Holiday Ale
Empyrean Brewing Company

I had this at Lazlo's in the Haymarket in Lincoln. Apparently, this is Empyrean's follow-up winter seasonal to the annual FestiveAle which I've heard went very quickly this year. Holiday Ale is crystalline amber, leaning toward bronze, and served, unfortunately, with the most minimal of heads, thin, white-ish, and wispy. This made it somewhat difficult to discern particular aromas, but what I could register were citric and spicy hops with a modest, warm bready quality. The taste is wholly unique -- to my tastebuds, at least -- with a distinctly bitter character that is at once both citric and almost jarringly spicy. An anise flavor comes through in the aftertaste, along with some biscuity malt flavors. Medium-light body with a sharp, peppery crispness. I had such a hard time figuring this one out. I kept taking sip after sip to try to match the flavors with some other taste-memory. I'm not quite sure if this is really an IPA; the brewery doesn't label it as such, but I had to pick a style to enter it here. If it is an IPA, it's extremely unconventional. But with Cascade, Simcoe, and Horizon as the hop bill and very little sweetness, I wasn't sure what else it could be. Anyway, if you find yourself at Lazlo's in the next month or so, this intriguing beer is definitely worth a try.