Otter Claus
Otter Brewery Ltd

Dark cherry red. Three fingers of a beige head, with a beautiful hat, even if a bit too quick to fall.
In the smell english hop, earthy, musky.
Malt, touches of biscuit and orange marmelade.
Pleasant, fresh, but with strong flavours. The same flavours in the taste, with a good bitterness. Pleasant.
Definitely bitter aftertaste, with points of roots and liquorice, that balance the sweetness.
Interesting Christmas beer.

500ml bottle poured aggressively into imperial pint glass.

A- Rich copper body, 2 finger creamy head which disappates to 1 finger but is consistent, with good lacing.

S- Roasted malts

T- Faint rooasty sweet malt flavours, with some floral hops aroma, touch of dry bitterness in the finish. Sweetness in the finish is a bit artificial like saccharin

M- Medium body, low carbonation

D- The balance from roasted sweetness to bitterness is very good, but there is an artificial sweetness about it. Its drinkable definitely but i reckon id get bored after a couple. A nice offering, but unlikely to go for it again.

500ml bottle from Sainsburys as part of a Great Beers of Britain 3 pack..

Poured a deep coppery orange / brown colour... Pours with almost no head at all - what little there is seems slightly off white in colour... this disappears almost instantly to a very light ring. Some light carbonation... no lacing at all..

Aroma - Caramel maltiness, toasted bready notes, burnt sugar, nutmeg, some light cloves, light fruits (raisins, figs), woody, medicinal notes, some rotten veg traces, light spicy hops, very light festive notes...

Taste – Watery tart fruits (figs, raisins, blackcurrents), quite strong peppery / spicy hop bitterness, very light toasted malts, woody / earthy notes, some aniseed, light bready hints, all in all pretty bland and not particularly festive - just tastes like a standard bitter...

M&D - Pretty smooth and creamy... medium body... fairly drinkable but a bit boring..

Overall - An OK beer... nothing very exciting but probably worth a try once...

500 ml brown bottle, Christmas 2006, courtesy of Cardinal pub, Stavanger. ABV is 5.0%. Reddish amber colour, moderate head. OK but moderate aroma of bakery and earthy hops. Flavour is nicely balanced between the malts and hops, and makes this a very drinkable premium bitter, but there is nothing that really "stands out" and makes the beer "something special" for Christmas. Might as well be an all-year beer. Okay, but is probably better from a well kept cask.

BBE OCT 07, served cool in a goblet.

A: pours a beautiful, dark ruby hue, coming witha creamy and frothy off-white beer head slowly dissipating; gently carbonated body.
S: creamy-toffeeish and chocolate-milky malts with mildly roastiness upfront, mingling well with lots and lots of sweet fruity aroma, with dried plums, apple-syrup, sweetened citrus-rind aroma of hops, and a spoonful of coarse brown sugar... rich, pleasant, very focused aroma.
T: tea-leafy hops and light-bodied, bittersweet semi-toasted matiness hit the palate upfront together, bringing on board a light and refreshing nuttiness; a flow of deeper, semi-sweetish dark fruitiness gradually expands towards unsweet aftertaste mixed of raisins, black tea-leaves, herbs, and bitter-edge of toffee... beautifully hoppy-bitter as well as malty aftertone.
M&D: an almost full-flavoured ale treading light and lively on the tongue; a nicely-balanced palate with good depth. This ale is really good; if given an extra dash of hops it could even make an excellent ESB!!

BB oct 07. Some head and dark brown/black beercollor. Nose is vary pale and only gives litle smoke and some malts but very decentLitle citrussy like yeastfruit also but overall very light aroma. Taste is also light but still shows good maltbody with litle roasty and caramellic note. Aftertaste is moderatly bittered but in harmony with rest of the brew; light but fitting carbonation also gives the brew a creamy mouthfeel. Enjoyed drinking this one and overal certainly not a bad brew but could have something to make it special.

Bottled: This one had a deep amber, almost ruby color. It had a bit of an off-white frothy head. Malty sweetness to the nose, with a hint of some mulled and nutmeg spices. Medium bodied maly sweetness with a hint of spices to the taste. The spices are subdued and aren't overdone as some of the American Christmas Ales are. Balanced with a hint of bitterness in the aftertaste. Very smooth and drinkable.