Stone/Nøgne Ø/Jolly Pumpkin Special Holiday Ale

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

This is why I spend money on good beer. It’s strange, but very satisfying. It’s almost like Stone brewing brought the hops and Jolly Pumpkin brought the wacky yeast and the spices... Unfortunately, I don’t know Nogne-o well enough to tell what they brought to the beer. The aroma is great, very herbal, sort of like gruit. The taste has a subtle maltiness that is hopped like a true Stone beer. Buy it.

Bottle at Mugs in Brooklyn. Home brew yeast aroma with hints of sage. I brewed a beer that smelled like this with lemon grass and dandelion. Clear amber color with a small tan head. Lightly bitter spices that fades in the finish. I like the idea of this beer but could use some refining.

Bottle: Pours an orangish-brown, with a frothy tan head, aroma of spices, hops, taste has some initial hop flavor but mellows quickly into malts and strong spicey notes,finishes with a dry bitterness in the throat. Interesting brew but not something I’d want to drink more than once a year.

Bottle. Poured a deep chestnut brown color with red edges when held to the light and a thick, dense light beige head that slowly faded to a thick layer and left some decent lacing. Aroma of raspberry jam and juniper berries, some light breadiness with some spicy hints that are similar to the stuffing referred to by other raters, a light nuttiness and some brown sugar. Smooth, muted entry with some light bitterness and a bit of faint tart, dry fruit (cranberry and juniper berry) and a light floral hoppiness that transitions into a spicy breadiness with some light hints of fruit. A bit high on the carbonation, which may disguise subtle nuances. A bit abrasive, which takes away from the overall enjoyment for me, but perhaps that is something a bit of time could fix. Not my style.

Pours brown with a thin white head. Smells spicy and hoppy with some sour/tarte hints. Tastes spicy and tarte with a full bodied finish. Surprising and interesting.

this beer was a lot better than I expected. dark in color with a slightly funky nose. tastes like a strong brown ale with a tiny bit a sourness and spiceness. definetly a winter warmer, you can tatse the alcohol in this one. If you focus hard enough on the beer you can pick up characteristics of each brewery in the beer. Great collaboration, unique and interesting!

Bottle. Pours a mahogany brown body with a 1finger tan head. Spices all over this ginger, cinnamon, cloves, berries, pepper. Ginger and more clove, light nuttiness. Jeez its like they dumped spices into a beer, weird, at least the 9% went undetected. I think this is the first beer that i didnt taste a traditional all to familiar JP yeast.

(12oz bottle, courtesy of BMan1113VR) Pours an amber-brown body with a medium beige head. Aroma of juniper berries, Thanksgiving stuffing, rye, nuts, roasted malt, and ginger. Flavor of juniper berries, roasted malt, black pepper, grassy, orange, and possible some caraway with a bitter finish.