Fuggly Sweater
Ithaca Beer Company

 

 

Sampling a cellar temp 16 oz can poured into my .5L dimple mug. Date stamp on bottom of can is a series of numbers , but very hard to read.
the beer pours a clear chestnut color with some faint ruby highlighting when held to a light source. A fizzy beige head of about 1.5 cm foams up and fades to only the thinnest of edge layers soon after I finish the pour. Beer looks pretty solid for a dark lager in my glass.
Aroma is a spicy mix and some dark bread notes. I get ginger, nutmeg and cloves for sure on the nose, nutmeg is probably the dominant note. Oddly, cinnamon is absent to my sniffer. No hop character nor any ABV hints on the nose.
FIrst sip reveals a light to medium body and smooth texture on the beer. Carbonation is very fine, yet also prickly on my palate. Drinks like a dark lager on the physical traits.
Flavor is briefly dark bread and mild caramel, then warm cinnamon comes in and cloves and nutmeg linger after each swallow. Never hop character here either and booze is well hidden through out.
Its a sort of mild beer overall, with some maltiness and a mix of seasonal spices. Decent enough beer and honestly is pretty much what I expected it to be when I bought the can today.

Pours a deep reddish brown, dark but still translucent with ample foam. Smell is malty, with some spice, more nutmeg and cloves than cinnamon. Flavor leads with ginger and cinnamon before the malt arrives and then the cloves. Flavor ends with resiny hops and cloves, a little bitter. The feel was surprisingly thin, with modest carbonation. Overall the beer is good, but will disappoint those looking for a big spice bomb. On the other hand, more spice would have overwhelmed the medium weight lager. So I guess the beer lives up well to its billing as a well spiced lager, it's just not the holiday spice assault I was expecting.

 

 

 

From the bottom of the can: "FS24001-3 241022"

Appearance: The body is a very dark reddish-brown mahogany. It looks to have good clarity in the parts where light barely shines through. The head is large and tan with huge lumps of fluffy foam forming ripples and craters across the surface. It has a little bit of foam sticking to the side. Great retention.

Aroma: It has a medium lager aroma which is lovely. It smells a bit like a Vienna Lager. Then there is an aroma that smells a bit like cardamom at first and then clove. It smells really nice overall.

Taste: Up front there is a bit of cinnamon and what tastes like clove. There is a light melanoidin flavor with light hints of coffee. The flavor overall is light and it tastes a bit watered down.

Mouthfeel: It has a light body and a wet finish. It is slightly bitter which seems like it comes mostly from the grains but it could come from the spices as well.

Overall: As a whole it's an alright beer. The label states that this is a "DARK LAGER BREWED WITH GINGER CLOVES, NUTMEG & CINNAMON." Some of these flavor components show up but it's mostly clove with a bit of lager character and some melanoidin. The base beer tastes pretty good but it's missing a lot of the spice and you can hardly tell it's a spiced beer. It's probably not something I'd buy again to take home but I could drink one with a sandwich in a pub without a problem. It's not one I'd jump to recommend but it's an alright beer.

 

 

 

-dark lager w/ ginger, cloves, nutmeg, & cinnamon.

A: Dark maroon red pour sits an almost dr. pepper like coloring in the glass, with cranberry red edges when backlighted. A good topping mounts with a dark tan color of one to two inches that lasted several minutes before succumbing to a thin, film coating. Sturdy and strong carbonation is still evident through the dark colored body.

S: Yeah its a xmas fest lager, loaded with ginger, cloves and cinnamon upfront. There's also a dusting of nutmeg as well. Equal balance and level of this that is well suited, even toned, and not overly obnoxious, rather its a back ground ambience to a beautiful dark toasted munich like malting. There is some cinnamon toast crunch, but again, the malting is the backbone that holds everything together, while the spices are evenly and individually well respected without being overbearing.

T: Spicy dark malt for the flavor, is truly the highlight here, while the ginger and cloves add a nice spice back touch. A dusting of nutmeg is dry on the finish while there is some evidence of cranberries, buttered caramel and a citrus-dry pine like flowery hopping. Toasty munich like malts give this as a sturdy backbone with some nut toast and a dry finish.

M: The mouthful is syrupy slick with an oily texture. The carbonation at this point has a quiet demeanor.

O: Overall I really love the malt base, in case you haven't guessed. The dark red lager is a true under represented beer in the brewing industry, while the holiday spicing went surprisingly well with this. I can easily do multiples here, something that can't be said about a lot of other xmas beers with obnoxious spice levels, this is a true dark red lager with a spicy bite, where it drinks old country. It almost makes me miss the old days of brewing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poured a nice deep brown with about 2 inches of head that disappeared rapidly and left no lacing.

Aroma was pretty tame - malts, some ginger, not much else.

Taste was okay, but not impressive. The description said "yummy cookie and cake qualities". Nope. This was a malty beer with some ginger to it. You can tell other spices are there, but the flavors just don't integrate very well. Ithica says "gingerbread," but I think the attempt falls flat.

Mouthfeel was thin and not very satisfying.


For me, this was a "just okay" beer. It wasn't bad, but the best part of the beer was the fun design of the label.