Ryan and I are duoing this Imperial Christmas Red Ale. It's Belgian so should have some bananas and cloves. Modest head, not seeing any red in the color. More of a rusty copper. Sweet malt dark fruit aroma. First taste is alcohol, sweet malt, dark fruit, which is probably fig, and it's all a bit roasted. As soon as it goes to the finish it becomes a bit salty, a hop bitterness, and late it reveals traces of caramel. The finish also becomes a bit dry. As the beer warms in the glass, the 12% alcohol finally seems that high but still doesn't warm the throat while going down. This is a complex beer that has red ale characteristics at first and then some hop bitterness in the finish. It's well balanced as the transition of profile from the first, although abrupt, still effortlessly glides to the finish. Seldom have I had a beer rating in my head move so vastly but I'm happy with the number I have settled with.

A Christmas beer in August??? Well I know it’s not freshly brewed. No date on it. 12% abv so I think it is good to go. I don’t usually report on smell but wow it smells really malty. Pungently. This is fairly sweet. Fruit wise leans towards raisin, fig, cherry. Other wise leans towards toffee, molasses, brown sugar. Just a tad spicy. A little boozy as you finish. Overall not bad and I enjoyed. I’m just not crazy about the super sweet beers.

There's a sweet spiciness in the aroma. Some fruitiness as well. Taste has banana, slight cloves, caramel and raisins. Definitely Belgian yeast used in this one. Medium+ carbonation and a medium-ish body. The 12% abv is not super apparent, but it's a tad bit boozy. Glad I tried it. Not really what I'm looking for in a Christmas beer, but still a good beer. 3.5/5