Sly Fox Christmas Ale

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

Vertical of 750 mL bottles, 2005, 2006, 2007, thanks to secret santa, shared with NachlamSie and BossHossBikes. Pours dark amber with beige head. All have an obvious ginger aroma with some cinnamon hints... the newer bottle was spicier, and the older two were a little maltier, eventually with hints of diacetyl. The flavor is the malty side of a ginger beer. I know all these other spices are there, but the ginger just takes it to school. Drinkable, but not very artfully crafted.

poured a nice hearty brown color, nice full white head. good retention. Aroma is mildly spicy with some sweet malts. Kinda the same flavor, very watery palate.

Damn that cork was tough to get out. Great big head with lots of carbonation. Rather large bubbles that reduced pretty slowly. Festive spicy nose with some nutmeg and cinnamon. Decent helping of malts and some dry crusty bread. Color is an impressive crimson brown. Fizzy in the mouth. Fruity and spicy flavor. Lots of mint, ginger and sweet malts. Some caramel in there also. Finishes spicy and sweet with a lingering malty finish. A decent holiday brew.

THOUGHTS: Super tight cork. Foam filled the entire glass on the first pour. A nice beer but nothing real special. While it was holiday like it didn’t scream holiday to me. I’ve had pumpkin ales more christmasy than this. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a clear, medium to dark reddish amber with great carbonation and gigantic, sudsy, off-white head that mostly diminished and left virtually no lacing. The aroma was light caramel malt and holiday spices. Nice but not very strong. The initial flavor was lightly to moderately sweet and lightly acidic, while the finish was moderately sweet, lightly acidic and bitter and a little sour. The flavor was mostly caramel malt and spices. The light to medium body was a little dry and slightly syrupy but also oily with very fizzy carbonation and a lightly astringent finish.

Reddish brown color. Huge off-white head. Malts are prominent in the nose with mere hints of ginger, clove, cinnamon... Taste matches the aroma. Lots of malts with hints of spice. Aftertaste is yeast. In fact, yeast could be found at the bottom of the glass. A bit disappointed in this one.

750mL bottle. I let this sit out of the fridge for about a half hour before popping the cork. Poured a very pretty reddish color; very clean and clear. Poured carefully, not much head, but the head was course. Aroma was malty w/ a hint of spices, but much much less than I expected. Smells thick yet weak. Well carbonated, but not overly, which dissipates nicely as it sits. Not impressed at first... just malty with not much flavor going on; weak and average. However, as it warms, the spices come out subtlety both in the aroma and flavor with a slight bitter finish on the back of the tongue progressing to malty and yeasty. The brew was good, but just not special enough to hold a special spot in my fridge during every holiday season.

Bottle - Overcarbed so that even the most gentle pour resulted in a massive amount of rocky tan foam. After the foam reduced, there was a weak aroma of spices. Flavor is muddled spices with a very light hint of malt then finishes with a heavy spicy & yeasty note. Watery palate. Disappointing beer from an otherwise solid brewery.

A drinkable beer, but not much going on flavorwize. Aroma was weak but could pick up caramel malt. Pour was a beautfiul dark amber with a huge pillowy 4 finger tan/white head that stayed most of the drink. Taste was very weak. Could pick up some caramel malt and maybe a hint of spices but nothing strong enough to decipher. As it warms, there is a little nutmeg in the aftertaste but that’s about it. Nicely carbonated and the flavor barely breaks through the bubbles.