Hopback Pickled Santa

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Has a rich, malty, yeasty aroma with an undertone of spice and sweet hints. Pours a clear coppery-amber with a white head that does not stick around. Flavor is yeasty and malty with a hint of spice and just a touch of hops. Texture is tingly and lively so it dances on the tongue and on the way down.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 5

Sampled on 2/26/2012. This English Strong Ale pours a medium orange gold color from a 500ml bottle. Small to medium sized white foamy head, with decent retention and nice lacing. The aroma is slightly caramel and bready, with some orange and spices. A light to medium bodied English Strong Ale. The malts are mildly bready, caramel and sweet. The hops are earthy. Mild carbonation, A touch light, not quite watery but it is close. Not a lot of flavor, but the orange and spices are nice, just wish it had a little more flavor. I should know by now not to expect much form these ‘themed’ Christmas beers. This one at least is, at least, not as offensive as some of them. Mouthfeel is thin. Finish is clean. Aftertaste is slightly bitter and a touch spicy.

Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 5

Cask@The Rake, London. Amber colour, small beige bubbly head. Aroma is fruits, mild spices as well as some slight hoppyness. Flavour is fruits, wood, mild spices as well as some notes of herbs. Not very interesting.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

This is also known as the Ridgeway Pickled Santa (which I've also had), a nice English Strong Ale. The beer pours a nice copper colour with a huge head. The aroma is sweet caramel malt and seasonal spices. The flavour was malty withy hints of coriander.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

Very well carbonated, a careful pour produces an almost four-finger thick, light tan colored head. The beer is a darkish red tinted, amber color and shows a brilliantly clear, light cranberry hue when held up to the light. Aromas of spices are quite prominent, with definite notes of nutmeg, some clove, hints of cinnamon and allspice. The spices, while not entirely overbearing, really dominate the aromatic scene-scape; perhaps a touch of dusty, almost moldy, toasted malt comes in at the end, as does something that is a bit vegetal.

Very well carbonated, enough so that I need to release a bunch of it before going on. The head gets roused to seven fingers in height as I swirl the carbonation out. It is still a bit more carbonated than a typical English beer, but I have run out of head space and it is much more manageable now. The beer is lightly sweet with flavors of apples, plums and raisins. It also has a light tartness to it and it finishes with a spicy, quite astringent note in the finish that almost mimics a hop bitterness. This finish seems to be sort of nutmeg driven. Quite light bodied, with just a bit of heft to it as it rests on the tongue.

The spice character is not as prominent in the flavor as it is in the aroma, but it still plays the dominant role. The spices are tempered a bit by the fruit flavors and a touch of maltiness. A pretty easy drinking beer, but just not really what I am looking for.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

White head melts quickly leaving some bubbles on top of the russet amber chestnut hue. Aromas of cinnamon and other spices rise to the schnoz along with other clean scents that I can't put my finger on. Mild flavors of cinnamon, coriander, and nutmeg really come out on the taste buds, with a nice malty character. A subtle hoppy/sudsy aftertaste finishes off this Christmas treat. Where was this last year?

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 6

Poured a medium amber color with minimal head even when dumped in an English pub glass. Initial aroma of shoe leather (new penny loafers) topped with nutmeg. Body was somewhat thin,ok lacing. Tasted of mild grains,toffee,nutmeg and cinnamon. Another "ok" gimicky X-mas beer. Worth a couple pints once a year.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Bottle conditioned. Clear chestnut coloured with a slim creamy white head. Spicey aroma with some fruit and malts. Flavours are upfront spicey, malty with a nice bitter and dry finish. Smooth and medium bodied; very good.