Fireside Chat - 21st Amendment Brewery

TheSixthRing

California

3.74/5  rDev +10%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Appearance - Poured into my Chimay chalice, this winter warmer poured a deep ruby brown color with an off-white, finger width head. Average retention, the resulting lace was spotty, with fair stick.

Smell - Really sweet, fruity smell, like dried pieces of stone fruit: peach, apricot and/or prune. Hints at bready malts.

Taste - Follows the nose, and then some. Big bread notes, complimented well by the strong fruit and spice character, a touch of bitter chocolate mid-taste and toward the back end, then finishes like burnt bread with a moderate amount of citrus bitterness.

Mouthfeel - Medium to full in body, with a fair amount of carbonation. Tingles the lips. Finishes somewhat on the dry side of things.

Overall - This is a nice winter warmer. I don't know that I could drink more than a can at a time, but it's certainly festive, and a beer I might turn to for a one-off night cap on a day like Christmas Eve.

Serving type: bottle

01-11-2013 07:41:27 | More by TheSixthRing

ESeab

New Jersey

3.48/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Bottle poured into pint glass.

Amber/brown color with thin, lingering vanilla head

Smells malty and not too 'in your face' for a spiced beer. Hints of caramel and cinnamon.

Taste was smoother than I thought and the spices were not lingering at all. Nutmeg was noticeable.

Overall this was a good brew by 21st Amendment. I'm not a huge fan of Christmas ales but would drink this again, just wouldn't seek it out. The spice disguises any alcohol that would be detected. Give it a shot, good, not bad, not great.

Serving type: bottle

01-05-2013 01:20:18 | More by ESeab

atr2605

New York

3.53/5  rDev +3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A-pours a dark amber with an off white head that leaves a nice lace
S-cinnamon, brown sugar, cherries
T-caramelized sugar and spice meet with hop bitterness and a dry biscuit flavor in the finish
M-medium bodied
O-Not a bad beer, has decent flavor profile and appearance. Not a staple for my holiday season but might grab it once in awhile

Serving type: bottle

01-03-2013 02:27:07 | More by atr2605

BeerBuckeye

Ohio

3.1/5  rDev -8.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

A - Pours a deep mahogany color with puffy, 2 finger, light brown head.

S - Caramel malt, bready, light on spices, nutmeg and allspice. Slightly metallic and estery

T - Wow, almost overpowering on the spices. Clover and cinnamon, lots of nutmeg as well. It's certainly Christmas-y, but almost in that "Good god, Grandma, have you no limits?" way. Little bit of ester.

M - Full, drying.

Overall - I feel like 21st Amendment tried to find the most spices they could possibly put in a beer and do that. It wasn't bad, but it was way overpowering.

Serving type: bottle

12-22-2012 18:12:11 | More by BeerBuckeye

BeerManDan

California

3.95/5  rDev +16.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

The color when poured was dark brown with a little amount of tan foam and a load of lace on the side of the glass. The smell of spices and fruit, along with yeasty roasted malts filled the nose with a pleasant aroma. The taste had a sweet/bitter alcoholic spicy flavor with a hint of roasted yeasty bread/fruit flavor. A little bitter finish, but, a loads of spicy/fruity flavor on the palate. This is another winner for 21st Amendment. Nicely balanced flavor.

Serving type: bottle

11-29-2012 22:59:08 | More by BeerManDan

LiquidAmber

Washington

3.95/5  rDev +16.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

After reading other people's reviews of this beer, I decided I had to give it another chance; the overall experience of a spicy, malty ale did not jibe with my first experience and review. New 2012 review:
Poured into a Gulden Draak tulip. Pours a dark reddish mahogany amber with a fine one finger light tan head with good retention and lacing. Aroma of bready malt and holiday spices, particularly cinnamon. Flavor is bready and biscuit malt, cinnamon, clove and nutmeg, faint cocoa. Finishes like cinnamon toast with a hint of hops. Medium bodied with good carbonation. A very pleasant, fun to drink holiday ale that I look forward to seeing next year.

I clearly got a bad can in 2010, which is a relief because I like 21st Amendment and couldn't understand why they made that spicy, sour mess. Good to know it wasn't intentional and I'm glad I tried this again.

