Wreathing Havoc Winter Imperial Red Rye Ale
Three Magnets Brewing

 

 

2019-12-22
16oz can served in a snifter. Dated 11/18/19.

Pours dark brown with a small head and low carbonation. Smell is rye spice, booze, a little spice like nutmeg.

Taste is a muddy, spiced sweetness. Rye comes through fairly well. Roast comes across as a little bit of coffee.

Mouthfeel is thick, but a little still. Overall, it's not bad.

2018 edition, from a 16oz. can.

A burgundy body, clean and proper looking. It boasts brick red and hazelnut highlights when held to light. Capped by a creamy khaki head with evenly spaced patches of lacing, this is an inviting looking beer on this frigid day.

Caramel and fig pave the way for an enticing sugar plum back drop. Orange peel, nutmeg, and even a pinch of cardamom help influence the holiday theme. Fruit cake in a glass.

Fruit cake in a glass indeed. Banana nut bread chalked full of cinnamon, nutmeg, and caramel. Red apples, fig, and plum are brûléed. The fruity elements take presidence over the holiday spice blend, but a juniper berry and wet Douglas fir piney finish are what really make this thing pop in the end.

Smooth but sweet with an evergreen influenced bitterness bordering an English Barleywine feel. The spices are lifted by the moderate carbonation and feel like icing on the cake. Mouth coating, yet dry enough to sip on at a regulated pace.

I thought this was too sweet and spicy at first, but it's Christmas after all, and this grew on me. A winter warmer on steroids, which the can art now clearly makes more sense. No question, I'll be buying again next year.

Cheers.

 

 

 

 

Dark brown/ruby red, shallow head, decent legs, strong rye and banana esters with a hint of alcohol, flavor isn't great, finish is very boozy, mouthfeel is nice, almost has a non-sticky marshmallow vibe going on. Overall, pretty underwhelming. Possibly because I don't like the style. Taste is the most important thing for me with beer and it's not the most well executed brew if I'm being honest. However, if you like spice and bitter fruit, you might dig this. Cheers.

 

 

 

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown with ruby notes and a one finger khaki head with good retention and lacing. Aroma of biscuit malt, light toasted malt, a hint of caramel and rye. Flavor is biscuit and toasted malt, dark stone fruit, hint of cherry and toffee, finishes with light rye tartness and holiday spice bitterness. Medium bodied with light creaminess. A nice rye holiday ale. The aroma is drier and more biscuit than the flavor, which has more rye and fruit character. The holiday spicing, is light and appears mostly in the finish. A rye spicy, malty, dark ale appropriate for the winter season.