Shepherd Neame Christmas Ale

Brewed by Shepherd Neame
Style: English Strong Ale
Faversham, England

50 cL clear bottle. Pours clear and golden orange with a small white head. Malty and slight spiced hoppy aroma. Sweet caramel malty with a breadish note, smooth hops balance to this to give an uplifting bitterness into a medium dry finish.
Earlier Rating: 1/12/2008 Total Score: 3.1
50 cL bottle. Pours slight hazy brown with a diminished white head. Light spiced and herbal with a mild malt note. Flavour is slight whiskey like malty, medium dry and malty. Finish is slight herbal.

Bottle from Føtex. Frothy white good mostly deminishing head. Orange colour. moderate malty and light hoppy aroma. Light sweetmoderate bitetr flavor. Average finish. Oily palate. A little boring.
Earlier Rating: 12/2/2007 Total Score: 3.2
Bottle. Creamy off-white excellent mostly lasting head. Orange colour. Moderate malty and hoppy aroma. Grassy notes. Moderate bitter flavor. Average moderate bitter finish. Oily palate. Wellbalanced nice but a little boring beer.

500ml bottle from Caskj & Glass in Tonbridge. Pasteurised I guess as no mention on BCA. Very attractive winter scene on label of oast house in snow. Amber, thin beige head. Plenty of the promised crystallised citrus fruits. Its better than the 2007, less heavy, more of the crystallised fruit. Some Xmas cake spice. More of a Belgian tripel but without the yeast. Malts are more toffeeish. Faint Sheps yeast aroma. Crystallised clementines, satsuma and mandarins. Toasty aroma. Some pasteurisation evident on the candy sugar empty malts. Alcohol is never evident. REally drinkable. Lovely fruit and strong hop presence on finish. Yep one to have again
Earlier Rating: 12/27/2007 Total Score: 3.6
500ml bottle at King’s Head, Wye. Copper no head. Some yeast, lots of citrus on the aroma. Lots of hops for a Sheps beer. Bit of fine carbonation, some toffee flavour in mouth. Rich, Xmas cake aroma, then orangey citrus and heavy hit of hops. Another decent Sheps Christmas beer.

(Old notes done at the end of 2007) Brownish amber colour. Clear. Small head. Malts and some spiciness in nose and taste. Tastes like a beer from Shepherd Neame does.

500 ml bottle. Clear amber colour, thin but persistent creamy off-white head. Citrus fruits, caramel and grassy hops in the aroma. The flavour is caramel-malty, with citrus fruits and a rather dry but warm hoppy finish.

[Bottled] Clear amber, small bubbly head. Perfumeish aroma with some citric fruitiness. Rather sweet with toffee and floral hoppiness. Medium bitterness and pretty evident alcohol.
Earlier Rating: 12/14/2007 Total Score: 3.1
Bottled. Golden with a small, off-white head. Light, fruity, malty aroma. Vinous/alco-flavour. Tropical fruits and perfume.

Bottle. Clear amber colour with medium creamy white mostly diminishing head. Malty aroma with notes of caramel. Sweet fruity flavor. Warm alcohol finish.
Earlier Rating: 12/27/2007 Total Score: 3
Bottle. Clear amber colour with medium creamy off-white mostly diminishing head. Malty aroma with notes of caramel. Sweet spicy flavor. Bitter finish.

<i>Bottled. </i> Clear amber, creamy head. Orangey perfumy aroma. Sweetish and caramelly. Evident perfumy orangey hops swim in toffee. Finishes with mediu mbitterness and some warming alcohol.
Earlier Rating: 11/28/2007 Total Score: 3.3
Bottled. Nut brown, firm head. Perfumy, flowery hops up front. Sweet with clean mouthfeel. Solid, fruity nutty malt lies behind a good amount of perfumy hops. Uncomplicated, but full flavoured and quite good.