Here is my original review:
Review from 11/2010 notes. Poured into a Gulden Draak tulip. Pours a dark red amber, moderate head and lacing. Spicy, bretty sour aroma. Yikes, what were they thinking? My least favorite elements of sour wild yeast flavor amped up with spices. Light malt and fruit overwhelmed by the sour. In my bottom 10. After looking at other reviews, maybe I got a bad can; I'll have to rereview this next year.
Original ratings: 4,2.5,2.5,3.5,2.5

Serving type: bottle

07-08-2012 03:47:45 | More by LiquidAmber

JayS2629

Alabama

3.65/5  rDev +7.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

I think the people that gave this an F threw off the rating and were unfair. This is really a B beer. Nothing overly complex or, some pleasant flavor combinations, but nothing that makes it especially memorable other than a few Christmas spice notes.

It poured very nicely for me. I had a giant 4 finger, whip cream like topper with a light tan color that stuck around for a really long time. The beer is a very dark brown, almost black. The lacing is a little soapy but leaves a few thin walls that fall on the edges of the Funkwerks tulip I’m drinking from.

The aroma is spice, molasses, and brown sugar. Notes of cinnamon and nutmeg pronounce themselves in the middle with scents of baked sweets.

I like how Jason describes this as molasses cookies. Big toffee notes and fruit hints like plum or cherry. Definite spice in the middle and a touch of warmness in the finish. Hoppy notes are faint in the semi-dry finish.

Smooth, lightly creamy

Overall, fun to drink. Enjoyable sipper. Definitely makes me think of holidays.

Serving type: bottle

11-12-2011 21:09:23 | More by JayS2629

laituegonflable

Australia

3.45/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Pours a murky red colour with bubbly beige head, just a cloud of bubbles on top with pleasant lacing. Could use more to look at, but not bad.

Smell is quite fruity and sweet. English-style with toffeed malt, banana notes, some nutmeg and ginger. Spice cookies and a hint of star anise at the back. Bit too sweet overall but again, not bad.

Taste has a bit more earth to it; bit dark with some molasses upfront and then sweet-but-roasty mid, with hints of leather, nutmeg and dried banana chips. Nice dry spice on the back with light pepper, nutmeg and star anise, but retains that residual sweetness which is unfortunate. Quite a pleasant, light 'n' sweet brew, but a bit off-balance at times.

Bit of texture to it, but quite dry on the back. Maybe could use more body, feels a bit thin at times.

Pleasant beer, nothing amazing about it, but I feel they're not aiming for amazing, and they have managed to hit pleasant 'n' drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

10-04-2011 06:11:36 | More by laituegonflable

Chaney

District of Columbia

4/5  rDev +17.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: Poured a fairly clear, dark red color that, when looking straight at it, started red at the bottom and got darker to the point of almost total darkness as it reached the summit. It was topped off by a two inch cloud white head that stayed frothy throughout the session.

S: I've read some reviews of this, and I wonder if I just drank the same beer as everyone else. No christmas spices such as nutmeg, cinnamon, or anything else of the sort. On the nose, I got straight up sour beer with aspirin and Belgian yeast. Kinda cool..

T: Yep... same thing on the taste, only the fact that the sweet elements were as tempered as they were was a total shocker. A very soft, almost grainy quality made an appearance on the finish. I sensed a tinge of brown sugar, but certainly not much. Maybe melon or cantaloupe?

M: Like I said ... almost non-existent sugar. The carbonation was fine and filled out the palate nicely. Yeasty and silky smooth.

D: Hmmm.... I would have never pegged this as a Christmas holiday brew. Sort of generic, but I could easily drink a couple of these without needing any other food or drink to cut it. I know that my review looks totally different than the others on here, so maybe my taste buds are off.... just maybe. I'll stick to my guns for now.

Serving type: bottle

12-07-2010 03:11:22 | More by Chaney

brewdlyhooked13

Ohio

3.28/5  rDev -3.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Appearance - pours a fine autumnal caramel/brown. A finger of light creamy mocha rests atop and makes some good swaths of lace on the glass.

Aroma - lightly bready and toasty, spicy shades of cola, anise, orange, along the lines of Anchor cmas ale.

Taste - starts off with a decent brown ale style maltiness. That slightly sourish, sweetish malt flavor of a brown, followed by some nice toasty grain, light spices like anise and maybe cardamom. Festive to a point, but not overly intense or exciting. A late drying smack of hops on the aftertaste. I think this is closer to a brown than a winter warmer. A little disappointed but it's good enough to keep.

