Christmas Ale
Bell's Brewery in Galesburg, Michigan, United States 🇺🇸
Scotch Ale / Wee Heavy Winter|
Score
6.86
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This traditional Scotch Ale is rich and malty with notes of caramel and a warm finish. Certain to make any occasion festive, or at least a bit more bearable. Enjoy with the company of friends and family.
Note: This is different from the 5.5% abv Christmas Ale that was previous brewed. The recipe was completely revamped in 2017.
Note: This is different from the 5.5% abv Christmas Ale that was previous brewed. The recipe was completely revamped in 2017.
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6.5/10
Tried
from Bottle
on 14 Dec 2019
at 19:57
7.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle - solidly executed, traditional rendition of the style - hearty and malt-forward, with notes of dark fruit, dark bread, and the faintest mushroomy earthiness, maybe a kiss of smoke - moderately warming in the finish, just enough to send a gentle warmth down to your core - a soul-warming kind of beer for the days when the weather turns colder - well done.
Tried
from Bottle
on 01 Nov 2019
at 04:02
6.9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
12 oz bottle, pours dark red brown and clear. Tastes of malt, coffee, fig. Bitter malty finish.
Tried
from Bottle
on 25 Dec 2018
at 00:31
8.3/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle. Clear amber maroon color light tan head. Aroma of toffee and lightly toasted caramel. Taste is rich malty caramel and subtle toffee. Tasty
Tried
from Bottle
on 21 Dec 2018
at 03:18
8.5/10
Tried
from Draft
on 08 Dec 2018
at 17:33
6/10
—
Appearance 4
Aroma 5
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 7
Pours dark amber/reddish brown with a thick cream head. Heavily carbonated. Aroma of spice and malt. Taste includes toasted malt, cloves and other spices. Palate is textured, includes cinnamon and more spices. Caramel and ABV go well together.
Tried
on 26 Nov 2018
at 23:11
3.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 5
Flavor 3
Texture 2
Overall 2
So I gave the old bottle of this a 2.4 cause I'm not much for wee heavy. Dark and somewhat viscous looking. Aroma is not offnsive. Malty spicy cloying ruddish taste bud knock down. Stook caic. Shees peeled what a ride, on the lash. Difficult, weird alky cherry shining thru.Big front slope back noodle. Its just a chancer putting on aires. Alky soaked up front ending. Difficult.
Tried
from Bottle
on 09 Nov 2018
at 22:31
8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
12 ounce bottle into snifter, bottled on 10/25/2017. Pours fairly hazy/cloudy dark ruby red, light copper/brown color with a 1-2 finger dense and rocky cream colored head with awesome retention, that reduces to a small cap that lasts. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings around the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big raisin, plum, cherry, apricot, pear, apple, caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, and toasted biscuit; with lighter notes of nuttiness, roast, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/bready malt, fruity yeast, and light-moderate earthy hop notes; with great strength. Taste of big raisin, plum, cherry, apricot, pear, apple, caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, and toasted biscuit; with lighter notes of nuttiness, roast, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Light-moderate herbal/grassy/spicy hop and light roast bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of raisin, plum, cherry, apricot, pear, apple, caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, toasted biscuit, nuttiness, roast, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Great complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready malt, fruity yeast, and light-moderate earthy hop flavors; with a great malt/bitterness balance; and zero cloying/astringent flavors after the finish. Light-moderate increasing dryness from hop/roast bitterness. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body; with a very smooth, creamy/bready/grainy, and lightly sticky/chalky mouthfeel that is great. Zero warming alcohol for 7.5%. Overall this is an excellent Scotch ale. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready malt, fruity yeast, and light-moderate earthy hop flavors; very smooth and easy to drink with the modestly bitter/drying finish. Definitely a big improvement over the old recipe. Very rich malts, balanced fruity yeast and earthy hops. Well rounded complexities. A very enjoyable offering, and spot on style example.
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Jan 2018
at 18:44
7.8/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 10
Overall 8
Sampled on draft at Tapped this beer poured a dark brown color with plum highlights and a large foamy orange-tan head that lingered and left good lacing. The aroma was sweetish with caramel and hints of wood and cherry. The flavor was sweet and woody with ,caramel, faint vague fruits, cocoa and bread crust. Long finish. Medium bodied and smooth.
Tried
from Draft
on 26 Dec 2017
at 16:20
6/10
Tried
from Draft
on 09 Dec 2017
at 22:26