Breckenridge Christmas Ale

Brewed by Breckenridge Brewery
Style: American Strong Ale
Denver, Colorado USA

12 oz bottle courtesy of Acknud. Pours a deep, but clear brown color with a 1/2" head that appeared at first to be an olive green,wtf, but then settled out to an offwhite tan. Good lacing on my pint glass. Had a lot of flavors of dark fruits, plums,raisins & dates. Was very lightly spiced with some nutty flavors. No hop flavor to speak of. I enjoyed this seasonal brew.

750ml corked bottle from brewfiend. A very simple beer. Light spice, grass and dry malt on the nose. Pours dark amber/brown with a thin white head. Flavor of dry hops, some grass, leaves and hay. Medium bodied. Simple and uninspired.

Other than smelling and looking okay, this beer pretty much sucks. Mostly it just screams of alcohol. Don’t get a lot of caramel or chocolate, just alcohol!

12 oz. bottle. Aroma features plum, vinegar, milk chocolate, and lemon scents. There is something off about the smell on which I can’t quite put my finger, but it does improve on multiple sniffs. Pours a clear brown with a slight amber tint and gold glow. Small amount of yellow-tinted beige head. Produces nice lacing. The taste is unfortunately “beery” at first, like a maltier version of an American dark lager. Fortunately, that unpleasantness rapidly dissipates, and the taste evolves to that of a dunkel lager or brown ale. Strawberry pop tart filling or cake icing flavor with a dash of coffee. The clean taste of yeast arrives as a surprise, as there is no noticeable haze in the liquid. Spicy, pepper-like dryness in the finish. Slightly bitter, roasted malt aftertaste. Light to medium body. Soft and fluffy in the palate. Easy to drink. Breckenridge Christmas Ale really grew on me as I drank it. I started out hating it, thinking I was going to skewer it in the review. By the time I had finished, I actually quite liked it. My score falls somewhere in between those two extremes. Seems more like an old ale or English strong ale than what I typically would expect from an American strong ale, especially since there is very little hops taste of which to speak.

Bottled. Pours deep brown with almost no head, but a light brown lacing along the rim. Aroma is chewy malt and spices. Flavor is earth notes, soil, and spices. Decent malt body.

Faint aroma of dark fruit and maybe some tobacco. No head really forms. Flat mouthfeel. Flavor is of caramel, some chocolate and esters. Alcohol warmth and clove in the finish. Not my style.

Sampled on draft at the Rivertown Pub this beer poured a dark brown color with a medium sized khaki head. The aroma was lightly tangy and malty. The flavor was tangy, nutty and sweetly malty with hints of caramel and light fruity hops. The body was smooth and fairly thick. Nice.

Not my favorite style...these high octane winter beers. But we had one on hand. This one is pretty good. Pours a dark brown, with a pleasing head that leaves lingering rings and lacing. Both hops and malts are present. But more hops than a typical winter ale. Carmel malts dominate. Very little nose. Decent.