Harvey's Christmas Ale (Bottle)
Bottle: Filtered
A Strong Dark Barley Wine Full Of Festive Spirit
Also available on draught throughout December.
Christmas Ale’s popularity made it difficult to restrict its availability to just the Festive Season. Fortunately, the high alcohol level enables us to brew enough to last most of the year so enthusiasts can be kept happy all year round.
It is heavily hopped, dark and strong, like Christmas Pudding in a glass!
.
A Strong Dark Barley Wine Full Of Festive Spirit
Also available on draught throughout December.
Christmas Ale’s popularity made it difficult to restrict its availability to just the Festive Season. Fortunately, the high alcohol level enables us to brew enough to last most of the year so enthusiasts can be kept happy all year round.
It is heavily hopped, dark and strong, like Christmas Pudding in a glass!
.
3.5
476 reviews
Lewes, England
Community reviews
0.275 l bottle from 'Rudat', best before August 2018. Clear, dark reddish brown with a thin, frothy, slowly diminishing, beige head. Sweetish-malty, slightly herbal-spicy and a bit fruity aroma of plums, raisins, caramel, some strawberry jam and traces of sherry. Very sweet, malty, slightly fruity and a bit herbal-spicy taste of plums, raisins, caramel, tea leaves, orange peel, cinnamon and some sherry, followed by a medium long, moderately bitter, slightly herbal-spicy and a little boozy finish. Medium to full body, oily mouthfeel, soft carbonation. Rich, saturating winter warmer, very enjoyable, reminds me of Glühwein.
Här har vi den kostnadsmedvetnes (läs; snåles) bästa spartips till det stundande julbordet. Köp Harvey julöl som visar sig vara både öl och snaps i samma flaska. Man ska nämligen vara sagolikt välvillig eller möjligtvis helt bortkommen om man ska kunna förneka att det är en påtaglig spritighet som dominerar hela den här upplevelsen. I huvudsak knäckig arom, smaken är klassiskt brittisk ale med alla karamelltoner man kan hitta däri. Men totalt sett rätt oelegant.
Bottle - Vintage 2002? - Prune, date, cocoa and some oxidization. Deep brown with almost no head. Much like the nose, obvious oxidization and lots of dried prune.
Vintage bottle keistered by Alex. 2002-2004 era. No carbonation. Medium brown. Heavy oxidation on the nose, kind of a light spiciness...cardboard. Thin on the palate at this point, leaving behind some darker sugars but definitely thin. Doesn't taste as cardboardy on the palate, but definitely turning sideways. Has some light fruitiness. But honestly, with a bottle this old it's an effort to pull positive things from it - studying it gives it more interest because without studying it, this beer would just be some oxidized thin thing. Ok - better go seek out a fresh bottle, cause I"m sure this rating is harsh; only reflective of what's in the glass before me.
Best Before 2004 ("thanks" Alex). 275mL bottle, pours a deep dark mahogany with a small beige head. Nose is all oxidation, with subtle hints of caramel and dark fruits that were no doubt here when I was teenager. Flavour is totally unpalatable, with balsamic notes, subdued toffee and bready malt, and old folks home. Offensive and hard to take more than a few sips. Hilariously off by now. Unfair to rate this, but fuck it.
275ml bottle. Aroma is sweet and malty with dried fruits, chocolate, toffee, light coffee and touches of Christmas pudding. Taste is equally sweet with milk chocolate, toffee, light sweet coffee notes, dried fruits and Christmas pudding. Medium, creamy and slightly sticky mouthfeel, light carbonation and sweet milk chocolate and Christmas pudding aftertaste.
Bottle. Strong, sweet and rather bittern with notes of dried fruits and green apples.
Bottle from systembolaget. Pours a brown colour beer with a medium head. Malty and dried fruity with notes of rasins. Dry bitter finish.
Bottle; pours murky brown with a thin ring of tan head; sweet aroma of dark fruits and caramel; taste is sweet with caramel, dark fruits, and malt; dry finish is a little bitter with some alcohol warming.
Bottle. No head. Dark gold body. Rich red fruits, glace cherries, sherry. Bittersweet with a dry finish.
Bottle from the brewery. This is rich enough to give you gout (which is a compliment). It’s a combination of Christmas pudding and vintage port, with a big upfront sweetness, with lots of raisins and plums. It fades slowly and finishes with a long lasting bitterness. It’d be excellent on Christmas Eve.
(bottle, 27.5cl) Clear, dark amber colour with a short and slightly tanned foamy layer. Slightly leafy dark malty aroma with fruity notes of umeboshi, raisins, as well as caramel and a whiff of booze. Sweet and mildly bitter flavour, full bodied with a soft carbonation. Initially delicately syrupy malty taste with notes of caramel, dried fruits and umeboshi, drying herbal and earthy hops are kicking in the middle part; moderately sweet-bitter finish with a balanced tart and slightly vinous fruity touch and obvious hints of booze. Pleasant. 17.IV.17
Bottle from brewery in Lewes. Definitely a beer that must be drunk at the right time I.e at Christmas. It is so full bodied, malty, powerful. Ideal queens speech or Boxing Day beverage replacement for port (or just have both).
Bottle from Systembolaget, Östersund (and so very happy to write that it is!!! Go Harvey's!). Similar comments, looks like a dark English ale, sweet and powerful.
Re-rated. Down 0.1.
Re-rated, bottle from Sweden. Very sweet. It's just a bit extra. Can never tell if I love Harveys Christmas ale or repulsed by it. 3.5 to 3.3
Re-rated on cask at the Lamb, Eastbourne. 3.3 to 3.5. Lovely appearance (24/12/18)
Rerated on bottle from brewery. 3.5 to 3.7. Mince pie flavouring.
