Nimbus Holly Daze

Sampled at Nimbus; December 2008
The beer arrives with a dark brown, amber tinged color and it is topped by an anemic, pale colored ring of froth that just clings to the sides of my glass. This has a general spiciness to it in the nose, but it quickly morphs into a tart, fruity note of raspberries.

The beer tastes lightly sweet up front with a noticeable fruity character and then a touch of toasty malt , a hint of cocoa and a touch of dark grain astringency in the finish. There is also a touch of hop bitterness in the finish. Raspberry fruit notes add a characteristic not of raspberry spiciness. There is also a spiciness here that seems to be from some actual spices, but it is at a good level such that it is just a boost to the flavor rather than something that would intrude with individually noticeable spice notes. The tartness picks up in this beer as I start to eat my Tri-tip taco, which actually is quite nice. This has some body to it, but it is still quite drinkable. The malt could be a bit more prominent, but there is a light toast note, a sweet grain character and a pale, roast character that are just noticeable.

This is not bad, it is an interesting blend of beers. I like that the fruit and, especially, the spice character is kept as components of the beer, rather than as defining characteristics. This is quite well balanced.

a surprise on tap at nimbus today pours a real nice deep brown but yet light shines through. nice aroma of spice and malt. a good balance considering the three blended beers. a good amount of spicing not overdone. very nice.

On tap at Nimbus - Pours a hazy brown color with a medium size off white head. Thick lacing is left behind as the beer is drank. Aroma is big time fruit and berries. Flavor is much of the same. This beer is very easy to drink as fruit beers go. A smooth, easy drinking medium body beer. Well done Scott.