Bourbon Barrel Aged Christmas Ale
West Sixth Brewing Company

This beer is Christmas when you’re 13. Like, you’re in those in-between years where you’re not sure if getting a super soaker under the Christmas tree will do it anymore because you’re sure you’d rather get a Jenny McCarthy bikini poster instead. It’s a weird, awkward time. As is this beer.

Nice dark color with off white to tan head. Nose is toasted caramel and nutmeg, with cinnamon mixing in there too. Taste was sweet with a clove on back end. Warmth hits on back of throat.

Clear, brown pour, opaque in the glass; thin ring of foam sitting atop the beer. Barrel, booze, and gingerbread cookies on the nose; dark, dried fruit notes; Red Man chewing tobacco. The taste builds off the aroma; white oak with elements of whiskey; brown sugar; raisins and dates; cloves. Fairly heavy feel; slick and warm on the palate; some residual sugar stickiness helps the flavors linger.

A pretty decent holiday ale that takes some of the edge of a cold winter day.

Pouring temperature: 50 °F; canning info: She's a Beaut Clark 22L241
Source: beer trade (@MutuelsMark)

 

 

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Well, when you're in Kentucky, you put bourbon in everything. Even the Christmas ale has no immunity to being possessed by the spirit of spirits as West Sixth Brewing takes their spicy, powerful and malty sweet winter warmer for a long bourbon barrel slumber.

Deep mohogany and crowned with a luxurious sepia meringue, Bourbon Barrel Aged Christmas Ale begins to entice the senses with a dense spice cake aroma with bold impressions of booze, holiday spice and gingerbread. Sweetness splashes on the tongue with a melange of brown sugar, sorghum, cola and cocoa.

The middle palate is a wash with malt sweetness and suggestions of toast, pepper and nuttiness in a savory dessert-like taste. Cinnamon, nutmeg and citronella spice up the flavors and bring a balance that leads to the booziness of rum, bourbon and a kiss of red wine. Gingersnap flavors garner a toasty and savory late palate with an after palate of chocolate covered raisins and cherries.

Full and lavish on the palate, the malty sweet balance leads to a slow and sipping affair that's best paired with blankets, lap dogs, fire places, a dusting of snow, a long book and a few hours to kill. Spicy alcohol and a mildly simmering bitterness give an element of balance and warmth to the sweet session.