Mouthfeel - good smoothness, medium carbonation, good body for the style.

Drinkability - a decent brew, props for the presidential can art. Doesn't have an elevated appeal for me like winter warmers generally do, but this is more of a spiced brown ale.

Serving type: bottle

11-18-2010 03:48:54 | More by brewdlyhooked13

smcolw

Massachusetts

3.28/5  rDev -3.5%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Large and rocky head. Leaves plenty of chunky lace. Brown color and clear.

There's a shocking sourness on the initial whiff. Behind that, there's a powdered cocoa.

The flavor is an improvement: there's a hazelnut element to the tongue. It has a mild peppery bite in the swallow. This is a surprisingly thin brew. There is a minor metallic presence in the taste, but overall it is true to the winter warmer style.

Serving type: bottle

11-13-2010 01:58:34 | More by smcolw

DaveHS

California

3.73/5  rDev +9.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A-Pours cola brown with 1/3 of khaki head. Leaves moderate lacing.

S-Nutmeg, cinnamon,orange peel, coriander, white pepper.

T/M-Thin flavors of cinnamon and nutmeg, with a lightly roasted malt backbone. Just the slightest hint of earthy hops. Not quite as full bodied as I would expect given the style. Light to medium bodied, with moderate carbonation.

D-An average winter warmer.

Serving type: bottle

11-12-2010 06:34:52 | More by DaveHS

bsp77

Minnesota

3.05/5  rDev -10.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Serving glass: Poured from bottle into tall glass.

Appearance: Rich, dark brown with thick, foamy tan white head.

Smell: Caramel, cherry, spicy & floral English hops and sweet gingerbread.

Taste: Semi-sweet caramel and roasted malts, with some cherry and spicy English hops. Ends very burnt and metallic.

Feel: Moderate carbonation, fairly light and thin body for almost 8%. Very dry finish, but that's not the greatest thing considering the circumstances of that finish.

Drinkability: The burnt metallic finish just kills this, and destroys any complexity. Not really sure where the spices are either, although I thought I smelled a little.

Serving type: bottle

11-02-2010 21:39:11 | More by bsp77

YardmanFTB

Maryland

4.43/5  rDev +30.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

One of my favorite spiced winter beers and it comes from a place that doesn't even have a winter (San Francisco). It is a dark English-style ale spiced with cinnamon and other spices common in winter ales. I find it to be a great mix between a malty English Ale and a spiced American-style winter Ale. A great beer.

Serving type: can

03-26-2013 02:44:09 | More by YardmanFTB

nickfl

Florida

3.79/5  rDev +11.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

A - Pours with one finger of light tan foam on top of a dark brown body with clear, amber highlights showing through.

S - Mint, nutmeg, cardamom, and dark cherries with a bready malt background.

T - Thick, brown malt up front with some brown sugar. More of the spice character comes out in the middle as notes of nutmeg, clove, and cinnamon come out. Finishes with more dark bread, spices, and a bit of caramel.

M - Medium-thick body, moderate carbonation, and a slightly dry finish.

D - Not bad, the spice aroma is still pungent even though this can has some age on it and it is a bit unique compared to many other spiced beers Ive tried. A fairly well handled example of a spiced beer.

Serving type: can

03-18-2013 23:06:00 | More by nickfl

kylehay2004

Florida

4/5  rDev +17.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Single finger head with poor retention but nice lace on a near clear deep amber red body. Aroma is very sweet and well represented with nutmeg, cherry, mint and cinnamon, all spice really. Flavors of the winter season with more nutmeg, gingerbread, nutmeg and hint of peppermint. Some caramel malt base as well. A lot thicker than expected, moderate carbonation and fairly oily coating the palate. Very interesting with this one managing to have many of the same flavors as others in the class but the overall flavors and body make it different and therefore memorable.

