3.5 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 14/20 islay (1624) - Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA - MAR 30, 2015
5 oz. pour, on tap at the brewpub in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Consumed on 3-28-15. Nitro tap. The bartender described this as a red ale with spruce tips and said it was the same beer as Festivus but they were no longer calling it Festivus because its not the holiday season. Pours a clear amber to bronze/copper. Long-lasting, typically nitro, beige head. Looks good. Pine needle and light cigar tobacco scents. Very heavy spruce tip flavor. Potpourri. Sweet, almost butterscotch or hard caramel sucking candy flavor. Very interesting flavor. I drank the beer on an above-freezing Spring day, but it still felt extremely wintery/Christmas-y. The spruce tips cut right through the normally dulling nitro. Interesting and likable taste. Watery in the palate. Typically bad nitro palate effects.
3.4 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20 BVery (8222) - Plymouth, Minnesota, USA - JAN 23, 2015
Tap at the brewpub. Clear deep amber pour with an off-white head. Definitely sweet, and the spruce pokes through as well. Getting more of the cedar on taste in the form of a late dryness. This is pretty tasty.
2.6 AROMA 5/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 10/20 commonshawn (703) - Minnesota, USA - JAN 18, 2015
Tap at town hall. Pint glass with commonmac. Dark mahogany with white head. Smells of pine sweet. Scotch ale feel to this one with a bit more hopppiness. Malt still there and a neutral finish. Didnt blow me away.
3 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 11/20 commonmac (728) - Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA - JAN 17, 2015
On tap at Town Hall in a pint glass. Commonshawn in the house. The definition of an amber as far as appearance goes. Expected more on the nose than Im getting. Minimal pine and citrus. Frothy head on a good pour doesnt show a willingness to stick around. An interesting combination of malty sweetness and the piney characteristics of the spruce tips. Very average beer. The malt stays around the longest drawing a line in the sand as the key finishing element. The spruce in the deScription seems deceptive...hops not being assertive enough. Its a Festivus for the rest of them...just probably not me.
3.3 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20 Atom (1888) - Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA - JAN 15, 2015
On tap at brewery pours a bright red/amber with a medium khaki head. Aroma of fruity caramel malt and slight oak. Spruce really hops out there which mellows out into caramel toffee malts. Nice spruce presence, no oak, alright.
4 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20 badgerben (4652) - Blaine, Minnesota, USA - DEC 31, 2014
Dark red with a medium head. Light aroma of pine and some toasted caramel. Big piney flavor. Lots of spruce. Tastes like a forest. Some spice notes. Almost a sharp sap character, possibly the cedar. Full bodied. Just so woodsy.
3.3 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 13/20 deyholla (8606) - Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA - DEC 31, 2014
Sampled from the tap at the brewpub. Pours a clear amber with a red hue and a near white head that dissipates to the edges. Aroma has a good amount of cedar and bread with a hint of pine underlying. Flavor has smooth bread with backing cedar and a bit of hay.
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