Stone/Nøgne Ø/Jolly Pumpkin Special Holiday Ale

Brewed by Stone Brewing Co.
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Escondido, California USA

2. Thanks, RiversideAK! Pours clear dark orange with a white ring of foam. Pine, caramel and nutty aroma. Medium body, tending to light carbonation. Caramel, nut and rye taste.

Pours mahogany into a tulip. Beige head quickly recedes to hug rim. Rye, chocolate and juniper aromas. Sweet rye upfront turning peppery and resinous in the dry, lasting finish.

My Bottom Line:
Rye spiciness and juniper fruitiness float atop the firm toasted malt sweetness, as alcohol heat and potent hop bitterness seal this frothy sipper.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A veil of foam covers the misty mahogany.
-Some roasted malts join in the fun.
-The fruitiness is also akin to pomegranate juice or red currants.
-The spicy, sweet nose does not presage this brew’s relative dryness.


Bottle.

12 ounce bottle enjoyed at Downtown Brown’s in San Diego. Interesting aroma with spiciness, leather, and herbal rye notes. Some mineral aromas also make an appearance. Complex and enjoyable. Transparent dark cola/light mahogany body with a nice off yellow head that is strong. Initial impression = tastes like a hair parlor. Fruity, floral, light, sweet flavors to start. Some rye juniper notes in the middle with some roasty choco notes, too. Finishes really smooth and floral. Enjoyable stuff.

Thumbs up to xmarcnolanx for sharing this one. Pours dark tawny brown with a soapy tan head. The aroma has different spices than I’m used to smelling (sage, caraway?), cinnamon, dry red berries and light cream. Medium, rough body with a woodiness to it with micro soft carbonation. The flavor starts dry and spiced up, powdery and floral with some sweetness from the malt. The finish is dry as a bone with an over abundance of spice with a powdery spice trait that never leaves your mouth. The alcohol is well hidden, but this one is a bit too spiced up for me to want very much.

Bottle. Very dark brown, fairly flat. Nice inviting spicy aroma -- and this drinks with a robust herbal kick, initially quite piney, and woodsy, but as it settles over the tongue it seems like there’s an almost coffee thing going on here too. Quite the complex beer, well done. (#3548, 5/21/2009)

12oz bottle. Slightly hazy dark reddish brown, disappearing beige head. Very spicy nose, woodiness, nuts, aniseed, dark syrupy toffee, strong caraway bread, very interesting spices. Flavor is a bit less spicy, even slightly stuffy with little caraway, molasses, little alcohol, licorice and earth in the finish, not as exciting as the nose. Almost full bodied, smooth palate. Great aroma, nicely different spices, thou they get a bit lost in the flavor. But definitely feels like christmas.

Interesting beer. Deep brown with ruby-red highlights. Fully body. Smooth, weighty and thick, and it thickens even more as you swish. Flavors of soft bread dough, wood, nuts, and chalky caramel. Spices are bright, peppery and sprightly, and they blend well with the grassy, plant-like hop bitterness. Spices are bold yet not overwhelming. Festive stuff.