Serving type: can

03-18-2013 23:04:39 | More by kylehay2004

TheBrewo

Michigan

3.71/5  rDev +9.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

We pop the tab and pour a brew of the deepest ruby red. It holds a two finger tall head of big, cakey, light brown bubbles on a rough pour. It leaves patterned lacing down the sides of the glass as it recedes at a slow pace. No haze is noted, but bulky sediment sits suspended about the foot of the glass. Carbonation appears light. The aroma is hugely robust, with sweet and biting cranberry, tart raspberry, candied cherries buttery caramel and coffee malts, burnt gingerbread, spicy booze, clove, lightly limey hops, and raw allspice. Our first impression is that the opening act is highly bittered, but it gives way to a smooth follow through, with cleanly stark components. As we sip, big metallics, soured coffee malts, raw cinnamon, lactics, and light leathers start things off. The peak comes with plenty of bitterness, drying coffee bean maltiness, earthy muskiness, and juicy, wet yeast. The finish washes with less bitterness, but the smoke and depth of caramel and coffee grain, more yeast, molasses sweetness, and spice of allspice, pumpkin, ginger, and pecan nuttiness. The aftertaste breathes of toffee sweetness, raw coffee malts, mild grapefruit and herbal hoppiness, strawberry fruitiness, raw leathers, charred smokiness, salts, white sugars, and distant booziness. The body is medium, and the carbonation is light to medium, but with hearty froth and cream on the front. The sip otherwise gives nice slurp, smack, and pop. Pucker adds to the astringent dryness as it clears away an initial coating. The abv is appropriate, and the beer drinks decently.

Overall, what we liked best about this beer was the true winteriness and warmth of the spice and depth of malts. While we do wish things had fleshed out a bit more fully through the flavoring, each component was nicely contributory to the final sip, adding nice depth and excitement throughout. The nose gave big fruity sweetness, and smelled a bit more like a bock, at times, than a warmer. Mouthfeel also ultimately added to the experience, helping to keep you happy with almost every sip.

Serving type: can

03-09-2013 02:49:07 | More by TheBrewo

flexabull

California

3.75/5  rDev +10.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Pours a dark copper color with a pretty nice off white head.

Aromas are of cider, ginger, and sugars.

Taste starts out with some cider flavors. Baked apple, slightly sweet, with some caramel notes. Finish is spicy. Mostly notice ginger, as well as nutmeg and cinnamon. Interesting beer, but pretty tasty.

Mouthfeel is full and smooth.

Overall, I like this. It might come off to some as being a bit heavy handed with the ginger and spices to some, but it works pretty well for me.

Serving type: can

03-08-2013 17:38:16 | More by flexabull

jco3rd

California

4.1/5  rDev +20.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Served in a nonic pint glass. Pours a dark color, like a porter. Nice fine head, which dissipates to a ring around the edges. Lots of suspended yeast, which detracts from the look in the glass.

Malty and rich gingerbread on the nose. Quite delightful.

Sweet malty flavor, balanced out by dark bitter roasted malt flavors with dark spice notes.

All in all enjoyable. However I feel it is slightly too bitter for the style. Still I will continue to purchase and enjoy this beer.

Serving type: can

03-06-2013 04:27:48 | More by jco3rd

DMXLOX22

Pennsylvania

3.81/5  rDev +12.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Picked up a single of this strange brew from a mixed six-pack at my local establishment. Let's see how it measures up.

Appearance: Pours a dark, almond-like, brown. Leaves behind moderate bubbles and an exceptional, frothy white head that takes it time to dissipate and the lacing it on par with most of the beers in this category.

Smell: Has some moderate, dark malts. Has an almost chocolate-like aroma, and it definitely comes into a positive aspect of this beer. It has a subtle tartness to it that actually draws me in more. I can see more indisputable things about this.

Taste: Has a upfront taste of slight fruits and calm, but thick malts. Noticed some lemon zest and cinnamon. Also I enjoyed a taste of brown sugar and slight amounts of vanilla. I thoroughly enjoyed the fine malts of dark roast, but the slight sweetness of spices. Goes together very well and is well-balanced.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with a nice, natural carbonation that makes for easy sipping.

Overall: Wasn't exactly thrilled going into this, but over time I did enjoy it as it went down. It brought some surprises to the plate, but there are in need of some improvements. Some of the spices added in were generic and not very different from the norm. Not to say this wasn't a good beer, as it was good for sipping, but nothing entirely too special. I would maybe try again if it were offered, but I guess I would recommend to a friend. Cheers!

