UPDATED: JAN 4, 2022 Pours a bright orange-brown with a settling foam and a fresh malty-hoppy nose with that orangey Sheps twang. Crisp and bitter-sweet, toasty orange, hops and a hint of nuttiness, good flavourful stuff.

UPDATED: DEC 29, 2021 Pours a slightly cloudy, deep amber coloration with a medium, fluffy head. Smells of bready, caramel malt and floral, slightly herbal and spicy hops, with hints of red berries also coming through. Taste is a great balance between bready, caramel malt and floral, herbal and spicy hops, with fruity accents of orange rind, fig and cranberry. Finishes with a medium bitterness and some bready malt, floral hops, spice and citrus and berry notes lingering in the aftertaste. Smooth mouthfeel with a medium body and carbonation. While this seems quite hoppy for a Christmas Ale, I actually really like the balance between malt and hops here, while this also has got quite a dry and bitter character to it, which totally lacks the sweetness which one might expect from the style. That's a good thing in my book though and the bready, caramel malts do provide a certain richness with a little sweetness that is clearly overshadowed by the floral and quite bitter and spicy hops, with notes of citrus zest and red berries rounding things out very nicely here. Overall, while this may not be a typical Christmas Ale, I still found it quite enjoyable for what it is.

UPDATED: DEC 26, 2021 Bottle design by Charles Dickens' illustrator himself I'm thinking. It's merrie olde Engerland at Yuletide. Faversham, Kent, 7%. A fruity drop? Hmmm a clear ruby gold pour. Thin head, fine lacing. Aroma subtle and fruity. Quite fresh taste, not heavy as expected. Ginger tangy, berries and sweet, orange marmalade, dry spicy orange peel fade out. Well blended. Soft mouthfeel low carb. Doesn't taste 7%. Had expected a bigger beer but a nice spicy well balanced Christmas beer. Lovely festive orangey spicy aftertaste. Pricy in Germany but well worth a punt at the festive season.

UPDATED: DEC 25, 2021 Bottle. Clear amber with a lovely white head. Aroma of malts, dried fruit, raisins, caramel and too much alcohol. Taste of malts, caramel, orange marmelade, toffee, dried fruits, candied sugar, herbs and spices. Rather strong herbal bitterness. Low to medium carbonation. Full-bodied mouthfeel but also too much alcoholic present. The ingredients for a nice strong ale are all there but the balance is missing. It’s a shame. We could have been so good together.

UPDATED: DEC 24, 2021 Skum som försvinner snabbare än vad jag gissat. Ljuvligt cognacsbrun. Söt, fikon, lite knäck. Lätt beska. Lätt kolsyrad.

UPDATED: NOV 28, 2021 Clear amber, big head. Smells malty, with some hop notes. Medium sweet, with apparent hop bitterness. Medium body, long aftertaste.

UPDATED: NOV 21, 2021 Aroma of fruits, caramel, malt and some bread and dried fruits. Amber with a off-white head. Medium to ehavy sweet and medium bitter. Medium + body with average carbonation. Slightly dry and bitter finish. Overall a very nice English Strong Ale.

UPDATED: JUN 7, 2021 This is quite A nice xmas beer. Reasonable body. Plenty of flavour. Good abv for an English beer. Tasty.

UPDATED: FEB 11, 2021 Color ámbar intenso, traslúcido y con un dedo de espuma de media retención. Aroma maltoso y acaramelado. Sabor más intenso e igualmente maltoso y acaramelado, aunque con un intenso amargor de fondo muy bien equilibrado y típicamente británico. Cuerpo medio y carbonatación medio-baja.

UPDATED: FEB 4, 2021 Bottle. Amber colored, clear with full frothy tan head. Fruity nose, apple, pear and sherry, hints of grain and caramel. Light to medium sweet taste with medium bitter dry finish. Medium body and carbonation, first sparkling then smooth mouthfeel. Flavor is fruity as well, apples, pear, sherry, stronger notes of toffee and caramel, hints of spices. Leaves a light bitter, and fruity, lasting aftertaste.