Sly Fox Christmas Ale

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

On tap at Earth. Spicy aroma with lots of clove, bread, and nutmeg. Spicy taste thats not overwhelming. Balanced and delicious.

Tightest cork I ever had. Finally got it open and it poured a dark red with big frothy head. Aroma of pumpkin pie. Nice flavor of malt and pumpkin pie spice. Dry finish. Good.

Sample at the Columbus Ratebeer gathering at ogglethorp’s 11/20/08: After several people and tools are involved in removing the cork, the beer pours a deep reddish-amber color with a thick and creamy beige head that recedes slowly. Patches of lacing on the glass. Aroma of spice cookies and a touch of malt. Medium-bodied with a spice rack flavor profile, and low levels of malt and hops underneath. The finish is cinnamon and ginger with a short aftertaste. A decent beer, but kind of a one-trick reindeer.

2006 bottle; not the best time of season for it, but oh well. When poured it still had alot of carbonation; had to pour carefully. Color was dark auburn, with a big khaki head. Aroma of caramel, cinnamon, clove and other spices; some light nutty and vanilla hints. Flavor had a good malty backbone for the style; soem caramel and vanilla-ish flavors. Good spicing at the end; not too overdone. Surprisingly good flavor; sessionable for the style, which is unusual for me to say.

I tugged on the cork until my hands hurt then I decided it was time to break out the corkscrew. Wasn’t too sure I would like this beer after I popped the cork and the beer spilled all over me. After I cleaned up the mess and sat down I poured the christmas ale into a glass and not surprisingly the head was huge. After it settled down I was able to get a lot of ginger and, fruit and sweetness in the nose. It kind of tastes like a gingerbread cookie. This actually is a good christmas beer. The dry finish is nice to offset some of the sweetness. I honestly wasn’t expecting much from this brew but was pleasantly surprised.

2006 bottle provided by Eyedrinkale at DLD, thanks Mike: Caramel hued with a long lasting frothy head and very good lace. The aroma has notes of pumpkin pie spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, clove), grainy, caramel, flowery and yeasty. The taste has a biting spice overtone supported by some fruity and caramel notes. The finish is a tad yeasty and nutty. The mouth feel is dry and chewy. A nice complex beer but the spice character does become a tad overbearing in the end.

Sampled from a 750ml brown bottle this beer poured a slightly hazy ruby-caramel color with a huge tan head that lingered. The aroma was a lovely and richly complex mix of strong sweet and nutty malts, caramel, ripened fruit, ginger and spices. The flavor was a nicely complex mis of nutty malts, caramel, brown sugar, cocoa, ginger and allspice. Drier than I had been led to believe. The ginger, fruit and cocoa continue long on the finish. A remarkable beer, and one I will be looking forward to again next year.

Bah humbug. More of a Christmas cookie than a Christmas ale. Malty back bone, but the whole thing is overwhelmed by spices. Long after I’ve put the glass down and gone upstairs to enter my review I still taste gingersnap, clove, cinnamon. Pleasant sweet spice nose. Rich clear copper pour with a huge light brown head. Sweet, overly spiced, malt backbone, more spice, tannic nutty mouth feel. Sounds ok, but it just doesn’t work for me. Drain pour.