Stone/Nøgne Ø/Jolly Pumpkin Special Holiday Ale

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

Bottle courteously of mashmaster. Aroma has notes of blueberry, wild berries, nuts, pine, licorice, and sweet malts. Very dark brown hue with a small off-white head that left good lace. Flavor is sweet with slightly cloying finish. Palate is full bodied and oily flat. Nice and different but a bit cloying. Wouldn’t kick it out of bed.

Bottle pours a hazed chestnut body with a medium beige head. Spicy and herbal aroma with a bold pine hop note. Creamy medium full body. Taste has roasty notes, caramel, and a dominant spiciness of ginger, nutmeg, juniper berry, and pepper. Pine hop bitterness and alcohol warmth add complexity. Works as a winter warmer but too spicy for much else.

bottle..really underrated!! great beer..nice reddish brown pour with small tan head.. Nice Flavour of spice and sugar.. nice calm ending!! Great Beer

Muddy, hazy deep brown coloured body with light ruby tints and a thin, fast-dying tan head. Aroma of currants, nutmeg, allspice, star anise and a bit of oak and vanilla. Medium-bodied; Strong astringent alcohol flavour up front with plenty of carbonation tucked in with some milder spices and a lot of caramalised sugars. The anise comes out near the end with some other strong flavoured spices like spruce. Aftertaste strong and potent - nice to try though. Overall, a decent beer - but nothing too special. I would have rather this been a beer by a single brewery, but I appreciate the effort of these three working together! Neat concept - perhaps a better beer next time though. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased from Whole Foods in Falls Church (Tyson’s Corner), Virignia on 13-February-2009, sampled at home in Washington on 06-March-2009.

Bottle, dark brown red color. Aroma of grapfruit, dark cherries and the juniper. One of the first thing that came to mind was the thought of a throat lozenge. Very interesting, but I can not shake the idea that this taste like a cough drop with dry malt notes. Nevertheless I thought it was good and I enjoy interesting beers like this.

Bottle. Pours to a deep red-brown with a nice, lasting beige head. This is a very spicy, but well balanced brew that I think captures the essence of the holidays better than any other.

Bottle. Malty, semi-sweet ripe fruit aroma. Cloudy reddish brown body, small thick off-white head. Flavor has powerful malt, some sweetness and fruit, and a woodsy spiciness. It all hangs together quite well.

12 oz bottle from beastiefan2k. Pour is garnet, mostly clear. Beautiful swirling and cascading leads to a one inch beige head. Head has large bubbles, but is quite lasting. Streaky lacing. Aroma of pine spruce, vanilla, chestnuts and some soft honey sweetness on top of all of that. Also some clove white pepper spiciness. Complex and inviting nose. Taste is initially the nuttiness, followed quickly by pine, spruce and juniper. The finish has resin grainy cloves. The sweetness of the nose is only nominally present in the taste, and is a brief flash of honey at the start. A bit of mineral earthy white pepper in the finish adds nice complexity. As with the nose, unique and integrated. Palate is medium, mouth coating and turning a little slick in the finish. Nice sipper, I really enjoyed this one. Did not realize it was 9% until I looked here, it hides that well. Thanks for giving me this one Eugene.