Sweetwater Festive Ale

Brewed by Sweetwater Brewing Company
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Atlanta, Georgia USA

Malty, a tad watered-down. Vaguely comparable to Anchor Our Special Ale with a little more alcohol. Something just isn’t right here. Spicey, but leaves a lot to be desired IMHO.

2005. Black with brown hues. Small off white head. Roasty malt, spices, alcohol, gingerbread, nutmeg in the nose. Flavor is the same with some hops jumping in along with a bit of licorice/anise, also. Full, viscous body. Surprisingly easy drinking. Roasty aftertaste. Very good.

Deep brown with reddish hue. Light head and lace. Sweet nose but slightly grainy and fall spicy. Molassis upfront, pretty chocolaty too and lingers hops follow through to dry out, nice mellow chocolate finish.

First rating, 2005 bottle. Numbers 8/3/8/4/18/4.1. Rich chestnut pour; nearly opaque blood red in the glass. Small hurricane-swirl head. Velvety hazelnut, milk chocolate, cinnamon, and coffeeshop aromas. Flavor is quite sweet and surprisingly fruity- prune, grape, peach, maraschino cherry- with decadent choclate and mulling spices (cinnamom/clove). Mild acetone taste in the finish. Rich and chewy mouthfeel, subtle prickly carbonation. Filling. Barely bitter cocoa nib aftertaste with some hemp herbality. 8+%... really? Delicious.*** 2008, bottle 3384. Very deep... well, brown...barely carbonated, thin fizzy mocha head. Interesting aroma combines dark rum, vanilla, molasses, mango, toasted raisin bread, faint smoke... and an unexpected sense of meatball sub! Malty sweet flavor, just shy of cloying... cola and roasty/chocolate notes... ints of orange, cherry, tropical fruit. Strange palate... spritzy and "milky" texture without being thick. Minty finish. Sweet anise, napthalene, and beefy aftertaste. No buzz at all after swallowing a liter of the stuff. A pleasant winter warmer with kind of a Memphis bbq sauce vibe. Most certainly NOT the same recipe as originally rated.

Maybe its just the name, but this beer reminds me of Christmas. Smells like nutmeg and has many different fruit flavors in there as well as some other spices. Great for sipping in front of a fire.

Aroma of sour malts, hops and caramel. Caramel/copper color with no head. Tastes of spices, caramel and chocolate. Very enjoyable.

2005 Numbered swing top bottle. Thanks to aracauna and jimbowood for supplying me with samples of this one. Whoever decided to wax a swingtop bottle, please reconsider in the future. After spending about 20 minutes prying the wax off the bottle and opening up this one, the contents poured out brown with a tan head. Smells of raisins, spices, gingerbread, vanilla, alcohol. Tastes spicey with some nice chocolate and coffee notes present. Some grassy notes pop in as the beer warms. Mouthfeel is thin and bits of alcohol can be felt. Warming alcohol, tarte fruit and sweet malty finish.

Deep cherry black in color and barely translucent when put to light, with a bubbly tan rung and a few dust streaks for the head. Wonderful, festive aroma of raisins, nutmeg, brown sugar, cinnamon, dates and plum pudding, with a sweet and distantly encouraging waft of gingerbread men. Flavor definitely says Christmas. Cinnamon-heavy mulled apple cider and warming mince meat pie. Figgy pudding edge. Peppered spice wine with accentuations from black raspberries. Molasses / ginger snap cookies provide a sweet outtake after every sip. Light, substantive spice sensations throughout. Honed and controlled carbonation that lets the celebratory flavor shine, finishing with craisins, brown sugared cinnamon apple sauce and a touch of prunes. Thanks for the bottle, CaptainCougar!