UPDATED: FEB 4, 2024 s: light spice cranberry malt a: muddied dark brown body no head t: tart caramel nutty p: easy muted fruity o: past-its-prime still enjoyable cranberries & sweet 250 mL bottle Slow Beer: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 31-December-2009 AU$5,00 best before: 17-February-2010 sampled: 07-January-2024, some fourTEEN years after the 'best by date'

UPDATED: JUL 20, 2019 Rating from old records. Bottle at (now defunct) Suburban. Waitress told me I wouldn't like it but I did. I recall cloves, nutmeg, etc. Almost a Scotch ale

Tasting at Plonk. Malty dark ale with a hint of fruit, not much spice. they don’t dominate, which is good, but I would like a hint more in a Christmas beer. decent dark ale for winter but not really Christmassy.

From a 330ml bottle on 2/1/2015. Pours a deep red amber with almost no head. The aroma is primarily light cinnamon. Flavour wise, there’s a little chocolate and caramel malt, a hint of dark fruit and more cinnamon, but it doesn’t really jump out at you. Light bodied with average to lively carbonation. Everything about this beer is quite subdued and a bit underwhelming. Not great.

Bottle from Plonk (December 2013). Clear mahogany, creamy off-white head, lots of fruits and spices in the aroma and flavour, cinnamon, raisins, brown sugar, preserved cherries, mild bitterness, sweet spicy finish. Nice enough.

Dark brown, not much head. Aroma is all kinds of cinnamon and clove, maybe ginger. Pretty thin, light ginger and clove, a bit of sweeter dark malts. Definitely too light for northern Christmas but I guess in Oz its a bit warmer in December.

Draught, sample, at Redoak Boutique Beer Cafe, Sydney, on July 10, 2013.
Clear dark reddish brown color, off-white head. Gingerbread, sweet, spicy taste. Smooth mouthfeel, a bit fizzy, medium bitterness. Mineral aftertaste. Sweet, ginger scent.

Very pleasant and strong aromas of Christmas pudding, dried fruit, cinnamon, nutmeg. Taste of dried fruits, cinnamon, nutmeg. Good mouthfeel; medium carbonation. Lacks much of an aftertaste. Flavours more subtle than some of their other offerings, but probably more enjoyable. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

330 ml bottle Found at berry bottle shop. How odd. Muddy orange amber color. No real head, just a ring of lacing. Spice driven nose. Cinnamon, nutmeg, and all spice. Slight fig, orange peel and cherry as well. Fig, slight sour dark cherry and nutmeg taste. Somewhat thin and watery. Highly carbonated and light bodied. Dry with a sour cherry finish. So so ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

29th December 2009
ChrisO ’Night Of The Gaylords’ tasting. Hazy brown beer. Sourish fruity nose. Light fruity palate. Subtle figgy plummy dark fruit. A little sourness in the semi dry finish.