Review: Christmas Ale – Aledvent Calendbeer 1
Beer: Christmas Beer
Brewery: Goose Island
Type: American Brown Ale
Served: Bottled
Alc: 6.2% Vol
Aledvent Calendbeer Number: 1
December is upon us and the countdown to Christmas has begun, so to kick things off Ale to the King is reviewing Christmas Ale by Goose Island.A beer with a gorgeous nose, you get a very subtle whiff of wheat seeds and even fainter still, blackberries, its a very nice smell.
For a Christmassy, winter beer however, its a not a terribly thick, warming beer, if anything I’d describe it more as an autumnal beer. The foretaste matches this as well, which is akin to the smell of one of those sticky dart plants you used to throw at each other on a freshly cut golf course on the way home from school. Equally nice is the small fizz of very dense, tiny bubbles engulfing the tip of the tongue, which, appropriately, is a lovely, Christmassy sensation. The mid-taste has got very sweet note of red berry and treacle, which later matures as you drink further into strawberry, and the slight taste of a very smooth, wet tyre from an F1 car. A real pleasure of the beer is the way the after taste, which emphasises the treacle, lingers gorgeously on the roof of the mouth and tip of the tongue.
For a Christmassy, winter beer however, its a not a terribly thick, warming beer, if anything I’d describe it more as an autumnal beer. The foretaste matches this as well, which is akin to the smell of one of those sticky dart plants you used to throw at each other on a freshly cut golf course on the way home from school. Equally nice is the small fizz of very dense, tiny bubbles engulfing the tip of the tongue, which, appropriately, is a lovely, Christmassy sensation. The mid-taste has got very sweet note of red berry and treacle, which later matures as you drink further into strawberry, and the slight taste of a very smooth, wet tyre from an F1 car. A real pleasure of the beer is the way the after taste, which emphasises the treacle, lingers gorgeously on the roof of the mouth and tip of the tongue.
The colour is also very autumnal, a rich, tan brown of old hay, darker in colour than its taste would suggest. Its a very singular, focused and uncommon sensation that makes the beer an absolute treat that reveals itself the more you give to it. Christmas Ale is absolutely wonderful and is fast becoming one of this reviewer’s absolute favourites. Its a shame this isn’t available all year round. Or perhaps it isn’t, as I could forsee a great amount of money spent on this Chicago gem.
Ale to the King. 
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