Back Road Christmas Ale 2007

Formerly brewed at Back Road Brewery
Style: American Dark Lager
LaPorte, Indiana USA

12 oz bottle received via trade with tjthresh. Pours black with a small, fizzy, light brown head, lasting with fair lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (coffee, chocolate, toasted grain, nutty), light hops (flowers), average yeast (leather) with notes of tar, licorice, dates, prunes, and soy sauce. Medium bodied, oily texture, average carbonation, and a chalky and bitter finish. Long duration, moderate sweetness and bitterness, light acidity.

Very dark nearly black with a thin brown head. Aroma of dark malts and some chocolate. The taste is kind of interesting , not sure how to classify it. Some dark malts and abit of a burnt character with some abuse, maybe? An interesting brew.

12 oz. bottle courtesy of a trade with BBB63. Pours black with virtually no head except for a handful of sudsy brown bubbles that all disappear in about 30 seconds. The aroma is huge on this beer with lots of raisins, prunes, molasses, and lightly roasted malt. The flavor profile is similar to the aroma, but not as intense. Moderate drying bitterness at the finish. Very tasty and very good.

12 oz bottle courtesy of BBB63. Pours a pitch black with a medium sized creamy light brown head. Aroma of roasted malt and bitter dark chocolate. Taste of dark sweet chocolate, roasted malts with a hint of wild berry. Another great brew from Back Road.

Courtesy BBB63. The pour yields a dark chocolate brown body with a small, foamy khaki head. The foam settles to a wispy, bubbly film with a thin edge. Minimal, spotty lacing is scattered about the glass. The aroma shows sweet dark chocolate, molasses, marshmallow, and a sharp, distinct boysenberry component. Its very fruit forward, as boysenberry jam just keeps getting stronger as it warms. Vanilla is present in the background, though it serves as more of a compliment than a major component. The flavor turns more chocolaty, like a melted dark Dove bar with marshmallows and lightly roasted grains. Fruity notes linger on the roof of the mouth, while some light floral hops balance out the sweetness. Te mouthfeel is medium bodied, very smooth, and not at all cloying. Really rich, yet well balanced. This is a solid brew that laughs in the face of conventional categorization. It bridges the gap between fruity American Strong Ale, Schwarzbier, and Porter. No matter the defiition, I enjoyed it very much.

12 oz bonus bottle from BBB63! Nose of molasses, smokiness, and chocolate; Very black with a small brown head; flavor is coffee, hop bitterness, light smokiness, and heavy dark chocolate.

12 oz bottle, via BBB63. Pours a surprisingly dark brown, almost black, body under a fizzy and foamy one finger brown head that faded to a thin covering. Light lacing remained. The nose is heavy roast with some chocolate, burnt caramel, light smoke, chalk, and a touch of coffee. The first flavor that grabs me is the smoke, followed by heavily roasted barley and unsweetened chocolate. A little yeast, alcohol, and cola notes on the finish. Kind of a weird beer really. Mouthfeel is pretty sturdy with nice moderate fizzy carbonation. It’s a little oily on the finish, causing it to linger on for a good long time. Overall, this was pretty darn far out from the average American Dark Lager. I think that I’m partially a sucker for this one because of the smoke flavor. Me like.

Lemmesee if I’ve got this straight. It’s called a Christmas Ale. It’s also referred to as an ale on the side of the label. We’re told it was based on Back Road’s doppelbock with an addition of Black Malt and the usage of a different yeast strain. The ABV is a hardy 7.7%. The brewer refers to it as an "Imperial Schwarzbier."
So, twenty ratings later it’s listed here as being an American Dark Lager. Something akin to a Heineken Dark.
Makes sense to me. Honestly.
Be that as it be... It pours an intensely dark brown, nearly black, body with a respectable cocoa colored head. It’s got an aroma of bittersweet chocolate with roasted malt, dark dried fruits, and a suggestion of smokle. Medium bodied. The chocolate dominates the flavor and it has an addition of anise, dark caramel, cold coffee, and a mild earthy bitterness. The finish is quite dry.
Very interesting and enjoyable beer for an American Dark Lager.

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