December 25

December 25 - Goose Island Christmas Ale (Vintage from 2012)

 

As the blog comes to a temporary close (I'll keep doing this, just under a different post title), I first of all hope you enjoyed coming to see what I had to think about various types of beers.  I am no expert, but I had a blast giving you my thoughts, and of course tastes, on beers you may want to try.

 

After the hustle and bustle of watching two children open gifts and be ecstatic for everything that they received, as well as traversing to various family get togethers today, I feel that I deserve a beer.  I just hope that I make it to the end before I finish the beer and this blog post.  I'm exhausted!

 

At least none of the visits ended up like this today

 

For the Christmas night nightcap, we have a bottle of Goose Island Christmas Ale, which is a bottle from 2012.  I guess it's called vintage that way, but I'm just going on what I see others call it.  From what I gather, according to their website, Goose Island has replaced this with another Brown Ale called Sixth Day.

 

This Brown Ale (7.3%) pours a reddish-brown with a thin, creamy white head at the top.  The aroma is obviously a strong caramel that is sweet, not bitter.  It reminds me of the aroma I get with some tripel-style brews (strangely enough...).  The taste is very malty and hearty with a mix of various malts.  Brown sugar can be tasted here too.  The finish is sweet followed by a slight bitterness that sets in after the fact. 

 

Overall, I'm not a huge fan of brown ales.  I'll drink them, but they're not my first choice on the shelf.  However, 'tis the season for Christmas-related things, and with that said, I would purchase this beer again.  I wouldn't drink more than 2 of them at a sitting, mainly because the sweet caramel flavor would quickly get to me.  Appreciating this for what it is, I have to give this beer a 3.5/5.  The spices make it unique for a brown ale.