Stone/Nøgne Ø/Jolly Pumpkin Special Holiday Ale

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

12oz bottle. Pours dark ruby brown with a small beige head. Aroma of fruit, malt, spice - sage, caraway. Taste is malty, spicey, fruit, caramel. Body is full, carbonation is mild, and finish is smooth. Overall, an interesting brew.

12oz. bottle. Little bit of a gusher. Deep, dark, ruby pour with a small off-white head. Very rich dark fruit aroma. The chestnut and sage aromas are evident but the Juniper is very subtle and I don’t really smell the caraway. There is also some sticky sweet molasses in the aroma, a little bit of a vinous quality, and even some faint oak.. It really almost smells like a spiced English barley wine. Such complexity! The flavor is surprisingly different from the aroma. There is some very strong black pepper flavor wrapped around dark fruit and burnt coffee notes. The caraway and juniper gives a dry bitter finish and the chestnut just sort of lingers faintly throughout. Creamy, medium full body with a fair amount of carbonation and some good alcohol warming. I didn’t like the flavor quite as much as the aroma but it really is a truly interesting and unique beer from 3 amazing brewers.

Crushed with Jakebra. One hell of a combination of masterbrewers. Goddamn. Single the word, double the talk-talk, triple the babble to tell me what they say. Lots going on in the nose. The spices really show through in the nose, especially the sage and the caraway. Flavor packs a punch, with a nice, minty-sage aftertaste. About as good as one would expect from this collaboration, and that’s a compliment.

12 ounce bottle from Wine Warehouse Inc. Pours a ruddy hazy copper color with a small head. Good head retention and lacing. Nutty and spicy aroma with huge sage and juniper notes. Taste is very spicy... juniper, rye and sage. Begins nutty with a toffeish finish. Full bodied.

courtesy of bigebeer. Pours ruby brown with frothy tan head. Aroma of light brett, Christmas herbs and spices. Light nose of berries with cinnamonand light malts. Taste is just as described. All is well balanced with nothing coming on top. Do get the mouthfeel of light Juniper berries, yeasty brett (must be Jolly) More nutty mouthfeel that wasn’t really present in aroma, cinnamon. Turned out to be a good collaboration.

Bottle courtesy of Tim. Pours a dark cloudy amber with a medium beige head. Aroma of winter spice with light juniper berry. Taste is spicy with winter characteristics such as juniper berries, tangy malt< caramel and cranberry.

Bottle, courtesy SeaBass. Brownish pour, filmy tan head, thick sheets of lacing. Nose is hoppy, with some juniper, bitter citrus, chalky. Flavors of caramel, tasty ginger and juniper, some bitter hops, distant clove. Medium-bodied, balanced and tasty.

Bottle at chris o’s teabag for 2009 tasting. Alround rating: Massivly spicey, fairly off putting, far too sweet and too spicey. I probably should have rated this lower.