Beau’s All Natural Brewing Company Wild Oats Series Channel Ocho Christmas / Winter Specialty Spiced Beer at 8.9% ABV (C$6.23 at NLC Stavanger, 600 ml, packaged on 24-Oct-2018, acquired 31-Dec-2018, reviewed 14-May-2019)
Appearance: clear brown with one fat finger of rocky light beige head diminishing rapidly to nothing, no lacing. (3/5) Aroma: mild, caramel, chipotle, cocoa, light metallic. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter, moderate spice. (7/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, mild bitter lingering spicy warming finish. (3/5)
I’ve had this staring at me for ages and the weather, while not exactly “winter”, still isn’t really “spring”, let alone “summer” (the heater under my desk is on) so I figured what the hell. And the spice is certainly pleasantly warming, so it’s got that going for it. Unfortunately, that’s about all it has going for it. The appearance is lacklustre, the aroma is both mild and possessing of an unfortunate metallic note, and the taste is nothing particularly interesting. The cacao nibs and cocoa powder are so mild as to be almost invisible, and the cinnamon and cloves really are invisible. The chipotle, though, yep, dialled in: mild enough that you can almost miss it at first, but lingering and building, while never getting excessive. I like the spice. The rest is a bit meh-tastic. (13/20)
6.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
