Festive Ale

Festive Ale

Sweetwater Brewing Co.

Atlanta

Type of Beer: Strong ale with spices

ABV: 7.7%

You know the holidays are looming when red wax starts appearing around bottle caps. My first jingle bells-themed beer of the year is Sweetwater’s Festive Ale. In a glass it shows off a deep chocolate brown color, with a long lasting and very dense head. The nose is all we’ve come to expect of the holiday season. Many of the elements sing fruitcake. There are hints of dark fruit and some brown sugar. There are also notes of nutmeg. The mouthfeel is quite full and shows off a lot of malt texture and again that dark brown sugar. Added to the mix are hints of lemon and a dry tartness like black pepper without the heat. Highly carbonated, it tingles the tongue substantially and finishes with a long dry, cinnamon and mace spicy profile. This is a seasonal experience, like falling in a pile of dead leaves on a bitterly cold day. Festive Ale brings together the dryness of the leaves and the coddling of heavy winter clothes. A perfect beer for late nights in the dead of winter.

—Daniel Bradford