Cask at JDW Charlie Hall; light clear copper pour with a creamy off white head, red fruit and malt aroma, taste has nut, some roast malt, toffee and a hint of spice.

Another overpriced Christmas ale that suddenly appeared in Croatia. 4 Euros for a bottle. Eh. Thanks Hrabren for sharing this! Poured a ruby/amber body with a small off white head. The aroma is adequately fruity, caramelly, malt dominated really, with a dose of dried figs. While the hops don’t make much of an impact there, they do in the taste - which is also quite fruity, backed by a smooth maltiness, with note of cherries, creamy too - giving it a slightly bigger than expected dose of bitterness then, though hardly appealing. And that’s generally what’s the fault with this - the descriptors look good on paper, and yet in practice, they fall flat, too light, watery, kinda feeling diluted (obviously not), not terribly Christmasey, without enough bang for the buck. Too light for its own good, though not the worst ale you can run into, far from it.

Bottled 500ml. -from local Konzum supermarket. Pale amber coloured, small off-white head, toffee and metal in the nose. Sweet malty, buttery, caramel, slight fruity and metallic with hint of spices and ice coffee. Short and rather sweet finish.

Cask at the grosvenor. Pours clear copper, thin white head. Aromas of caramel, light nutty note. Taste is sweet, dried mixed peel. Clean finish. Ok.

Cask @ Moorings, Sowerby Bridge. Copper-red with a thin head. Crisp but a touch on the thin side with a bushy-floral aroma and a hint of winter fruit sweetness.

50cl bottle from Tesco’s, camberley. Reddish chestnut with a tight beige head; aroma of stale malts with a hint of red fruit; a sweet malty body with a touch of spice; and a drier finish showing signs that a few hops were included.

500ml bottle from B&M Bargains - Deep reddish brown body, thin foamy off-white head. Nose is a bit bland, some caramel there, nuts, bread, ripe fruits, but not in great massive bouquets. Taste is a little more robust, but is let down by a thin as water mouthfeel, so the ripe cake fruits, nuts and dough and all that are really washed away. Nice enough, but felt more like a cheap version of Hobgoblin.

Slaby niestety Bitterek swiateczny. Nieco chmielny jest ale karmelowy i to az nadto. Nieco przypraw swiatecznych wyczulem, zwlaszcza gozdziki. Kolor ciemno herbaciany, niewielka piana i typowo swiateczna etykieta.

Has a light hoppiness in the aroma. A fairly simple bitter that is rather thin and watery. Lacks depth.