Most people tend to think that Christmas beers are very high in alcohol, and whilst this is true in some cases (most seem to be around the 6-7% abv mark), some Christmas beers are produced at lower (normal?) alcohol levels to allow the drinker to sample them without the chance of waking up the next day to find out that it's boxing day and you slept through Christmas day. This is the case for both the beers mentioned here - Brewdog is 4.7% and Huvila is 4.1%.
It's the Huvila I'll review now.
(http://www.ratebeer.com/ rating 46). 50cl bottle. 4.1% abv. Only available at Drink bar and Drink Shop.
Pours a dark rich red, with a lovely creamy head. Aroma is of malt, a small amount of hops, and no spice - which is suprising for a Christmas beer.
The taste is good with, with a nutty flavour - similar to Huvila ESB. The lack of hops in the aroma made me think that this beer wouldn't be dry, but it is - quite pleasingly so. Especially on the finish. Some burnt toffee flavours throughout the taste. The mouthfeel is not as big as I expected from the pour.
I'm not sure what to make of this beer. On it's own, I'd say it's a pretty decent bitter. But with the Christmas tag, I'd say that it's a little bit lost. The head brewer told me that they've brewed it at 4.1% to make it different from all the other heavy, high alcohol Christmas beers that are out there. I was expecting something that was heavily spiced, but easy to drink. This is easy to drink - but I think that customers buying a Christmas beer are going to want something a bit different from just an every day bitter. Don't get me wrong - it's a nice beer, and will go great with food - due to the fact that it's not heavily spiced. I think that this will be the beer that people turn to after they've had one or two spiced porters. And at 4.1% it's certainly a session beer.
My opinion - forget the santa hat on the label and drink this as if it were just another good beer from Huvila.
There is no Santa coming up next...
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