Olde Hickory Christmas Ale

Brewed by Olde Hickory Brewery
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Hickory, North Carolina USA

Date: December 20, 2006
Mode: Draft
Source: Taproom
Appearance: comes with a candy cane hooked on the side of the glass, clear amber, wispy beige head, tangled lace
Aroma: sweet cinamon aroma
Flavor: caramel malt flavor with an increasing candy sweetness that suddenly disappears and it becomes dry, touch of spices including cinamon, light bitterness from the spices
Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 11/20
Rating: 3/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: ** /4

Served with a candy cane on the side of the glass - The waitress said that the brewer included a box of ’em with the keg for this purpose, so it wasn’t just the whim of the bartender. Kinda festive, actually. Reddish copper, thin white head. Allspice, apple, clove aroma. Very rich mouthfeel. Flavors of plum, cinnamon, figs, and (surprise) peppermint. As it warms, notes of gingerbread and orange pop up. Surprisingly bright, spritzy finish. Fun, unique beer.

Draught at Union Jack’s (and with no candy cane). Pours golden with lots of effervescence that makes a small white head. The aroma is pine, alcohol, some hay, and ginger. The flavor has distinct ginger with some hay and a slightly biting spicy bitterness. It fades to a bready finish. Sweet caramel notes pop out once in a while. After several sips I notice more resinous pine sap type tastes and some fruit notes. Definitely reminds me of Christmas, but I’m afraid I don’t much like this one.

Draft at Union Jacks, served with a candy cane which I crunched on during the drive home. Clear, orange-gold with a lasting eighth-inch of foam. Aroma of caramel and apple. Flavor is the same with a touch of cinnamon and/or nutmeg. Light-medium body is watery and dryish. I guess I should have put the candy cane in the beer.

Dark amber orange, thin off white cover. Aroma is nutmeg, ginger, sweet. Taste is an odd sweet maltiness, ginger, nutmeg.

fruity smelling. tastes good. pours red. from a 5 liter keg. got me and my buddy pretty drunk when i drank it. got the stout and the red lager to rate. good shit, very drinkable

Draught. Pours a darker shade of gold with not much of a head. The brew is mildly bubbly. There’s a bit of corn in the nose with hay and some cinnamon and nutmeg. It’s pretty thin in the mouth, but not too bad. Some slight hard candy sweetness and honey make up the flavor with cinnamon and other subtle spiced notes detectable in the finish. It’s just so-so for wintertime, a season that generally inspires many superior brews.

Good nose. Fruity and hoppy and delicately balanced. Not sure what fruit it is, because the taste is subtle. Bold flavor, well balanced and light. Appearance is slightly amberish, and mostly clear. Another good beer from my hometown. Almost as good as the pale ale.