8

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Deep pitch black coloured body with a nice, rich two to three centimetre tall pure brown head that fades fairly quickly. All about 90 per cent opaque. Aroma of pure tart strawberries, some raspberries, light funk, cardboard, grain and a light dose of chocolate. Light to Medium-bodied; Strong cherry, strawberry and very tart fruit flavours dominate with a fairly easy-drinking malt backbone with some roasted malts and a dash of the chocolate, but the real flavours lie in the fruit which hits hard, even at the end. Aftertaste is pungent, but mainly from the nice combination of the tart fruits and a light dose of chocolate and roasted malts - very easy-drinking, but still complex and a nice balance for the style. Overall, a very elegant, approachable beer that hits all the right notes, especially at this time of year! Great to sample, especially as part of a Christmas Calendar! I sampled this sixteen ounce, pint-sized can, purchased from Total Wine in Towson, Maryland on 27-May-2019 for US$3,79 sampled as Day #18 of my 2019 Christmas Beer Advent Calendar, sampled a few days late on 23-December-2019.