Camerons Christmas Ale
Castle Eden & Camerons Brewing Company Ltd

Pours a clear, brownish maroon color. One finger head somewhat dense, with stable retention and spotty lacing. Cinnamon, molasses, and toasted amber malts in the nose, with some faint english hop aromas. Peculiar taste, almost seems low attentuated. Toasted caramel, with a mild cinnamon/ginger spiciness. Floral hop flavor too low to balance the sweet/spice malt. Some funny licorice or mint flavor is faint but detectable in the aftertaste, but the finish is fairly clean. Nearly flat and medium-bodied, the mouthfeel becomes slick towards the end and the drinkability suffers. Nothing particularly horrible here, but nothing to keep your attention either.

Deep deep dark red color with little head that goes fast, hints of lacing. Nose is sweet and malty, deep, dark fruits. Some clove and peppery spice in there, some nutmeg. Decent malty background evens out with the dry earthy hops. It's a bit... muddled.

Taste is a bit of a letdown. Actually, a big letdown. Nowhere near as good as the smell. Some sweet and spice... but where's the flavor? Mouthfeel is watery, thin, nothing special. Drinkability is decent... and it definitely grows more on you as it warms, but what a letdown- from a good nose to lacking flavor- bland.

Pours a clear dark chestnut in color with a creamy tan head. Rich malty aroma has hints of chocolate, raisin and a whiff of brown sugar. The mouthfeel is medium-bodied. Starts off with a rich, sweet malty front. Toffee and raisin appear. Almost seems "bock-like" in taste. Alcohol becomes apparent in the finish. Pretty straight-forward. This is a mild and easy drinking "winter warmer".

Dark orange-copper with bright orange peel edges. The attractive cap is beige in color and fine-bubbled in texture. Winter warmers have a wide range of looks and this one is as valid as any other. That said, it does resemble an English pale ale or an ESB more than anything else. A thick collar of lace is beginning to form, but the head hasn't fallen far enough yet for much lace to be visible.

Christmas Ale smells like a hop-deficient English pale ale. In fact, the nose in general is on the underpowered side. Age can't be the culprit since the 'best by' date is still several months away. There may be a little orange fruitiness, but there's precious little else that makes me think of winter or Christmas.

The flavor is both interesting and good. It's malt-dominant, which wasn't at all obvious from the nose. I'm pretty sure I smell heavily toasted pale malt with a contribution from caramel malt as well. Comparisons could be made to strong, lightly spiced tea. The flavor profile is deeper than it seemed at first. I'm picking up new facets as I go deeper into the bottle.

There's a good mix between sweet and bitter, favoring the former early and the latter late. The oranginess appreciated in the nose is in full flower on the palate. As it warms, the beer becomes considerably more Christmas-like; if one considers spiced, candied oranges to be a holiday treat.

This may not be the biggest and boldest winter warmer on the block, but somebody has to hold down the left side of the bell curve. It is, however, a winter warmer that can be easily enjoyed year-round, as I'm doing now. The mouthfeel is solidly medium and is smooth and rounded. Drinkability is on the high side in both senses of the term.

I'll have to check my other reviews, but I think Christmas Ale is my favorite of the four Castle Eden & Camerons beers that I've had so far. It's a more than worthy member of the style and is a tasty Yuletide treat, even as the dog days of summer are in full swing.

Pours a clear dark red with a small off white head that doesn't last long, not much lacing in my glass either. Bready and fruity aromas, smokey caramel and fruity cherry flavors, medium body with a creamy and soft mouthfeel, fishes with a clean and pleasant sweetness, a decent winter ale.

This brew is a dark cola colored drink, decent sized bubbly tan head on the top. Fair amount of lacing. A bit of sweetness in the nose, but the scent isnt anything to write home about. The first thing that strikes me about the taste is that it needs a bit more oomph. Some nice malts and hops, along with some spices, but it needs more of them. I know the english ales are lighter and more subtle, but this possibly great beer is just pretty good.

Nice amber appearance with a lasting head and decent lacing. Smell is mainly malt and spice, but a nice blend. Taste is lightly sweet at the start, then a tad spicy on the middle, witha hoppy finish. Not as smooth a transition as I usually like, but better than average. Mouthfeel is medium with enough smoothness to go down nicely. Drinkability likewise is ok.

