Partridge In A Spice Tree
The Bruery

 

 

Served in a tulip glass at The Bruery on 12/6/08 for six bucks, reviewed from notes, color was a very dark red on the verge of being brown, the head was nice and creamy coming out of the cask and a nice vanilla color, some lacing too, smell was hugely spicy, lots of caramel malt, black licorice, plums, brown sugar, cinnamon and ginger, flavor was along the same lines with a nice anise touch rounding out the finish, warm going down but not boozy, liked how the malt and spice worked together, finish remineded me of gingerbread cookies, mouthfeel was decent but a little thin, nice and spicy but could have used some thickness for its strength, could have drank another glass of this even though it was strong, flavor was not tiresome or heavy, fitting to be served at room temperature, I hope to be able to drink this again some time in the future

One reason I came to The Bruery today was to try this beer after Jon's (Halcyondays) high marks on this beer. What could this be? Now it's my turn to find out. On cask at The Bruery, on to the beer:

A beauty to look at, big creamy head on top, opaque color, though one could arge cola color. Creamy lacing...and I thought that only came from nitro-infused beers. Smell...CHRISTMAS!! Oh science, this is great. Nutmeg, shortbread, cinnamon, anise....I want to bake Christmas cookies.

And I want to eat Christmas cookies as well! This beer tastes great, no, this...IS...Christmas in a bottle. Now all we need is some piney flavor reminiscent of a fresh Christmas tree. Light and fruity upfront, the spices compliment the beer great. Lots of anise to go with with the base of caramel and shortbread. It feels so insanely smooth and creamy without a trace of booze.

If Partridge In A Pear Tree is awesome, then this spiced version is....awesomer. Holy cow, what a treat! Without a doubt, a must try if you're lucky to find it. Please make this again Pat, please!!

On cask at The Bruery, a spiced up version of Partridge in a Pear Tree, the bottle of the former says 11%, so I'm going with that,

A: Pours virtually black with a thick cask head, off-white, good retention, light lacing.

S: Outstanding, what Christmas smells like. Star anise, cinnamon, light vanilla, cardamom, a great spice mixture.

T: Just continues where the smell leaves off. Star anise and clove give a beautiful mix of flavours which exceptionally complement the quad base. The quad is excellent, great yeast flavours, but this brew is about the spice, best spiced winter beer I have ever had.

M: Light carbonation due to the cask, spicy notes and finish, very smooth, the high alcohol is well hidden.

D: This is an incredible brew. The smell and the flavours take you back to an idealized Christmas setting, pretty much picture perfect. The spiced version is supposedly a one-off, but I hope they bring it back next year for the holidays. I can't wait to try the regular Partridge in a Pear Tree. I've got to go back tomorrow for more of this. This is the best December beer I've ever had in my life, it's so good.