Telegraph Winter Ale

bottle, amber color with short head, aroma of Christmas spices, flavors of juniper berries, clove, belgian sugar, some chocolate, finishes a little thin

750 ml corked and caged bottle poured a clear dark reddish brown with a lasting tan head. Aromas of cocoa, allspice, chilis, cinnamon and a hint of vanilla. Palate was light to medium bodied and crisp. Flavors of cocoa, allspice, cinnamon and light chili with a crisp lingering bittersweet finish.

(750ml bottle, courtesy of BMan1113VR) Pours a hazy brown body with a small beige head. Aroma of cinnamon, spruce, allspice, chocolate, smoked chiles, and raisins. Flavor of cocoa, cinnamon, spruce, raisins, clove, nutmeg, caramel malt, earthiness, and roasted chilies with a moderately dry finish.

Pours with a huge, foamy light brown head and a murky deep brown body. Very interesting aroma. Notes of peppers, spearmint, peppermint, cocoa powder, bananas, baking chocolate, flour, cinnamon, allspice and twigs. Taste is chocolate, and earthy with notes of earthiness, christmas spices, woodsy, sweet and minty with leather in the finish. Very lively carbonation.

bottle thanks to bman113vr. deep brown almost black pour with a thin cream head. nose is malts, nutmeg, pine and cinnamon. very interesting on the palate, with a heavy cinnamon flavor backed by nutmeg. not had on the finish with a cinnamon finish.

Thanks to TheCheeseMan for this - this bottle has been sitting in my fridge for a couple of weeks, and I’m sick of looking at it every time I go in there to grab a pickle or some cheese of something, so here we go - fizzy dark ruby beer - minimal, poorly sustained head - the aroma starts things off in a promising direction, with loads of spices and herbs (cinnamon, nutmeg, rosemary, thyme, peppercorns), and an underlying caramel/cocoa/nutty sweetness - the flavor is tart and acidic - at first, I thought this was infected, but additional sips made me believe this was intentional - underneath this, that complex spice combination from the aroma comes through, as well as a light caramel sweetness - quite a bit of tart, nearly sour cherry character throughout - near the end, the beer gets very peppery and warming, with the slightest hint of chocolate - finish of lingering herbs and astringent acidity - I’m still not entirely sure this bottle is what the brewer intended it to be - either way, it’s a so-so drinking experience.

Growler from the brewery last December, and somehow forgot to enter my notes until now. Dark purple-brown. Richly spiced aroma that does indeed have some similarities to mexican chocolate. Caramel and sharply spicy flavor. Finished a bit astringent. Started quite good, but by the end the spices were a bit heavy handed, and there wasn’t much chocolate flavor as advertised. Fun to split with a bunch of people, but I wouldn’t want a whole bottle of this to myself.

Deep mahogany, reddish brown, tan head. Spicy aroma is similar to pumpkin ale Alcohol is noticeable. Gently carbonated but big mouthfeel. Goes well with the chili chocolate we have. Really like this, it’s nice and smooth.