Stone/Nøgne Ø/Jolly Pumpkin Special Holiday Ale

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

From a 12oz Bottle. Mostly transparent, dark caramel color with hazelnut shell hues and a finger of creamy tan head. Smells like Thanksgiving stuffing with spicy pork sausage. The Juniper berries seem rather prominent to me, adding a bit of a harsh, piney, woody character that mixes with some higher alcohols to create a bit of brashness. Other than that, the aroma is pretty nice, especially the sage character that shines through. Full bodied, moderately carbonated mouthfeel with a thick, creamy texture. Sweet flavors of licorice and fruitcake come out on the palate right away, accompanied by a bit of nutty malt. With the exception of the chestnuts, which I presume to be contributing to the nutty malt impression, the other spice characters are easily identifiable, meaning this is far too spicy for my tastes. Nothing is off here, but it’s just way to spicy to be enjoyable as anything more than a novelty. The juniper character in particular gets far too overpowering, especially in the piney brashness that comes out in the finish. The caraway seed also adds some spice in the finish, but the juniper is too strong for this to be really enjoyable. Odd. Could also be a bit lighter to improve drinkability. Eat this one with a spoon.

Bottle at Church Key, North Beach, San Francisco, with Phyllis, 26th Mar 09. Wonderful aroma - caraway, TCP, candy sugar, alcohol, juniper and sage. Tastes of malt, chestnuts and juniper. Dry, bitter-ish finish. Very interesting.

Bottle from Toledo. Dark brown with red tint and medium, short lasting head. Aroma is hoppy, soapy, some malt, kind of weird. Flavor is perfumey, brown sugar, spices, unbalanced in so many ways. Creamy, medium body. Weird and unbalanced, the hops are very strange.

Pours a dark caramel brown color, with a small off white head. Very minty and spicy aroma. Definitely got some caraway, and sage, with a earthy mintiness, and clove. Dug the nose. The flavor had many of the same traits, as it was very spicy and minty, with some gingerbread and brown sugar. Maybe a little graham cracker as well. Very fun beer to drink, great for the holidays, especially in April when Im drinking it.

Deep amber, decent head fades into a lasting ring. Aroma a mix of spice, but natural and not overpowering, with rich caramel malts. Flavor has definite note of juniper, more caramel accented malts that are rich without being cloying, and then an undefined spicy, somewhat drying finish. Enjoyable stuff.

Pours with a crystal clear, deep amber body topped by a medium thick head with a good amount of lacing. It’s sweet and very spicy (especially in the nose) with underlying malty notes. Medium bodied, smooth and a bit warming.

12oz bottle--dunno if the Haiku or the bottled on date is October 21, 2008. Clear deep copper brown with a creamy one finger beige head that fades more quickly than the copious beads of carbonation can put out. This beer smells like Christmas--fresh spruce tips right up front. There is also some spearmint, though I don’t see it listed in the ingredients. There is also some scorched caramel and white pepper notes. Flavor seems to be a little more herbal than spice, in contrast to the aroma. Dry finish with bitterness only around a 2-3 and almost no trace of the 9%. Full smooth body with only moderate pillowy soft carbonation. Reading the bottle I didn’t think that this would be as enjoyable as it is.

Pours dark amber with tan head. Aroma is spicy and yeasty. Flavor is all about the spices, juniper, christmas tree, and sage, some nuts and oak also. Not overly malty, alcohol is not apparent and well masked. A unique twist to the winter brew style that I would gladly have again.