Day 153, Beer 153 - Shepherd Neame's "Christmas Ale"

Today's Beer

Name – Christmas Ale

Brewer – Shepherd Neame

Classification – Strong 'Seasonal' Ale... (Read on for 'clarification')

Strength – 7.0% ABV

Verdict - At A Glance

On the eye – Sumptuous deep chestnut. Unashamedly traditional. (But appearances can deceive...)

On the nose – Fruit cake and ginger biscuit. (Fragrances can also be deceptive...)

On the tongue – A genuine surprise. Light bodied, vividly hopped, complex, dynamic and really rather wonderful. (Taste never lies.)

On the subject – Well, I think you'd better just read on for this one...

On the market – Considering Shepherd Neame's usual coverage, and considering the time of year, I'd say just close your eyes, make a wish, and it will be there.

On the whole – 8.5/10

Full Review

Well, I was steadfastly determined not to review any 'Christmas' beers whatsoever this year until those insolent scoundrels at Shepherd Neame forced me into a corner by sending me a free one.

Don't you just hate it when that happens?

The simple reason why I'd (briefly) intended to avoid so-called festive beers is because of the quite baffling effect 'Yuletide' seems to have on the entire brewing industry. By and large, breweries tend to use this time of year as an opportunity to toss away the tremendous levels of respect which they've carefully generated throughout the previous 11 months by handing over responsibility for their Christmas campaign to the nearest newborn gibbon.

As an inevitable result of this handover, the end of year market becomes flooded with all manner of daftly-named, garishly-labelled bottles, most of which are filled with beers that the head brewers (who have also been temporarily replaced by infant gibbons) know will hardly be consumed after December 25^th, so they really ought not to be the finest ales their company will ever produce.

This, of course, is a very cynical view and not at all an accurate representation of what truly goes on.

Much!

Whatever the realities, I just tend not to get all that excited about the beers which show up at this time of year. So it was with an air of quiet suspicion that I cracked the lid on today's beer.

Very shortly afterwards, however, my spirits began to rise.

When I say 'rise', I mean really quite significantly, and I began to believe that the suspicions I've recently been harbouring about 'Britain's Oldest Brewery' might actually be correct.

In short, I think something's happening at Shepherd Neame.

I think changes, subtle at first but increasingly evident lately, have been taking place. And if this beer alone is anything to go by – I'd say those changes are enormously positive ones.

This brewery's aforementioned claim to be 'Britain's Oldest' is one for the lawyers and historians to quibble over, but there's little doubt that these guys have been around for a heck of a long time, and they've been based all along in the very heart of the UK's very own 'Hop Mecca', more commonly known as Kent.

Tradition, then, is the byword here. And there's little doubt that Shepherd Neame continue to brew some of the most traditional feeling English ales around.

But I'll say it again, I reckon something's been happening at this brewery.

Some of their recent releases have had a markedly different feel to them. Their 'Double Stout' and 'India Pale Ale' have a very nice 'retro chic' look to them, and by all accounts they taste a lot more 'exciting' and 'interesting' than plenty of recent offerings from all the other big name firms.

This is great news this brewery, as I firmly believe the best chance the big players have of maintaining their dominant market position is to wake up – and fast – to what's been going on lately outside their castle walls.

But it's also great news for us, because brews like Christmas Ale are heralding some significant new levels of innovation and creativity, whilst also keeping the ghosts of Xmas beers past firmly very firmly at bay.

I kid you not, today's beer makes for an unspeakably gratifying experience. It's robust, but it's equally zesty and packed with vitality. It's bold, but it's equally delicate and playful. It's big, but it ain't at all overbearing – and where they hiding all 7.0% of that ABV is anyone's guess.

