Beermas Christmas
Proper Brewing Co

a spiced winter dark ale, past the holidays but still in season, neat beer as in its a pretty original palate, but its not as drinkable and refined as expected for a brewery i have come to dig, and overall this let me down just a bit, a one and done, although not a bad brew, i like the malt depth with the spices, but its just a little bit less inviting than i think i hoped it would be, maybe trying to pack a little too much into a beer this low in abv, but its neat anyway. mid brown with reddish edges, short tan head from the tap, a touch of cloudiness maybe, a tad light on the carbonation too for what it is. aroma has definite cocoa to it, clove spice, orange zest or marmalade or something, maybe anise too, cinnamon warmth, sort of a cola vibe with some grain sweetness, chocolate malt of course too, subtle brandied cherry, raisin, and nutmeg, lots going on here but a dry cocoa powder element kind of leads with the malt. the flavor is similar, increasingly intense as it moves along, cocoa and dark chocolate, some roasted barley in play, sarsaparilla and some spice with it, not quite vanilla, but leaning a little confectionary, clove and general mulling spice warmth at the end, nice with the chocolate but dosed enough that they also bring some bitterness to this. sweet from the grain and sweet overall, very flavorful, and maybe not masterfully done overall but pretty effective for the season, especially given utah alcohol limitations for draft beer, obviously this kind of thing lends itself well to like 8% abv, but they did a lot with a little so to speak. pretty ambitious stuff from these guys around town on this visit!