Good King 'Censlas
Hampshire Brewery Ltd

Appearance: light chestnut brown, good clarity, nice luscious creamy tannish layer of foam, lots of lace, good retention

Aroma: scrumptious chocolatey/malty overtones, passion fruit, unripe pears

Flavor: a balanced malt profile from the start, it is never allowed to peak in sweetness as a peppery hop bitterness and flavor keeps it in check; surprisingly crisp and bitter for a winter warmer; finishes dryish with a peach-pit bitterness long in the aftertaste

Mouthfeel: medium body, "creamy" carbonation (if that makes sense), crispy

Other comments: This brewery is not too far from me, but I haven't had any of thier beers until just recently. I'm proud to call this one of my local breweries!

A X'mas offering from the Hapshire Brewery. Obtained at the Pitfield's Beer Shop. BB 27/05/06. Served cool in a goblet.

A: dark reddish brown hue, with a tight and frothy off-white beer head without any movement what-so-ever after pouring but very slowly settling, leaving equally tight and fine lacing along the way... lone ascending bubbles detected.
S: moderate note of semi-sweet chocolatey and nutty malts floating upfront, with a touch of vanilla-powder and cocoa-powder... backed by lightly spicy/earthy/vegetation-like hops underneath. A tinge of sulphur is present at the back, too.
T: dark malts' roasted and burned, bittersweet nutty flavour upfront, fed constantly by a spicy tang; a dryish bitterness gradually develops, intensifies and leads all the way to a focused, partly char-like and partly root-herb like bitter yet nutty finish. During the second helping/pour, (maybe) a little yeast sediment finds its way into the beer, adding more yeasty dryness to the bitter finish.
M&D: the moderate fizzy body supports the smooth palate dominated by dark malts, and the dryish mouthfeel makes this beer a really "more-ish and thirst-quenching" bitter-like winter warmer (a contradictary term?)~~