Today’s beer comes from the Hook Norton Brewery in England: their Twelve Days, a festive brown ale billed as a “Strong Ale” (at 5.5% abv that’s strong for English ales). While a nutty, malty presence gives it that warming Christmas character, it also (somewhat amusingly to me) looks the part, according to the Brewery, being the color of “perfect Christmas pudding.”

Twelve Days has a dominant malty palate with nutty flavours. The use of roasted chocolate malt creates the rich colour. Hook Norton Managing Director James Clarke said: “Anyone drinking a glass of Twelve Days will quickly discover that it has the depth of character to warm even the coldest winter’s night.”

“The hop character is present in the aftertaste, which is dominated by a refreshing sweetness. It goes well with a log fire, or blue cheese, or maybe rich Christmas cake or pudding.”

While the bottled version is available year-round, the draft version makes its appearance in pubs the first of December and lasts only through the holidays—though hopefully long enough to toast the true Twelve Days of Christmas (which begin on the 25th and end on January 5th)!

Untappd. Facebook. BeerAdvocate: 86/100. RateBeer: 3.43/5, 90th percentile.