Sly Fox Christmas Ale

Brewed by Sly Fox Brewhouse
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Royersford and Phoenixville, Pennsylvania USA

Poured a clear copper to ruby color with a nice initial head. Good retention. All downhill from there. Tons of ginger in the aroma, and ginger starts to turn me off. Man, the flavor was all ginger, totally reminded me of Great Lakes’ Christmas Ale, and that isn’t a good thing. Ginger, cardamum (bottle didn’t mention it, though), cinammon, a big spicey mess, no idea what the malt base tasted like. Mouthfeel wasn’t bad, slightly acidic, boy the flavor was a mess. Too much spice.

My first fox. Got this on tap at the Bocktown Bar in the Robinson Township Mall shopping center complex. Terra the waitress told me it has lots of cloves. Pours brown yellow orange with no red in my glass. Tan head that hangs around for awhile. Has a sweet clove aroma. Yep, lots of cloves in the intital taste bite, perhaps a bit too much spices. There is a noticable lack of sweetness. Has an offensive bitterness to it that I just can’t handle. More like an IPA or imp stout. Finish is medicine bitter that long lingers after you finally swallow it. Some hints of dirt in the finish also.

2006 version, Merry Christmas! Well, pours out a very deep and pretty reddish copper with a thick white head. Man this thing smells spicy and sweet. Sugar, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and candied fruit come out in the nose. Taste is nice and definatley Chirstmas. All your favorite holiday spices with a hint of orange and some slight bitterness. Not a bad beer but I’m afraid this might be a clone of Anchor OSA. Still not a bad little beer.

2006 edition brought by Dr.Jay.Mostly foamy head on orange body. Medium mouthfeel,lots of spice, not too crazy on the ginger, then there is nutmeg, orange, cinammon, clove. Hops back there, and not bitter. Kind of thrown all together, a spicy flavour beer.Not my best Sly Fox, but quaffable.

(75cl, 2006 vintage, thanks shadrach) Clear copper body topped by enormous beige head. Aroma is moderately sweet, pumpkin pie -- ginger, nutmeg, clove, allspice. Taste is medium sweet, clove, allspice, ginger, light nutmeg, cinnamon. Light-medium body. Despite the spices essentially being the sole characteristic, they never overpower.

really nice rich heavy beer, not sure how to describe the style, but still a good beer.

09.12.06 750ml, 2006 version. I intended to send this out in trade but it didn’t fit in the box so, here I am, drinking it myself. The beer is an attractive caramel brown with massive tan head that lasts with consistent and large bubbles. They’re the kind of bubbles that make me think this beer is headed in the wrong direction - worrisome. Aroma is as advertised with a bunch of spices and a decent dose of earthy hops. Nothing at all to confirm that there may be an issue with the beer (diacetyl, etc) and there was not. The aroma develops nicely with temp with cakey, full, and sweet flavors, deep spicing, and some nice earthtones. While it was (thankfully) less spiced than expected, it was sweeter than I’d like and the body seemed overwhelmed by some hefty eff. The finish is redeeming as the hops really shine and the beer cleans up nicely with a good woodsy driness. Something tells me there’s a lack of communication between the major players in this beer, yet it’s one of the better so-called spiced beers I’ve had in a while.

Tap at WAH. Clear dark copper with a minimal head. Almost overpowering multi-spice aroma--nutmeg, clove, ginger, brown sugar and some meatiness--reminiscent of a glazed Virginia ham. Is there apple, pumpkin and/or mincemeat in the aroma as well, or is my brain being led to believe so by the heavily suggestive spices? After a while, the ginger and meaty yeast characteristics in the beer lead to a Chinese pork dumpling and soy sauce aroma. Flavor a little more subtle than the aroma-- dark apple spice cake malt with a bit of brown sugar, but still too overdone. Medium bodied with slight carbonation. In my opinion, an overspiced mess. Bah.