Blue Mountain Lights Out Holiday Ale

Brewed by Blue Mountain Brewery
Style: Old Ale
Afton, Virginia USA

Bottle courtesy of dkachur. Pours brown with a rocky white head. Smells of spice, caramel, some fruity hints. Tastes earthy and peppery with some nice molasses hints. Enjoyable.

Bought a 6-pack of this at the brewpub. It’s a very dark midnight red brew, with just a thin top. Roasted caramel aroma, rich and full of roasted malt, caramel too. Good winter warmer. (#3490, 11/2008)

Bottle. Mahogany pour. Medium sized tan colored head. Very rocky but sturdy. Aroma is spice laden with hints of toffee, nuts, dark fruit and roasted malt. Taste is very spicy with more roasted malts, hops, dark fruit and toffee. Caramel coming through as well. Some sweetness tries to come through but is dominated but hop bitterness. Body is medium-full with a moderate carbonation. Soft alcohol warmth. Finishes with more nuts, spices, roasted malts, hops, caramel and light toffee. Lingering bitterness throughout.

Bottle on 11/01/2008 courtesy of dkachur. Clear deep ruby body with a medium creamy light brown head. Sweet roasty and lightly chocolate aroma, with faint fruity hints. Roasty flavor with fruity hints in the background and a nice bitterness lingering behind. Medium body with moderate carbonation.

From my review at cvillebeergeek.blogspot.com... bottle from Wine Warehouse in Charlottesville.

Appearance: How’s this for specific? The color is a clear brown-tinged ruby red. The half-finger head is very fizzy and doesn’t last long. Not very inspiring, but not totally inappropriate for the style. 3.0/5.0

Aroma: Fairly malty and slightly roasty with definite notes of spice and dark fruits. Nice, but it could stand to be a bit stronger. 3.75/5.0

Taste: Roasted malts are complemented by dark fruits and a distinct hop bitterness and oddly, crayons. And before you go on wondering how I know what crayons taste like... we all went through kindergarten once! 3.5/5.0

Mouthfeel: The malts and hops balance each other fairly well. The body is slightly on the thin side. Definitely on the thin side for the style. There is a nice alcohol warmth present 3.0/5.0

Drinkabilty: This is a nice, smooth beer with a moderate alcohol content. The point is to be a nice warming sipping beer, which it is, though I do seem to be downing this one quite quickly. A very nice effort. 3.5/5.0

Overall: This is a nice beer, though it would have been a bit nicer with more body and a thicker texture. But it does do its job. and it represents another solid brew from Blue Mountain. 3.35/5.0

12 oz. bottle courtesy of a trade with dkachur. Pours a clear deep ruby with a moderate off-white head that fades to a film midway and lingers until the end. The lacing on this beer is exquisite and is probably the finest example I have come across in a long time. The aroma is on the weak side with some light malt along a bit of brown sugar. The flavor is malt up front followed by some sweet herbal flavors halfway and a wash of bitter hops at the finish. The hops quickly lose any flavor and I am left with a dry, bitter aftertaste with virtually no flavor. There are elements of this beer that I like very much, and other aspects I am so-so about.

12 oz bottle. Pours dark mahogany with tan head. The aroma is toast, some caramel, and little bits of tobacco and earth. The flavor is sweet caramel and toffee with just a little bit of woody bitterness of English hops. There is a bit of a honey-nut quality to the finish, but the aftertaste fades quickly. Once in a while I pick up an interesting roasty or smoky note. Not bad.

Nice spicing, kind of sour, definite unusual breadiness. I like that it wasn’t off the scale in alcohol - barely noticeable. Aroma is unidimensionally pine, heavy acrid roast. Good.