Pitfield Christmas Ale 2002

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

Yet another beer, courtesy of the fine gentlemen (and gentlewoman, i.e. Karen!) that consist of the collective London Crew. Stopped into The Bottle Shop while pubcrawling some of the better spots in Greater London, and this was one of several bottles I ended up coming home with. Cheers!

Anyway, where do I start with this one? Typical Pitfield label -- that is to say, rather crude, with paper that immediately blots up water, smearing the very basic ink-jet design; kinda like that cheap "construction paper" you were using back in Elementary school.

355mL bottle.
"Ingredients:
Malt
Hops
Yeast
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Ginger"

"Best Before Dec. 2007." So this is a little over 2 years old, eh? Interesting.

Nice ruby-red appearence, but without much in the way of carbonation. No problem for the style, IMO.

Very "ginger-y/nutmeg-y" in aroma -- perhaps some hops in the mix, but that's only what I would call an educated guess on my part.

Kinda soapy at first, which calms down a bit once this continues to wam up some. The nutmeg makes a repeat performance, and the cinnamon stops by for a brief appearence too. They all seem to collide with each other, with nothing really standing out and taking the bull by the horns, so to speak.

Which is probably my biggest complaint with this beer. It all seems rather "mish-mashed" together..., without much in the way of melding or consolidation of the various flavors. One would think that 2 years would be enough to give this beer some sort of identity and character -- and, to be honest, I can see where this beer might be hitting it's stride in a few more years. But as-is, it's kinda disjointed and unworkable....

Music: Venom's "Calm Before The Storm".
//TB