A genial St. Nick smiles from the label of this "traditional winter ale"...I'm hoping to enjoy the glow of post-Christmas, and hope this will help...
Darkly amber-toned color, nearly caramely-colored, with a solid, if thinnish creamy head.
Aroma is airy, hoppy, herbal and slightly fruity, just a touch spicy...a quiet nose, sweet but subdued...
Taste: nice and malty, tangy, well-anointed with the hops...nice, tasty, tidy blitz on the tongue, rides high and happy...a tasty brew, with nothing bad about it, unless you're adverse to hops...and if so, who are you, anyway?
A very pleasant, often spicy, bright with dark fruits-kind of ale....body is about medium, if nearly thinnish, finish is fraught with dark fruits and bitter hops, ...but that's to be enjoyed by this ale imbiber. Yum, I pretty well like this...Very tasty...I'd go back again, if not for the price.

16.09oz dark brown bottle. Freshness date printed on back label (31-10-2005 - oooo! Halloween!)
It pours a root beer color with a fading cream-colored head and some spotty lacing.
The aroma is mostly that of sweet malt, with an underlying pungent hop bud smell.
The malt has a bit of a six row-type harsh edge to it, though not in a totally negative way. As it warms, a light caramel sweetness emerges, as does a trace of a certain graininess.
A tart citrusy bitterness and a light taste of lemon zest sort of meld together, rather than balance or provide contrast to the sharp edginess of the grain. But still this brew does help conjure up thoughts of the holidays.

Clear golden brown with a ruby sheen. The head is a grey shade of cream, plump, tall, and lasting.
Nose of butterscotch, cherry and caramel nougat. The cherry and caramel are at the fore initially, but the butterscotch grabs the reins as it warms.
Begins sweet, with a quick glob of maple syrup before turning into gingersnap, toffee and mentholated cherries. The middle is all butter with a few toasted grains lurking around. It ends with lingering butterscotch pudding, caramel candy residue, and a green tea hop notation, one devoid of any noticeable bitterness.
Light-medium bodied, with low carbonation.
I'm a bit on the fence here. The butter gets to be a bit much, and some assertion from the hops would be nice, but this is absolutely drinkable, tasty even. A session brew all the way, in a sweeter sense. But not quite the festive, holiday warmer it labels itself.
Decent enough, I suppose.

Cameron's Christmas Ale was a bit odd, my initial feeling was an expectation of the spices hitting you immediately like a winter warmer but rather this one hit me as it went down and the aftertaste was all spice instead. I drank mine on the cold side which probably made the drinkability of this beer better than it would have been. This beer is not too hoppy so it won't overpower you and at 6 percent and 500Ml a serving you can have more than one. It feels like i"m being too negative for a beer I enjoyed drinking but overall it was a decent winter beer that I would recommend for the holidays.

This beer pours amber/brown has a two finger head with no retention or lacing. The aroma was of sweet malt, it smelled grainy and bread-like. The taste was of roasted malt with hints of caramel and it had a bitter finish. The beer was medium bodied with low carbonation.

Reflection: I don't know why they called this one a winter warmer, it had a big malt flavor but not much else. This is a completely average beer and I'll pass on it the next time.

A clean brown ale with amber highlights and a small of white head. A sweet malty aroma with some caramel and a hint of peach. There is a mellow roasted malt character at the start of the taste. Sweet and lightly bitter at the same time with and nice easy going bitterness in the finish. The mouthfeel comforting and fulfilling. I know this is probably the wrong analogy but it was like biting into an excellent piece of homemade whole grain bread.

Clear brown/bronze color, frothy pale yellow head settles at about 1/4 of an inch after a minute or so. Thick string laces on the glass. Aroma of green grapes and brown sugar, fairly juicy and fruity. Mouthfeel is a little less than medium, slightly prickly. Flavor is somewhat predictable, follows the aroma in being fruitier than I expected with an apparent hoppiness early in the profile. Rounds out with a bitter bite and apple in the aftertaste. Not bad, a little astringent and less malty and coating in mouthfeel than I like in a really drinkable holiday brew.

Glad I was able to try this new offering from Camerons.
Presentation: Classic English Pint, red label with picture of Santa Claus on the front of the bottle.

Appearance: Pours an opaque bronze, reddish/brown color. Relatively weak head retention...off-white, fluffy head dies rather quickly, with no lacing left on the glass itself and no head to speak of after a few short minutes. Weakest character of this brew.

Smell: Bready, sweet malt aroma. Hops are evident, but faint. Caramel malts and spices certainly dominate the smell..

Taste: Initial taste is sweet & malty. Roasted caramel malts & toffee/butterscotch are present. Spices are evident as well..tastes of nutmeg, ginger & cinnamon.. Decently balanced by a slightly bitter finish of earthy hops.

Mouthfeel: Carbonation is a little weak after the initial poor. Staying power of this one is just not what it should be. Medium to full-bodied

Drinkability: Is a solid English winter warmer & Christmas beer. Easy enough to drink and a nice 6% ABV to warm you up. Could improve on the head retention and they'd have a really nice seasonal.