Lightly toasted nut and granary loaf malts stand firmly but gracefully at the base, holding aloft a dynamic swirling mass of crisp citrus, deliciously nuanced herbs, a ton of fruity twangs from the likes of apricot and pear – and a finely woven tapestry of mild spice which contains absolutely none of that bullish intensity which can needlessly ruin (for me at least) so many Christmas themed brews. These are beers, after all – not curries!

'Faversham's finest' are quite simply rewriting the Yuletide rules, and I couldn't be happier about it. There's no 'comedy' festive title here, the name couldn't possibly be less gimmicky. There's no whacky recipe mindful of its own very short shelf-life, just delicious well-balanced beer that could be enjoyed all year round. Perhaps most significantly, this is a beer that will (very cleverly) appeal to drinkers on both sides of the evolutionary divide.

The gibbons are back in the zoo.

Shepherd Neame's usual head brewer is definitely back in the building – with a head crammed full of fresh and exciting ideas.

Christmas is most definitely coming.

Day 23, Beer 23 - Wold Top's "5 Wold Rings"

Today's Beer

Name – 5 Wold Rings

Brewer – Wold Top

Classification – 'Amber' festive beer.

Strength – 5% ABV

Verdict - At A Glance

On the eye – Another of those suspiciously sunshiny Xmas offerings...

On the nose – Spiced liquorice. Plenty of sawdust low notes.

On the tongue – Intense! Ho, Ho and thrice Ho!

On the subject – Just one of Wold Top's Christmas brews, they like drinkers of all tastes be happy at this time of year. And why not!

On the market – ASDA are among the supermarket's currently stocking (the nearer to Yorkshire the better it seems!), or try Beers And Sprits of Knaresborough. Plenty of other's these days due to growing demand.

On the whole – 7.5

Full Review

This beer tastes far darker than it looks, if you take my meaning.

It has that oak soaked bite of a much darker malt, and it kicks like a much darker mule.

The fact is though, this is another of those bewilderingly light looking Christmas beers. I'm beginning to spot a trend, and I have to say it's a trend which leaves me vaguely bemused.

Having said that, leaving people vaguely bemused is what Christmas does best, so why should I be surprised!

Leaving the anti-festive visuals aside, this beer has firm malts, robust hops and a citrus twang in the finish which, if you're not careful, will happily draw your attention away from a complementary trace of honey flapjack.

It really is a fine little brew, but I can't keep myself distracted from the issue of its appearance. In common with last night's seasonal offering Oldershaw's 'Hollydaze' there is a suspiciously summertime radiance to the drink, though it is perhaps possessive of a slightly more late-summer character than the Oldershaw. But it's a summertime feel all the same.

On balance though, this beer does have more of a sense of that extra spice-infused zing which seems to help identify most of the Christmas ale options these days. That said, I'm still rather on the fence on the subject of festive spice. Surely there are other ways of encapsulating the merriment of the moment, spice can't surely be the only taste sensation which says 'peace on earth and goodwill', can it?

At least this beer uses such spice with a skilled subtlety, which I did appreciate.

Given the date and the current weather conditions (it is currently unseasonably 'seasonal' here in the UK) it's probably a little too late for most of you to get some of this stuff onto your shelves.

But for those lucky enough to have a nearby Wold Top stockist – you might want to get those knee high boots back on again...

This festive tipple is definitely worth an extra trudge through the snow.

Day 22, Beer 22 - Oldershaw's "Hollydaze"

Today's Beer

Name – Hollydaze

Brewer – Oldershaw

Classification – Pale Seasonal Ale

Strength – 4.1% ABV

Verdict - At A Glance

On the eye – A head scratch-inducing (though perfectly gorgeous) bright sunshine glow.

On the nose – All freshness and youthful vitality. Just like me. A while ago.

On the tongue – Hop-tastic! With the faintest of biscuit treats on the finish. Clever.

On the subject – Responding to punters who were looking for a lower strength Christmas alternative to their very popular 'Yuletide' – those fine Oldershaw brains went straight to work. And how!

