Bottle shared with Ashton McCobb and Stuu666. Pours clear ruby with a thin off-white head. Aromas of golden syrup, oat biscuit, faint spice. Taste is sweet, light spice and almonds. Sugared almonds.

Cask @ Linen Hall, Enniskillen [010116]
Caramel brown, frothy white head
Aroma of sweet dark fruits, soft spicy, hint of port wine
Taste of caramel malts, touch of dough, some spiciness, soft bitter hops, getting some nutty malts, quite tasty
Palate - Medium light body, soft bitter, no alcohol, easy drinking. Finish is light spicy, caramel, hint of digestive in the linger
Overall - Alcohol well hidden, quite decent.

Cask @ Manchester & County, Manchester. Chestnut-red with a frothy head. Has a nice winter warmer texture without feeling its strength. Has a few malts, with chocolate the most prominent flavour, and can be found in both its aroma and taste. Has a dry aftertaste.

Cask handpull at County Hotel Spoons Ashford. Kind of half way through a half pint and I like it. Sweetish toffee red fruits. Some good pepper hops on the finish. Good I thought.

Clear reddish beer with light spicy aroma. Flvour follows suit, spicy fruit, a decent amount of hop and malt in there too. It’s nothing special and it doesn’t feel like an especially Christmassy beer but it’s fairly drinkable all the same.

50cl bottle from a local garden centre. A reddish copper colour with a ring of white head; sweet, musty aroma with a trace of roasted chestnuts; sweet fruity taste to statr - almost toffee apple - then showing some port-like notes, and also some butterscotch; before a dry warmingfinish. A rather good winter ale.

Bottle. Clean amber with a minimal heal. Aroma of nuts and malt. Flavor is light fruity caramel, butterscotch on a sweetish caramel finish

Bottle at home in London - shared with Lloyd. Pours clear, dark copper with a small, frothy white tan head. The aroma has bready malts, some light toffee, suggestions of winter spices and ripening berries. Medium sweet flavor, lots of bready and somewhat doughy malts, hints of brown sugar, more berries and other ripe fruits. Medium bodied with fine carbonation. Sweet finish, very mild leafy bitterness, bready malts, light cinnamon. Simple but tasty.

Nov 2009: Brown 500ml bottle, best before Nov 2011, so I think this is the 2009 version and therefore very young? Poured very slowly into a UK pint sleeve, didn’t want to upset the sediment, which I didn’t. Good colouring, a dark hamogany brown/red with a weak white head, maybe the slow pour didn’t help the head. What head was there soon did a runner and left nothing at all, not even a collar. Barley and wheat used in the brew, never knew that and I’ve had this in cask form many times over the years, it being a fairly local brewery. Seasonal spices (cloves, cinnimon and nutmeg) filled my nose at first, then some roasted malts and plums. The taste was also seasonal, Christmas style. Rich pudding and plums mixed with malt molasses and treacle type flavours, the same spices mentioned in the aroma section also turn up in the mouthfeel as your mouth drys. The 6%ABV sits nicely, but I am worried about the condition somewhat, where did the head go and why? Much prefer the cask version, slightly upset with the bottled one.