, toasted biscuit, herbal, floral, grass, golden raisin, pear, red apple, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Great complexity, robustness, and balance of spices, brown sugar, bready malt, and light fruity yeast flavors; with a great malt/bitter/spiciness balance, and zero cloying/astringent flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from bitter/spiciness. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth and moderately bready/grainy/sticky balanced mouthfeel that is great. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 7.5%. Overall this is an excellent winter warmer. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of spices, brown sugar, bready malt, and light fruity yeast flavors; very smooth and easy to drink with the mellowly bitter/spicy finish. Nearly identical to the other popular Xmas ales from Ohio. Perfectly balanced bready malts/spices, with some mild complementing English yeast fruitiness. A very enjoyable offering, and spot on style example.
Tried
from Bottle
on 16 Dec 2017
at 17:16
7.1/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
On draught at Old Skool. The beer is a dark amber color with a thin off-white head that diminishes quickly to an outer ring. Short strings of lacing. Aroma of malt, spice and fruit. Medium body with flavors of roast malt, cinnamon, caramel and a touch of hops. The finish is malty with a ginger and cinnamon aftertaste. Decent overall.
Tried
on 03 Jan 2017
at 22:01