Boulevard Nutcracker Ale

Brewed by Boulevard Brewing Company
Style: English Strong Ale
Kansas City, Missouri USA

Bottle 46F Trappist, aroma was hoppy with a touch of spice and a bit of malt. Cloudy brown color, with tan head. Flavor was spicy, malty and hoppy, tasted like a lot of other winter ales, but not too bad.

Bottle. Brown color, tan head on the pour. Aroma is mostly hop, with some of the spice you would expect from a holiday ale. Taste is malt and hop, and pretty full bodied. What surprised me is how brief the finish was on this beer. Pretty big taste, right until the end where the finish was thin and brief.

Pours cloudy brown with a thick, light tan head. Aroma is of spicey and citrusy hops (label says chinook) with hints of grass and hints of fruit. The flavor starts full of citrus/grapefruit hop flavor with some balancing sweetness. The middle of the flavor shows an interesting, almost tart, fruity malt profile with more hops and some yeast. The finish is full-bodied, with just a touch of dryness on the back of the tongue that provides a lingering after-taste - subtly bitter with some citrus hops. The mouthfeel is quite full-bodied with a bit of levity and air from the carbonation (and very burp-inducing). Overall, not bad and very well balanced - the hop and malt choices led to very complementary flavors.

Another fine beer from Missouri’s most consistant brewery. Pours clear dark amber with a dense tan head. The aroma has toasty malts, light sweetness, spiciness and earthy hops. Medium body with a crispness and semi-sharp carbonation. Flavor starts with grainy heavily toasted malt with a nice dose of Chinook hops giving it an earthy feel. The finish focuses more on the hop aspect that turns a bit woodier and well as a cane sugar sweetness showing through. Nice winter warmer.

2007 Release in 12-oz bottle, dated 02.01.08. Dense brown, no head, sprucy aroma, light body, even dark malt flavor, slightly dry, dark malt flavor. 2006 Release in 12-ounce brown twist-off bottles dated "best before 02.01.07". A dense brown color with a lasting tan fine head. Malty aroma with a slight spicy note and floral hops. Full-bodied with an almost chewy character. Soft mouthfeel where the rich, slightly dry though carmely malty flavor is matched to just a hint of hop bitterness. Very filling but very well-balanced.

Pours a nice reddish brown color. Aromas of dark fruits, nut, hops, and a touch of wood. Flavor is smooth caramel malt, wood, and a nice hop.

Wonderful spicy aroma, some alcohol is present, but is very warming, this is kind of a nipper, or sipper whichever you prefer. Rich and slightly sweet malt background, but turn slightly spicy in the aftertaste, but still remains crisp and clean on the palate, is never sticky or overpowering. An enjoyable beer that I would like to try when its fresh.

(12 oz bottle: Obtained 06-May-06 in trade with Otter, thanks Jeremy!) 2005 release. Best by 01-Feb-06. I don’t know the alcohol content on this beer, but for some reason, each sip reminds me of alcohol -- the flavor, that is, not the warming effect. Must just be the moderately assertive piney hops play-acting. Otherwise, it’s malty, sweet, a bit of caramel and toffee, all of which is balanced by a moderate, lingering bitterness. The nose is caramely and malty, hoppy, and again, seemingly alcoholic. Medium-full bodied yet somewhat crisp, and the carbonation is about average. Amber-brown color is fairly hazy and the beige head settles to a wide ring surrounding a somewhat filmy layer. Enjoyable, despite the suggestion of alcohol.