Bottle. Mahogany/Reddish in colour. Malty; roast malts, toffee, brown sugar. Fruity; dark fruits, raisins, possibly plums, hint of spice. Earthy hops. Sweet malty throughout with some hoppy bitterness in the dry finish. (2009-02)
330ml bottle @ monthly tasting, Chez Sophie, courtesy of Mike. Thanks Mike! Pours deep amber, thin off-white head. Aroma has fruity hints, caramel. Taste is fairly light, caramel, alcohol, ripened fruit.
33 cl. bottle. Clear amber colour with an off-white head. Aroma and flavour of raisin, malt, caramel, spice, dried fruit and sweetness.
Clear amber color with tiny off-white head. Aroma of caramel and resins. Taste is medium sweet with notes of malt and dark fruits. Very nice barley wine, well balanced and easy to drink.
Bottle from Boxbeers.com - Color: clear amber caramel beer with no carbonation and small white foam. Smell: caramel and malt domination. Sweet. Small alcohol finish. Taste: full body with caramel malt, caramel domination and alcohol notes. Quiet well balanced and really drinkable. Good attenuation with spicy hint. OK. Aftertaste: caramel and alcohol.
Pours chestnut with a small off white/tannish head. Aroma is earthy, woody, toffee and caramel. Taste is sweet with trace bitters. Medium bodied, smooth and a sticky finish.
Bottle at home. Bought from Inn At Home, Guildford. Floral fruit aroma, but restrained. Chestnut. Traces of an off-white head. Some sweetness, a hint of sourness. Stewed fruits. Medium bodied. Soft, slightly oily. Long finish, although it’s almost just an aftertaste. I’d describe this as laid back. Not as spicy or boozy as I’d expected. Just not sure if that’s a positive or a negative.
Bottle: Deep copper coloured, clear, small and slowly diminishing off-white foamy layer; sweet nose of raisins and carame, cookies detectablel, solid herbal-hoppy background; moderate to solid bitter-sweet flavour, medium to full bodied; robust and lingering bitter-sweet finish with returning flavours of dried fruits and caramel and dry herbal hops in the aftertaste. Well made, pleasant Barley Wine
Aroma: Fruity sweet with raisins and prunes and spices.
Flavour: Dark ripe berries, prunes and brown sugar with christmas spices.
Colour: brown with a fading offwhite head.
Bottle 27.5cl. Poured into a snifter. Brilliant clear tawny amber brown, small frothy off-white head, disappears quickly, light lacing; aroma roasted malts, dark fruits, brown sugar, caramel, treacle; taste light heavy sweet and light bitter, malty, raisins, dates, candy sugar, toffee, alcohol, spicy notes; malty sweetbitter aftertaste, quite spicy, warming alcohol; medium to full body, oily to sticky texture, soft carbonation; a round and rich beer with a relatively low abv of 7.5% despite that a real Barley Wine.
Bottle, 7.5%, courtesy of MiP. Pours slightly hazy copper brown with airy but stable beige head. Clear aroma of malt, caramel and fruit, with touches of cinnamon. Seeetish flavour of caramel malt, with notes of fruit and touches of cinnamon, cloves and hops. Hints of yeast and dust. Gingerbreadlike and dusty aftertaste with spicy and nutty hints. Warming alcohol presence despite only moderately high ABV. A decent beer of this type.
Bottle, 7.5%. Fruity aroma, seems a little oxidised. Clear dark red, brown colour. Almost no head. The flavour is malty and slightly sweet with a nice spicy note and a little acid to balance. Hoppy spice notes, not Christmas spices. Malty, nicely bitter, and salty finish. Quite low carbonation, but just enough.
275 mL bottle shared by ebone1988 for the book. The pour is a dark ruby with a thin ring of light ivory head that leaves a couple spots of lace. The aroma is very sweet. There is a lot of sweet caramel malt right up front and a hint of metallic. This is decent, but it seems really light for a barley wine. Sweet caramel and toasted malts before the metallic malt finishes up. The flavor is really sweet. There is a bright fruit thing happening, lots of molasses, lots of caramel, and then a large dose of metallic. This is probably much older than should be consumed. The balance is there and nice, but it’s extremely sweet and the metallic adder on the malts is not my jam. The mouth feel is thin and slick with a barely there carbonation and a lingeringly sweet metallic molasses on the finish. It’s really interesting, and presumably quite old.
Bottle shared with koleminer20, for the book. Aroma is figs, dark fruit, some spice, molasses, metallic. Appearance is ruby brown, light light light tan head, clear. Taste is fruity, metallic, molasses, spice, malt, pretty off-putting. Mouthfeel is medium body, light carbonation, metallic harsh molasses aftertaste. Overall, not good.
Lovely (supercharged version of their brown ale?). Like a caramel/sugar dessert brittle, or v sweet balsamic reduction; cinnamon in nose too, as well as a cheeky sour touch. Thick, oily texture. Just lacking spice to get it into truly excellent bracket of winter ales.
Rödbrun öl med smutsvitt skum. Doft av karamell, julkryddor och bröd. I smaken tillkommer viss alkoholsötma och lätt nötig beska. För söt för mig.
Bottle @ Home. Pours dark amber with a small creamy offwhite head. Aroma of sweet malt, little caramel, nuts, spice, little honey, wood, some dried fruit, light alcohol. Flavor is sweet, malty, caramel, x-mas spice, dried fruit, raisin, wood, alcohol. Medium body, average carbonation, sweet finish with some alcohol. 210316