Sly Fox Christmas Ale

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

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.

Ugh. I didn’t like this. Just eat a good Christmas cookie instead, so heavy on the spicing. The carbonation plus spices came through like an artificially sweetened ginger snap. Smell nice, looks decent.

750 ml bottle. Deep amber red beer with a thick creamy and persistent head. Good looking beer really. Aroma is loaded with sweet christmas spices. Loads of ginger, nutmeg, coriander and light cinnamon. Fairly sweet malts but balanced by the ginger and spicy cinnamon. It’s quite light and refreshing, yet warming at the same time. It could use a more interesting yeast, but it’s quite nice nonetheless.

750ML Bottle courtesy of Summer Secret Santa 07. Aray of spices and sweet nutmeg aroma. Amber body with light tan head. Flavor has for the most part spicey carbination to it. Sweet nutmeg syrupy flavor thickens body and gives a cinnamon candy flavor. Sticky nutmeg sweet aftertaste left on the palate. Good Brew thanks John.

Dark amber brown. Very fizzy and overflowed the glass upon pouring. Spice aroma of cinammon, allspice, clove, nutmeng. Beer itself is thin and mild tasting, mainly caramel/honey and pie crust malt. Also ginger in the taste. Hops are not noticeable, however, alcohol is towards the end.

Bottle: Poured an orange color with a nice head. The aroma was that of cinnamon, cloves, spice, nutmeg, The flavor was that of Pine, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Ginger, Cloves...basically it was Christmas in a Bottle. Very good holiday beer. One of my favorites by far.

Brown glass, corked and caged, 2007. Sweet clovey and spicy aroma, caramel and cinnamon with ginger and nutmeg. Allspice and a pleasant yeast component. Noisy tan head on a clear amber-copper body. A bit too much ginger and nutmeg for me, but a good, hearty dryness and woody/nutty component. Definitely a holiday brew, a big brown ale. Medium-full body, crisp with a nice bit of spicy prickling. Aftertaste is dry and nutmeggy, with a dash of allspice. Enjoyable enough, but in the end, forgettable, and certainly doesn’t seem to warrant the hefty packaging.

12/31/07 - *for some reason this didn’t save the first time* 750 shared with Naka from trade. Pours a nice orange with huge head, four fingers worth, white and foamy. Big fruity nose of pineapple and mango. Has a big holiday spice flavor, cinnamon, all spice, nutmeg, with a good dose of ginger. Slight alcohol warmth in the finish and slightly dry. Pretty decent.