Goose Island Christmas Ale 2012:
Greetings all and welcome to another return trip to the Goose Island and it’s beers (who knew geese could brew beer??).  Today let’s get festive by looking at their Christmas Ale line, a beer that changes “slightly” year to year so you and law enforcement officers can’t recognize it.   This year’s beer was poured from a bottle with a nice dark English Brown coloration  with a nice thick- yet thin - head of tan foam that rarely dissipates and a nose of malts with a touch of Christmas spices and caramel undertones.  The beer’s initial taste is very malt heavy with notes of roasted and caramel malts that blooms to a nice nutty undertone that rides through the boozy mid tongue that last just long enough to be noticed while the back end is full of those loveable Christmas spices combined with the flavor of an English Brown Ale.  The after taste is very mellow and smooth like a good English Brown should be and, in my humble opinion, could easily pass as a spiced ESB.  A good Christmas Ale and good way to kick off the season of winter and Christmas ales.