Comments on: St. Arnold Christmas Ale http://briansbelly.com/beer-belly/st-arnold-christmas-ale/ Eat, Drink and Be Heavy. Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:06:21 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: James http://briansbelly.com/beer-belly/st-arnold-christmas-ale/comment-page-1/#comment-41 James Sat, 22 Nov 2008 21:19:05 +0000 http://www.briansbelly.com/?p=274#comment-41 I find that the Christmas Ale starts to smell like asparagus after the second bottle. I agree with you that the taste is uninspired, in context with many other beers out there. Had this been the only brew like it that I'd ever tasted, I might have been pretty impressed. It does, in my opinion, still have a smooth-- but not too smooth-- rich body. The unmistakable alcohol aftertaste is a little distracting, but not a real problem for this retired scotch downer. I decided to have a bottle with my early thanksgiving lunch, and a pleasant connection was surprisingly (but not so ironically) made. Overall, I agree with your dis-recommendation, as it were. The beer is good, but not worth the wait. I find that the Christmas Ale starts to smell like asparagus after the second bottle. I agree with you that the taste is uninspired, in context with many other beers out there. Had this been the only brew like it that I’d ever tasted, I might have been pretty impressed. It does, in my opinion, still have a smooth– but not too smooth– rich body. The unmistakable alcohol aftertaste is a little distracting, but not a real problem for this retired scotch downer. I decided to have a bottle with my early thanksgiving lunch, and a pleasant connection was surprisingly (but not so ironically) made.

Overall, I agree with your dis-recommendation, as it were. The beer is good, but not worth the wait.

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