Some Christmas Ales

Pretty much every brewery produces a Christmas themed ale these days, and as I had a few in my cupboard I have sampled and reviewed four of them. Here’s is what I think of them;

Panther Brewery Festive Panther, 4.5%

The Panther Brewery from Reedham in Norfolk takes its name from several claim sightings of a Panther in the area and this is their festive ale, a dark ale with the addition of mulled spices.  Poured a very dark brown, smells of malts and a lot of mulled spice, with a smooth texture the ales taste for me was a little overdone with the mulled spice really overtaking everything else and giving it a bit of a vinegar undertone, I didn't really enjoy this, 5.5/10.

Ridgeway Reindeer’s Revolt, 6%

An amber beer with good head from Ridgeway Brewing in Oxfordshire, the bottle says this is brewed for the USA market but it seems to be readily available from several outlets over here also. The ale has rich toffee aromas with a touch of hops and raisins, to taste the ale had a rich malt with toffee and spice, with a mild bitterness to finish. Very drinkable for its ABV, 7.75/10.

Shepherd Neame Rudolph’s Reward, 4%

Shepherd Neame’s festive effort wins the prize for my favourite label of the four but that’s about it I'm afraid. In a clear bottle this amber beer with a cream head had an aroma of dusty malt and burnt wood with a little spice, to taste it was a mild amber ale but with an undertone of ash, I hope in real life Rudolph’s Reward was better than this. 5/10.

Mighty Hop Christmas Cracker, 4%

The Mighty Hop Brewery from Lyme Regis has created this Christmas ale from a tradition recipe using Viennese Malt and Curacao Orange. The orange is really strong throughout, and the aromas of the ale are a mixture of vanilla and orange hops. To taste it’s a mild amber bitter with added orange and spice, with very mild bitter finish, very festive and I enjoyed the infusion of Orange, 7.5/10.