Serving type: can

02-25-2013 02:45:54 | More by DMXLOX22

Darkmagus82

Montana

3.29/5  rDev -3.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25

Poured from can into a pint glass

Appearance - Pours a lightly hazed brown-mahogany color with a small one half finger cream colored head. The small head persists for some time to fade eventually leaving a lighter level of lacing on the sides of the glass.

Smell – The aroma is a mix of malty and spicy smells with notes of some sweetness within. The malty aromas are of a toasted malt with the spice being mainly of cinnamon and nutmeg. The sweet smells of caramel, fig, and plum mixed with a light boozy aroma, create a quite spiced fruitcake aroma overall

Taste – The taste begins of roasted malt and a very small amount of sweetness from plum and caramel. The caramel fades quite quickly from the taste, while tons of spice and a light boozy flavor come to the tongue. The spice flavors of cinnamon and nutmeg grow stronger to the end of the taste and are joined by an ever increasing rum like boozy taste. These flavors in the end leave a somewhat astringent rather dry boozy and spicy flavor on the tongue.

Mouthfeel – The body of the beer is on the thinner side in terms of its creaminess and thickness with a carbonation level that is average to just above average. The thin body does a rather poor job at complimenting the roasted and boozy flavors, although on the plus side the thin body and higher carbonation level did prevent some of the more off flavors from really lingering on the tongue. So overall a moderate mouthfeel.

Overall – Not really one I would recommend. The flavors are a little too spicy and astringent with a feel that does not complement well the winter warmer category (although I guess the boozy taste does).

Serving type: can

02-25-2013 02:03:56 | More by Darkmagus82

SHODriver

California

3.13/5  rDev -7.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A: pours a deep brown with a slight reddish hue, call it mahogany. a finger of deep off white head sits atop and fades to a small mat after a decent time.
S: smells of spices, toffee and a little bit of plumb. very sweet on the nose
T: toffee up front, some spices like nutmeg and a hint of cinnamon, a bit of dark fruit, slight toastyness from the malt and some sugary sweetness. slight herbalness on the back end. aftertaste is hard to describe but it's like spice mixed with some hops and a bit more residual sugar
M: medium with active and slightly prickly carbonation, a little drying on the swallow
O: solid beer but the finish on the swallow really ruins it. glad I only got the one. overall it's not bad and if the aftertaste was cleaner and the flavors played better it would get higher marks. up until that point it was a solid B.

Serving type: can

01-30-2013 04:19:24 | More by SHODriver

brewdude1982

North Carolina

4.38/5  rDev +28.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

This was a 12 oz. can poured into a mug.

It pours a opaque black with no particles evident in the beer. It smells sweet like vanilla and maybe ginger or some other spice. I feel that it is nicely balanced and welcomed. I love the spices of this beer. It has a warming very pleasant taste of vanilla and then fades to the other spices as well as to the malts of this beer which are rich. I taste lots of sweet tastes which escape me but I definitely get vanilla. I like this beer and would order it again especially if on tap.

Serving type: can

01-28-2013 02:25:14 | More by brewdude1982

RJLarse

Washington

3.68/5  rDev +8.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

I bought a couple cans of Fire3side Chat at Total Wine & More in Spokane. Poured in to a pint glass.

Pours a walnut brown color, translucent , with a foamy beige one finger head. The foam is fairly sticky and laces the side of the glass in a broad ring.

Smell is a darkly sweet aroma, with some dark fruit and rum notes. Dates, plums and a bit of a rum fruitcake aroma.

Taste is a lot like the smell, rich dark fruit flavors, a little spice and rum flavor. Just a touch of alcohol heat on the finish.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied, slightly cloying, with a heavy sweet aftertaste.

Overall a nice winter warmer. A little long on the sweet flavors.

Serving type: can

01-28-2013 00:36:09 | More by RJLarse

GilGarp

Colorado

3.58/5  rDev +5.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Canned 9-24-12.

Served cold into a goblet.

Fireside Chat is a hazy dark brown color with thin creamy head. Is settles quickly but leaves some lace behind.

Aroma is sweet and malty with honey and toffee elements.

Flavor is rich and spicy with lots of mulling spices like cinnamon and clove. It has a bit of vegetal flavor, which seems off.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied and nicely carbonated.

Overall a pretty good winter warmer but too heavy on the spices for my tastes.

Serving type: can

01-02-2013 01:20:56 | More by GilGarp