Christmas Ale
Shepherd Neame in Faversham, Kent, England 🏴
Strong Ale Winter|
Score
6.36
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There’s a spicy signature to this incredibly complex cockle-warming winter ale. The nose is reminiscent of raisins, dates and molasses while the palate is vinous with tannin-like notes of leather, vanilla, apricots and a hint of rustic Armagnac on the finish. An awesome after-dinner drop.
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7/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 7
Overall 6.5
A bit darker than amber, still transparent. A quite dense head, the slightest off-white, shows nice persistence and lots of lacing. Clean but not very intense aroma shows caramel and toffee malts, red fruit notes and a hint of spiciness. Taste follows the aroma closely, with medium to high sweetness and just a hint of bitterness to bring balance. It's slightly warming but very easily drinkable. Medium bodied, with slightly below average carbonation, resulting in a semi-soft, overall quite easy mouthfeel. A relatively simple but nice winter warmer offering.
Tried
on 23 Dec 2018
at 17:36
7.6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Shared bottle at RB/HD at Askje 13.10.18. Clear dark golden. Small, white head. Sweet aroma of English Christmas cake, ripe plums, figs, dates and sweet malt. Similar taste. Good!
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Oct 2018
at 13:18
7.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Fra flaske på RBHD-samling hos Asle Bjørn, okt-18: klar kobbergylden med fint skum som varer. Myk og behagelig aroma og smak med tørkede frukter, vanilje, julekrydder, fløtekarameller og et diskret hint av sherry. Mild bitterhet i avslutningen.
Tried
on 13 Oct 2018
at 13:15
8.2/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 10
Overall 7
A Christmas Eve treat. A lovely pour with plenty of lacing and a good beery aroma. There was plenty of malt in the taste it was well balanced by the bittering hops. There was no sign of the alcohol and I know that this beer can be very dangerous from when I drank 3 on Christmas Eve a number of years ago and got wasted. This was in no way Christmassy, but it was exceptionally tasty and smooth on the palate.
Tried
from Can
on 02 Jan 2018
at 04:56
6.9/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bottle at home, thanks to Jason and Tracey, 26/12.17. Rich copper amber with a well appointed light beige covering. Nose is fruit cake, spice, biscuit, toffee, dried fruits, figs, vinous snatch. Taste comprises Christmas cake, light marzipan, spice, dates, dried fruits, oak tang, toffee, biscuit crumble. Medium bodied with a little bite, fine carbonation, semi drying close with a balanced boost. This was a pretty decent English Strong ... a pleasant surprise and for me, not in line with the measly 3.17 average score!
Tried
from Bottle
on 26 Dec 2017
at 13:13
5.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 5
Flavor 5
Texture 6
Overall 6
Bottle from Systembolaget. A classic case of a beer that gets worse once you attention. On the surface, you get that warming Christmas ale taste but apart from some slight caramel, it is hard to discern much flavour. What comes through is an alcohol feeling that reminds me of badly made bocks. Meh, there are much better ways to celebrate christmas with more body.
Tried
from Bottle
on 30 Nov 2017
at 11:39
6.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
Bottle at the Bishop's Finger, Smithfield, London. Pours amber with an average sized off-white head. Aroma of malt, caramel, hop, touch of vanilla and chocolate, light spice, brown sugar, citrus and dark fruit. Medium plus sweetness, light bitterness. Medium body, oily texture, average carbonation. Not bad, but not especially great either.
Tried
from Bottle
on 27 Nov 2017
at 12:05
6.8/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Bottle from Joyces, Athenry [161216]
Dark amber, clear, frothy white head
Aroma of sweet caramel fruity malts, light alcohol, quite complex fruity malt
Taste of sweet fruity caramel, soft raisin, fruity malts, soft bitter English hops, slight roast
Palate - Medium carb and body, fairly sweet, quite smooth. Finish of sweet fruity malts
Overall - Better than expected
Dark amber, clear, frothy white head
Aroma of sweet caramel fruity malts, light alcohol, quite complex fruity malt
Taste of sweet fruity caramel, soft raisin, fruity malts, soft bitter English hops, slight roast
Palate - Medium carb and body, fairly sweet, quite smooth. Finish of sweet fruity malts
Overall - Better than expected
Tried
from Bottle
on 22 Jan 2017
at 14:18
6.5/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 6
Flaske 500ml. Spandert av Rune. Delt med ham og djoeye i WCveien 9 Jan 17. Gyldenbrun. Middels høyt skum med litt farge. Pen kniplingslacing. God aroma av honning & karamell med hint av frukt. Smaken som aromaen. Bra fylde. Grei - men litt tungdrikkelig. Ikke mye julepreg.
Tried
on 11 Jan 2017
at 15:36
6.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 6.5
500ml bottle bought at Systembolaget PK-huset,. Stable pearl white head, spotty lacing. Bright amber in body colour. Smell of dried fruits and caramel. Malt-fruity flavours of honey, caramel and dried fruits, lightly spiced with cinnamon. Malt-fruity end, rather sweet. Fine bodied. Nice, a bit heavy to drink though (Shared with Finn and djoeye at a session in Tromsø, 09.01.2017).
Tried
from Bottle
on 10 Jan 2017
at 13:21