Santa's Got A Brand New Bag
Flossmoor Station Restaurant & Brewery

 

this is not a fruit/vegetable beer. it contains neither fruit nor vegetable. lemon and orange peel do not count as fruit. this is a belgian dark ale

moving on. came to the table red-brown with a little ring of foam and a touch of film. meh

ginger shines in the aroma, duelling well with sweetness. coriander is just perceivable. floral hops as well. the aroma is very close to a beer i once brewed with honey, ginger and storebought pumkin pie spice, which makes me a little wary (though the brewers deny any such spices)...guess the ginger goes along way (i should note, the aroma was my beer's best asset)

honey and citrus greet the tastebuds straight away. bitterness appears to pull it all out and counter honeylike sweetness. a little belgianyeasty fruitiness

ultimately the belgian character is limited and the sweetness is somewhat cloying, though hops do some work to minimize this effect

Listed Description on the Flossmoor blog:

Santa's bag will have new goodies inside if he ever gets a taste of one of these! Not your typical holiday ale, we have left out the usual suspects (clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc...) in favor of some lighter spices which will allow the yeast flavors to come through more cleanly. To get a light citrus flavor to our beer, we have mashed with orange and lemon peel along with a subtle amount of coriander. During the boil we added fresh ginger to accentuate the spicy phenols produced by the yeast. A nice red hue, this one is sure to warm the belly.

Served in a fluted pint glass, currently on draft at the brewpub only. Complex yellow orange with lots of floaties in it, looks good. Decent white head, lacing it good.

The nose has lots of character, yeasty esthers, complimented by a good bready malt and the hit of hops combined with additions give you a great orange/lemon nose. The final smell is the coriander which is really nice in combination with the fruits.

Taste follows the nose, with a good balance leaned toward a sweetness at the end. Just a bit, not cloying.

Good heavy mouthfeel with a easy drink feeling, no alchohol present, a warmer for sure, good to have a couple with Santa!