Nice And Naughty Christmas Ale - Naked Dove Brewing Company

TheBrewo

Michigan

4/5  rDev +8.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

This brew was served from the cask at The Old Toad in Rochester, NY. It arrived in a house pint glass glowing a reddish brown coloring. It held a one finger head of tan bubbles, showing excellent retention. Spots of lacing were left dripping down the glass. There was a slight haze, but no sediment was noted. Carbonation appeared lighter. The aroma gave nutty roasty malts, brown sugar, muskiness, bittering woodiness, bright cinnamon sugar, warmed nutmeg and gingerbread spice, orange peel bitters, and light citric hop bitters to round things off. Our first impression was that the flavoring is a great embodiment of warming Christmas spice!! The flavoring opened with pine nut saltiness and mashed sweetness of brown sugar malts. The middle peaked with lightly soured woodiness, bitter citric hop rind, musk, and mineral. The end came with orange flesh sweetness, more of those citric hops, and general spiciness of the aromatics contained in the nose. The aftertaste breathed of cinnamon sugar, black tea tannins, gritty yeast, caramel malt sweetness, and piney and citric hops. The body was medium, and the carbonation was lighter. Each sip gave decent slurp and sip, with nice froth and cream to the lip. The mouth was dried with raw and gritty astringency of green plants and the tannins of breakfast tea. The abv was appropriate, and the beer drank easily.

Overall, what we enjoyed most about this beer was the aroma. This beer smelled just like freshly sliced apples dipped in raw cinnamon and white sugar. The malt profile showed this sweetness and spiciness throughout the tasting, while delivering a nice dryness to the feel with that crisp, tannin pucker.

Serving type: cask

12-23-2012 15:23:37 | More by TheBrewo

tlinner

New York

4.1/5  rDev +11.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

An interesting take on a celebration/Christmas/winter ale. There's a heavy taste of traditional flavors like cinnamon and gingerbread, but I also noted a pretty thick pumpkin flavor. I love a well-made pumpkin ale, and it's not often a brewer takes the appropriate time and effort to make one (Southern Tier's Pumking is the gold standard imho, if you've never had it), so I was pleasantly surprised by that. Overall though, it was a bit thin and too heavily focused on spices and exotic flavors. A nice treat, but not a beer I'll be likely to get again until next year, to see if they improve on the recipe.

Serving type: growler

12-22-2011 20:17:13 | More by tlinner

merc7186

New York

3.35/5  rDev -9.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

I had this beer on tap at the brewpub.

A: Amber/Orangish hue, mild Off White Head, mild Lacing

S: Cinnamon, Malty

T: Cinnamon, Nutmeg, mild Malts

M: Average Carbonation, Light to Medium Bodied, Spicy, Dry

Overall, an average christmas ale, heavy on the cinnamon if you like it

Serving type: on-tap

12-03-2011 18:40:00 | More by merc7186