Figgy Pudding
The Alementary Brewing Co.

 

 

Lighter mostly opaque brown body with cream webbing for a cap. Smells of prune, brown sugar, brown bread and booze with sharp apricot on the end that distracts. Taste actually starts with a hard focus on soggy brown bread and booze with the prune, date, watery caramel, tobacco with the apricot and finishing. Feel is chewy, pleasantly warm, malty but on the thinner side. A little more depth would have been appreciated, but a fun old ale nonetheless

L: Cola brown and would look flat at that, if not for the half finger khaki head. The head disapates quickly and leaves only the thinnest collar and no permanent lace.

S: Muted smells (even for an old ale), that boil down to date syrup and little else for me. I get at faint peating but it's pretty soft-smelling.

T: Following the nose, this brew lacks the complexity it boasts. I would think this is an old shelved bottle but it is fresh. Some prune possibly but mostly dates. I don't find separate figs or apricot here. It doesn't taste like much at all. With my drinks yesterday having plenty of flavor, I don't think this is covid-related. Not boozy at all.

F: Medium bodied with adequate carbonation. Not too syrupy, the body and mouthfeel are fine.

O: I like a good old ale. This was not it.

Served on tap at the Gun Hill Brewery in Bronx, NY.
A: Pours cloudy orange-brown color with a short-lived, off-white head and minimal lacing.
S: Aromas run to pitted fruits, overripe peach, apricot, and dried fruits, especially raisin, with what I would can believe is a rum note.
T: Semisweet. Flavors favor the nose, with dried fruits predominating. No question but that it is very reminiscent of the fruit cake side of figgy pudding. Bitterness present but not overwhelming.
M: Full bodied with solid carbonation. Chewy.
O: This is a very nicely constructed English Old Ale, frankly a bit more flavorful than what one gets from the old country.

 

Brewed in 2018. Poured from bottle into a tulip glass. It pours an orangy-brown color. The thin, ecru head dissipated very quickly. There were also numerous floaters. It's not a very appealing look. It has a fruity aroma of figs, prunes, and apricots, along earthy peat, leather, tobacco ash, and just a whiff of rum. The taste is unusual to say the least. The first flavors I notice are prune and apricot. The apricot is slightly tart. As the glass warms other tastes are noticeable, including the expected figs. Underlying the fruit there is a base of burnt peat and tobacco which nicely balance the sweetness. It finishes with unexpected bitterness. This ale has lively carbonation and the 9.1% ABV is well-hidden. Overall, this is a hard beer to rate. As stated above, the appearance isn't very appealing but if the goal was emulate fruitcake, then it does a pretty good job. In fact, it grew on me as I sipped it. This is a dessert beer and is appropriate for the holiday season.