Bell's Christmas Ale (-2016)
The basic inspiration for Bell’s Christmas Ale was to create a sessionable holiday beer, using locally grown malt, which would stand apart from the array of spiced winter warmers that are typically introduced this time of year. In contrast to many other seasonals, Christmas Ale doesn’t contain any spices: all of the dry, toasted notes & subtle toffee flavors come from the 100% Michigan-grown barley, custom malted by Briess Malting, while a blend of hops from Michigan & the Pacific Northwest lend earthy, herbal aromas. At 5.5% ABV, it stands as a smooth, highly drinkable beer intended to complement holiday menus, not overshadow them.
3.2
687 reviews
Comstock, United States
Community reviews
Dark copper color with a small tan head. Malty aroma - including a little bit of bread and also earthiness. Malty flavor, not too sweet, with the bread coming through. Palate is medium bodied, average carbonation and slightly oily.
Pours Amber with compact white head that holds well. Aroma of biscuits dipped in honey. Sweet finish.
Draft. Smells sweet, a little spice. Golden red, not much head. Taste: Very mild. Palate: Moderate body, decent finish. Overall: Is ok, drinkable but not fantastic
Bottle from Liquor Barn. Aroma was candy and malt. One person said they noticed grape. Way too carbonated.
Copper-brown with a small head that persists. Aroma of spiced candy apple. Flavor is the same, with some wood and toasted nut shell on the finish. Maybe some faint smoky caramel, but then again maybe I only wished it were there. Almost-medium body is a little too fizzy and finishes dryish
Sampled on draught at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago. A deep copper colour with a thin head that does not last. The taste is of brown bread and toffee and is quite sweet. Some fragrant notes and little bitterness. A pleasant and well-made dunkel beer.
Bottle from West Side. Pours a clear, deep copper color. Big toasted bread malt nose. Light body. Dry on the palate with some light grassy hops. Light bitter finish. Very Oktoberfest like. Simple and drinkable.
Dark amber, somewhat hazy with solid carbonation visible. 3/4-inch off-white to tan head, receding moderately leaving splotchy lacing. Malty aroma, fruits, a bit of bread, nutty, anticipates a sweet taste. Thick feel. Mild initial taste, sticky, a bit sweet, subtle earthiness. Middle and finish remain as with the initial taste with a finish that clings to the mouth and tongue. Hardly any bittering evident. Moderately sweet finish. A bit simple in all aspects. Easy to drink, pleasant, enjoyable in its own right. If you read the brewer’s web site description of this beer, it is hitting exactly what the brewer intended, so comparing it against spicy holiday beers or high ABV winter warmers in unfair. Their focus on all (or nearly all) local ingredients from malts to hops is laudable. Nonetheless, as pleasant and drinkable as this beer is, I like a bit more complexity in malty beers.
Bottle. Every once in a while I stumble onto a beer I’m surprised I haven’t rated before. Here ya go. Pretty straight forward, medium brown, thin to no head. The aroma has a vague note of sweet candies. This drinks with a middle of the road malty baseline, light toffee, tight tart top notes. (#6436, 11/29/2016)
Multiple samples from bottle. Pours light amber, beige head. Aroma was malty, toasted grains. Taste was sweet, malty, spicy.
Deep copper/red, a slight haze, with a small off-white head and modest lace. Aromas of toffee, toast, caramel and a hint of earth. Taste is mostly caramel and toffee sweetness, with toast and a whisper of offsetting hop bitterness. Medium body, average carbonation, smooth mouthfeel and a dry finish.
Bell’s Christmas Ale has a medium, ivory-colored head, a semi-clear, amber appearance, with lots of sediment chunks, some bubbles, and a bit of lacing left behind. Aroma is of mildly sweet brown bread crust, toast, and a touch of dried fruit. Mouthfeel is low-medium, and Bell’s Christmas Ale finishes on the dry side. RJT
Decent beer, not a good scottish ale. Aroma is malty, raisins, hint of apricots/stone fruits. Bright clear beer that looks beautiful in glass with a hint of lace. Taste is quite dry, well bittered which dominates the finish, slight fruity esters that are more british than scottish in nature, no phenolics, woody herbal hop character comes through. Palate is crushed by the bitterness which just doesn’t play well with the malt character. It is simply too hop forward for style. Overall it’s drinkable, enjoyable even. However a Scottish style ale it is not.
