Pours minimal head that dissipates quickly, color reminds me of Coca-Cola. Aroma is cranberry juice and fruit cake, slight bit of toasted bread. Flavor is quite strong sweet fruit, Sherry like flavor that has cherry and blueberry components that has an undertone of toasted wheat bread and ends with a little bit of alcohol. Body is a bit thinner than I wanted and there is a little bit of nucleation sharpness. Overall, the beer is very Christmas-y because of the Sherry flavor that has developed. I'm not sure if I had this in mind, and it may just be this bottle that has oxidized a bit to create these flavors. 4 stars for the complexity and Sherry flavor while still having some blueberry there, but perhaps being oxidized.
Pours almost no head but a ring of foam remains. Color is black but slightly red hued when held to the light. Aroma is gingerbread with a roasty malt. Flavor is blueberry and creamy malt with a definite spice presence, followed by a sweet crust flavor, ending with a breath of sweet malt. There is no alcohol presence. I would say that there is blueberry cheesecake flavor, though the spice flavor is a little out of place perhaps. This is a great Christmas beer, what I envisioned, so I'll give it 5 stars for that reason. I do enjoy the flavor of this one a lot.
Pours 1 finger of foam with a tan head. Color is black but slightly red hued when held to the light. Aroma is gingerbread with a roasty malt. Flavor is blueberry and creamy malt with a definite spice presence, followed by a woody, roasty alcohol note, ending with a breath of sweet malt. The alcohol is not fusel, just present, by which I mean I taste it but there's no warming really. The flavor is very complex. I would say this has gotten much better with age as the coffee flavor from the roasted barley has dissipated and left this as a fantastic beer. This is really a 5 star beer as it has achieved what I was hoping for.
Pours very dark brown to the point of being black, very little head. Aroma is roasted malt, coffee, cinnamon spice with some ginger, and some fruity tartness that could be blueberry. Flavor is sweet malt, followed by spice and sweet fruit, ending with a creamy and toasty breath. Body is heavy but not too rich, not like gravy. This is a very Christmas-y beer, though I wouldn't say that I quite achieved a really strong blueberry cheesecake flavor. There's no question that it is a dessert beer but it's missing something from being truly exceptional. I'll go 4 stars for now and, hopefully, waiting 6 more months yields more interesting flavor.