On the market – On tap at their growing number of pub outlets, but there might yet be time for a delivery – you could always drop them a line!

On the whole – 7/10

Full Review

This wittily labelled brew might well have been named 'Hoppy-daze'.

'Generously trippled-hopped' is the claim they make, and even the tiniest of slurps leaves you in no doubt whatsoever about that claim.

That same tiny slurp will leave you feeling pretty perky too. It really is a jolly old brew, with enough lively spirit to bring some serious cheer to even the most Scrooge-like soul.

This being said, I'm quite sure I'd like to be getting my hands on some of this spirited merriment at some point somewhat closer to summertime, rather than here in the gloomy depths of winter.

After a few (very welcome) sips, I happened to cast a casual glance outside at the extensively frost bound lawn, and felt for a moment like I'd been time-warped from the middle of August, such is this ale's energising vibrancy and thirst quenching appeal.

Don't misunderstand, at this festive time of year this is a beer more than capable of imparting some top drawer good cheer – it really is quite lovely – but it's the kind of good cheer I'd usually associate with a very different 'season' to the one which its marketing is inevitably restricting it to.

So, to the folks at Oldershaw I'd say this... 

Might there be any chance of a sneaky bit of re-branding? Because I reckon I could happily see myself through the Hollydaze with copious amounts of this easy drinking delight.

The summer Hollydaze, that is.

Day Eight, Beer Eight - White Horse's "Rudolp The Red Nosed White Horse"

Today's Beer

Name – Rudolph The Red Nosed White Horse – (And, no – I am not lying!)

Brewer – White Horse

Classification – Premium Ale

Strength – 4.8%

Verdict - At A Glance

On the eye – Ruddy, in a welcoming, seasonal sort of way.

On the nose – Mercifully non-experimental. None of that festive 'spice' which can often emerge at this time of year.

On the tongue – Basically, far too good for a novelty, Christmas-themed offering.

On the subject – Be gentle with this horse! With your love, this evolving Oxford enterprise will take control of the universe. Feel free to quote me when that time comes.

On the market – An inexcusable and inexplicable golden handcuff arrangement with one UK supermarket. Bad news for most of us.

On the whole – 8.5/10

Full Review

This is going to sound a little harsh, but I think the White Horse Brewery have messed up.

Selling their soul exclusively to one supermarket chain is one thing, but by also releasing this particular beer as a seasonal novelty, they are effectively denying most beer lovers a very rare treat which they should be able to savour not only everywhere, but also all year round.

Seasonal beers come and go – the concept itself somewhat dictates this fact – but, by and large, it is usually the 'Christmas' themed brews which wind up being the most experimental and, frankly, the most crazy.

But flying in the face of this trend is a drink named 'Rudolph The Red Nosed White Horse' – which has nothing particularly 'seasonal' about it, which is also not even close to being insane, and which is just too good to be disappearing from our shelves on December 26^th.

This is a fabulous drink experience and, as I write this, I'm trying hard to find a good enough reason not to give it the highest rating of any beer I've reviewed so far.

Of course, I don't actually have to look very far to find that good reason. After all, this is a seasonal beer – and a Christmas novelty beer at that – so a chart-topping rating would be inappropriate to say the least. Imagine recommending one beer above all else – one which may never be seen again after less than a month or so on the market.

But what a travesty this beer's imminent withdrawal from sale really is.

This brew manages to be simultaneously warming and refreshing, both to maximum effect – and so very few beers on this planet can genuinely achieve this feat. It's fruity, malty, comforting, rewarding... all manner of things that a good ale should be.

You might argue that a year round beer ought to be a trace more nutty, or have more of a biscuit finish, or some other such quality which the brewer failed to incorporate.

The trouble is – I don't think it lacks a single thing. This beer is a little Christmas miracle, and I think it needs some serious re-branding, and with all possible haste, so it can stay right there on the market where it belongs, and where it will surely become a force to be reckoned with in no time at all.