Santa's Secret
Carolina Brewery

 

16 oz can at the 2017 AJF (from notes).
Pours with a hazy brown body and a decent head.
Aroma is that expected in a lightly spiced American brown ale.
More spiced and less hops in the flavor.
Medium body and carbonation.
Overall: disappointing.

 

Nice amber or copper color with decent white to cream colored head. Smelled of cloves and cinnamon which was more apparent when it warmed. Nice caramel malts. Pretty well-balanced. Wonder if it can last longer than the "best by" date?

A: Pours a clear medium orangish copper in color with moderate amounts of active visible carbonation rising from the bottom of the glass and some faint amber highlights. The beer has a two finger tall dense foamy light beige head that slowly reduces to a thick film covering the entire surface of the beer with a very thick ring at the edges of the glass. Moderate to significant amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Light aromas of spices - cinnamon, cardamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice - over the top of a light bready malt aroma with a light amount of caramel sweetness.

T: Upfront there is a light to moderate flavor of caramel malts with a light amount of bready malts. That is followed by moderate flavor of spices - cinnamon, cardamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice. Light amounts of bitterness in the finish which lingers slightly.

M: Light to medium bodied with moderate amounts of carbonation.

O: Easy to drink, easier than a lot of the others in the style because it does not leave as much spice drying in the finish and has a slightly thinner body. Enjoyable and worth trying.

 

 

 

Poured from a bomber into a shaker pint, the beer is a bright, hazed, orange-caramel coloring with a sparse, loose, filmy white surface coating of head. A ton of carbonation action on the initial pour that slowly weans down to a few slow trails throughout the beer. Aromas of spice forward, with nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, a subtle bready character, and some sweet caramel and toffee highlights. There's a ton in the nose, but it balances nicely and is not overpowering. The beer is bready and spiced forward, with a heavy dose of cinnamon and nutmeg. Tastes like spice cake, actually, with some candy sweet character highlighting around mid-tongue. The spices stay in the forefront all the way through to the end of the palate, with a tangy sweet caramel and spiced aftertaste. The beer is light in mouth, but remains smooth through until the end, where the carbonation effervesces a bit. Tangy caramel linger on an otherwise slick finish. Tasty beer, easy to drink, and there is a picture of Santa in a beer on the label...what's not to love?