Bottle. Because I love Expy I feel compelled to drink everything else. Look, this one isn’t all that great - it’s got this toasted stale bread thing going on that isn’t all that inspiring, and otherwise it’s pretty bland -- some caramel sweetness, light bitterness, just sort of a generic beer with healthy malt presence. But there’s nothing unpleasant about this. The main take-away for me is that I like mediocre beers more than most folks.
Clear, amber pour with quick beige foam. Caramel malt nose with some faint spicy notes. Medium body, thin fizz. The malts are complex with caramel dominating but good roasted notes too. Faint spices, but not much. Hops at the end. Less heavy than expected, easy to imagine having more than one.
Dry malty aroma with some slight honey and medicine to the finish. Some spice and not too heavy but the almost cherry medicine feel to the finish is a downside. Still descent but not my favorite bells beer.
D. Pours a deep amber color with white head. Not a good flavor. Doesn’t get better through the glass
caramel and butterscotch with a bit of dank. how can you dislike that? touch of pine and chewy in the body in spots.
Deep dark color. Malty and sweet aroma. Flavor is of roasted barley, chocolate malt and light hops in the finish.
appearance: medium amber, lots of floaters, short, fizzy beige head. aroma: brown bread, hint of caramel, some earthy hop notes. taste: toasted pumpernickel, hint of cracker jacks, light earthy, spicy hops. finish: abrupt, palate is medium carb and slightly astringent. notes: Disappointed. I like just about everything Bells puts out, but this was a miss for me. I get what they were going for, but there just wasn’t a lot of character to this beer.
Strong pecan, medium roast nose. Cloudy copper, many fine floaties, medium lacy yellow head with pretty good retention. Slightly sweet pecan at first, finishes drier with malt and dried leaves. Light body, moderate carbonation. Better than most scotch ales, IMO, because it is not as cloying. No British malt character though probably more of an ABA.
Copper colored pour with small off white head. Aromas of malts, caramel, hops and spices. Taste of roasted malts, grains, hops, slight caramel and burnt toffee. Light bodied, higher carbonation, bitter hop finish. Not coming all together very good on this one. A little disappointed.
2015/01/25 - Pours a hazy amber colour with a thin, creamy, khaki head that quickly reduces. Aromas are roasted grain, bread, light toffee and earthy hops. Taste follows nose; toasted malts, sweet toffee, cereal, bread and earthy hops. Starts slightly sweet and ends moderately bitter. Mouthfeel is medium and slightly oily with average carbonation and a sharp, drying finish. Pretty bland. Should have read the label more closely, as this tastes nothing like I expected when I read "Christmas Ale."
Bottle. Pours a dark copper color with a foamy off-white head. Aroma of caramel, bread, and toasted grain. flavor of toasted malts, caramel, bread, light toffee and had some nuttiness.
I appreciate a holiday beer without all that "junk" in there. Reddish brown pour, thin head. Malty. Lots of caramel malt, some light cocoa like notes and some toffee. Subtle. Not sure where "scotch ale" comes from, but whatever. Not a lot of character, but a good malty ale.
Pours murky copper with a huge thick off white sticky head. Initial burst of sweet malt that fades quickly. A hint of bread at the finish.
---Rated via Beer Buddy
Bottle, as pictured. Bottled October 2015. Not a bad beer, wasn’t sure what style this was going to be. Reddish-brown pour, sweet, a little roastiness, light spice. Nothing wild.
Bottle. Pours a dark copper with a fluffy white head. Aromas of sweet malt, dark fruit and hops. Flavors of caramel, dark fruit, berries, cut grass, and bready tones. Finishes with earthy hops. Clean mouthfeel. Really a very nice Christmas ale. No cinnamon. No spices. Well done.
Not bad but not great either. Doesn’t have any traits of a Christmas ale, such as spices. Meh.
12oz bottle, poured into a stout glass. Appearance is amber, light brown and clear, with a thick khaki foam head and nice lacing. Aroma is caramel malt, touch of citrusy hops. Taste is toasty, slightly nutty malt flavor, and a moderately strong bitterness. Palate is medium body with high carbonation. Overall easy to drink, i liked it for the style. Not sure why others rate so poorly considering the brewery, but it does not rate that highly for the style.