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'tis the season for holiday ales and Two Roads Brewery recently released their second annual batch of the what the brewry refers to as a Bière De Noël.
The first release of Holiday Ale was a small batch that was available for a only short time. It was not bottled and was served on tap at the brewery. I was lucky enough to try it.
Holiday Ale was the very first beer I ever tasted from Two Roads last December. My impression of last year's batch placed the bar for my expectations of future releases pretty high. I wrote:
It pours a cloudy copper with a nice white head. It was clean tasting with a hint of spice and a mildly bitter finish. Very tasty and exceptionally drinkable.
Holiday Ale (6.8% ABV) pours a bright clear copper with a quickly diminishing floof of white foam.
The aroma is mild but hints of malt and some spice are detected.
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The taste is surprisingly clean and light. Malt dominates the palate with a whisper of spices lingering in the background. There is a gentle bittering effect to balance out the brew. The finish is clean with a slight metallic aftertaste.
The mouthfeel is medium with crisp carbonation. Nice to drink and easily quaffable.
I seem to recall last year's version to have a stronger malt flavor with more distinctive spice notes. That doesn't make this years batch bad, just different.
As to the aftertaste, a fellow beer enthusiast indicated that he detected no off flavors in the bottled version. I will have to suffer through a bottle to investigate this for myself. Inquiring minds want to know.
Overall: good
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