Pickled Santa
Hop Back Brewery in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England 🏴
Collab with: Ridgeway BrewingBitter - ESB / Strong Bitter Winter
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Score
6.17
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Sold in the UK as Hop Back Pickled Santa. Sold in the USA bottle only as Ridgeway Pickled Santa.
Apparently made with spices—cinnamon, nutmeg and coriander—so you expect it to smell like mulled wine but in fact it has a very yeasty aroma. There are perfumed spicy notes there but it’s not what hits you first. Its colour is dark and it has a robust flavour with a heavy, hoppy, toasty, almost sour weight on the tongue.
Apparently made with spices—cinnamon, nutmeg and coriander—so you expect it to smell like mulled wine but in fact it has a very yeasty aroma. There are perfumed spicy notes there but it’s not what hits you first. Its colour is dark and it has a robust flavour with a heavy, hoppy, toasty, almost sour weight on the tongue.
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4.5/10
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Appearance 4
Aroma 5
Flavor 4
Texture 4
Overall 5
New Beer Distributors, NYC 50cl ($3.50): Pours murky light brown with a quickly dissipating head. Aroma is coriander, sugar, and nutmeg thereabouts. Taste is pretty mediocre. This tastes like a rum and coke, a bad rum and coke, but with less coke and rum flavor... I don’t know this is hard to explain. In any case, this is not very good.
Tried
on 07 Mar 2015
at 19:14
7.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle from Bernies off license, Solihull. Poured a hazy medium amber with a thin broken off white head. The aroma is rich over ripe alcoholic fruit. The flavour is moderate sweet, light bitter with a sweet fruity malt, light spice palate. Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Tried
from Bottle
on 26 Dec 2014
at 15:30
6.6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 6.5
Cask-conditioned at the Windmill, Portishead, Somerset 24/12/2014. Amber in colour, with a small, white, head. A touch of leafy hop, some stone fruits, and slightly doughy malts with cinnamon and clove spice. Finish was moderately bitter and a touch boozy. Good.
Earlier Rating: 5/15/2007 Total Score: 2.6
Bottle. This was way too much for me. This brown coloured beer battered me with soupy coriander, nutmeg and cinnamon. The level of cinnamon was really over the top - I have tasted less in cinnamon buns. An acquired taste.
Earlier Rating: 5/15/2007 Total Score: 2.6
Bottle. This was way too much for me. This brown coloured beer battered me with soupy coriander, nutmeg and cinnamon. The level of cinnamon was really over the top - I have tasted less in cinnamon buns. An acquired taste.
Tried
from Cask
on 25 Dec 2014
at 10:10
6.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Cask at the Wellington; clear golden amber pour with a bubbly off white head, pale malt and dough aroma, taste has a hint of pine, bread, biscuit, light bitterness.
Tried
from Cask
on 20 Dec 2014
at 05:37
5.3/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 4
Overall 4
Draft at Churchkey. Hazy deep amber color, medium white head. Aroma of nutmeg and cinnamon. Taste is gingerbread. Thankfully no pickles.
Tried
from Draft
on 28 Aug 2014
at 05:18
5.9/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 5.5
Bottle, Wine Warehouse, CHO. Pours clear amber with a tiny white head. Smells of copper, apple, and spice. Tastes of copper, nutmeg, and apple cider.
Tried
from Bottle
on 10 Feb 2014
at 04:10
7.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 6.5
500ml bottle from Appellation Wines. Pours clear copper, nice tight white head & lacing. Aroma shave light spice, cinnamon and clove, alongside biscuity malt. Taste is quite powerful, more spice and nutty sweetness, but not too cloying for a 6% beer. Pretty good.
Tried
from Bottle
on 30 Dec 2013
at 11:37
7.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
The best Christmas beer from an English brewery so far this year. Appearance - dark amber maybe chestnut with a nice head. Nose - deeply malty and nutty with a spicy edge. Taste -more of the same. Palate - medium bodied with a creamy texture and a fairly fresh finish. Overall - yeah it’s good.
Tried
on 14 Dec 2013
at 00:03
6.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 4
Overall 7
Applesauce nose. Clear copper, thin yellow head. Apple and lemongrass flavor, subtle allspice note. Has some Belgian characteristics, but with a pleasant but subtle bitterness. Well balanced
Tried
on 17 Nov 2012
at 14:06
7/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 8
500ml bottle. Filtered/fined golden-orange color. Steady, creamy off-white head, lots of lively carbonation bubbles. Not a bad beer by any means, but a really bad name. Smooth creamy body, the spice is not really overboard, it actually complements the fruity ale yeast quite well. Clean enough to session, but with some coconut/pineapple flavors going on that kind of give it an odd aftertaste..or maybe that is just the fishy fining. Enjoyable.
Tried
from Bottle
on 09 Mar 2012
at 01:06