Hoppy Hoppy Claus Holiday Ale

Brewed by Hoppy Brewing Company
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Sacramento, California USA

Saw this on sale at Bevmo and thought, "what the hell". Haven’t had too many things from this brewery. This wasn’t bad. Heavily spiced, which is not my thing, but this works pretty well. Lots of corriander, allspice and maybe even some ginger. Reminds me of 2007 Vertical epic if it was dry hopped with some citrusy hops. Pretty good.

bottle. hazed brown tea colored body with a head that slips to residual quickly. strong spice nose, smells like spruce & perfume. lavender, pine flavor with some cinnamon. over spiced but drinkable. dry finish leaves a mint bubble gum flavor. 3 6 6 2 13

Bomber from BevMo. Dark amber/copper color with a nice beige head. Spicy aroma, seems to be nutmeg. Spiced and hoppy flavors. Kind of hard to tell where the spice ends and hops begin. Decent brew. Could use a little more balance between the bitterness and malts. Kind of dry. A little more sweetness would be helpful.

Bottle. Poured with a finger and one half head, body is a nice amber color, after head dissipates leaves nice lacing. The nutmeg and cinnamon taste is very strong, but surprisingly enjoyable. I am very surprised how good this beer is for the spicy flavor.

Name: Hoppy Claws Holiday Ale
Date: December 03, 2006
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting
Appearance: muddy dark amber, wispy beige head
Aroma: fresh floral hop aroma on a dark spiced malt base with a hint of fruit
Flavor: chocolate and roasted malt flavor obscured by a rich blend of spices, lots of bitter allspice
Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.3/5.0
Drinkability: 6/10
Score: **+/4

Pours with a frothy, three finger thick, tan colored head that forms a layered lacing pattern on the sides of my glass and varied, deep sink holes as it slowly recedes. the beer is a richly, amber hued, clear, copper colored brew. The aroma is fairly spicy with notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, sweet ginger and allspice.

The taste is sweet, but this is actually accentuated by the spice flavors as the beer has a light-medium fullness to it that makes this fairly drinkable. The spices actually keep this a sipping a brew though as they are quite apparent; flavors of nutmeg, cinnamon a touch of ginger and cardamom dominate the flavor profile. Actually the nutmeg is probably the single most noticeable flavor here. At times, the spice notes bring out a sort of berry like flavor.

I would not quite say that the spices are overwhelming here, this beer is still drinkable and even somewhat enjoyable, but the spice levels are just a bit over the top. They really run roughshod over the other flavors of this beer, and hardly allow anything else to be noticeable.

OOOh a very very nice winter brew. Very full of spices and full body. Appearance is very nice and brown with a cloudy texture. Has a thin lacey head. Mouthfeel is smooth with a little aftertaste but not bad.

08-Dec-06 (22 oz bottle: $2.99 at BevMo in La Jolla, CA) Years ago, I began experimenting with adding a bunch of spices to my pancakes and the first time, I went overboard on the nutmeg. The result was a bitter, unpleasant pancake and I tossed the whole batch. Just like those pancakes, the spices in Hoppy Claus have been added with reckless abandon. The grainy malts are moderately sweet and caramely, but are easily overshadowed by the strong spice component and a persistent bitterness from both hops and spices. Bitter spices seem to include an entire crop of ginger, plus nutmeg, clove and possibly cinnamon. Despite the moderate sweetness, the medium-bodied beer is quite dry right through to the long-lasting finish. Medium-high carbonation and enduring bitterness keep the palate lively and crisp, though a bit astringent. Spicy, grainy nose is more enjoyable because you can’t smell astringent bitterness. Copper in color and fairly cloudy initially, despite the lack of sedimentary evidence of bottle conditioning, but when the beer magically clears up over time, the cloudiness is obviously chill haze. Fluffy, light-tan head rises to nearly about half an inch in height before settling back down to a thin, filmy layer. Overall, there’s just too much focus on the spice for this beer to be truly enjoyable or a candidate for repeat purchases.