Classic Christmas Ale better defined as nut-spiced brown ale since expectant winter seasoning lacks assertiveness and soft-watered flow lightens musty toffee malting. Medicinal ethanol prickle envelops sweet hazelnut surge and ancillary ginger-snapped cinnamon, nutmeg and clove spicing. Consistent, but not as rigorously full-bodied as better stylistic fare. On tap, earthen peat mossing and ashen cocoa malting contrast fig-spiced cinnamon-nutmeg sentiment and ancillary cherry pie remnant.

Adequate adjunct brown ale celebrates brewers’ quarter-century mark. Soft-flowing bittersweet vanilla bean entry receives fudge-y milk chocolate embrace above ashen maple-sapped molasses impression. Hop-oiled walnut bittering recedes quickly alongside cocoa dried depletion, caramel-burnt toffee subsidy and wispy bourbon wining, finishing thinner and less creamy than anticipated. On tap at Amazing Grapes, better version featured molasses-sugared chocolate, toffee and vanilla creaming above sharp hop roast, picking up light hazelnut and cola nut influence. Modest fig-date-plum conflux fades away. Try in lieu of Neopolitan Ice Cream.

Admirable Imperial Brown Ale unites one of the southeast’s greatest brewers with long-time New York-via-California craft beer veteran for solid-bodied elixir. Advertised cocoa nibs, vanilla and chili pepper influence fine hybrid in varied ways. Cocoa nibs impart frontline milk chocolate, Baker’s chocolate and chocolate cake creaminess to sweet vanilla center. Light chili peppering adds smoky spicing to tertiary Kahlua, coconut, and hazelnut illusions.

Complex soft-textured dry body similar to newfangled Black IPA/ Cascadian Black styling due to resinous wood-charred hop oiling, enduring dark-fruited nuttiness and recessive pine comb bitterness contrasting creamy dark chocolate malting. Lingered French roast coffee finish picks up ashen walnut-seared peanut shelling,chewy  cookie-doughed hazelnut-pecan tangent,and tar-like Blackstrap molasses astringency reinforcing tertiary bruised cherry, fig, and prune nuances. ‘A sexy American interpretation’ of a heady brown ale, indeed.

Insubstantial brown-sugared caramel-butterscotch-chocolate malting too distantly slick for prickled hop-roasted oats toasting. Bland maple nuttiness receives flimsy sour-honeyed glaze.

Interestingly gruff American brown ale maintains caramel-sugared cocoa-dusted brown chocolate malting overriding dry-roasted walnut, cashew, Brazil nut, cola nut, nutmeat, and coffee nut coarseness. Fizzy wood-spiced hop char contrasts syrupy molasses richness and soda-like sassafras splash. Tertiary peat, tobacco, cigar ash, pine comb, and dark floral illusions spread across back of the tongue. Ample alcohol afterburner adds anodyne astringency.

Ersatz Long Island brown ale needs richer nutty mocha penetration and deeper roasted hop bittering. Faded burnt coffee entry receives harsh cola-walnut prickle above black chocolate malting. Modest dark floral passage, unusual for this styling, mired by residual plasticine clay intimation.

Alcohol-infused fungi-mildewed red-fruited entry receives cider-spiced kick above orange-dried sour malting. Casual char-hopped nuttiness burrows through bitter backend.

Bereft English-styled brown ale contract brewed by Buffalo’s Flying Bison. Advertised Madagascar vanilla bean bittering hidden beneath prominent hazelnut coffee theme. Unpleasant dirty earthiness trails maple-sapped molasses influence and minor toasted nuttiness. A little thin and fragile compared to larger hop-roasted chocolate-doused ‘Brownies.’

Advertised hemp oil influence may be nominal, but bountiful mocha nuttiness makes up for it in spades. Maple-sugared peanut-clustered hazelnut-cola sweetness counters pine nut bittering to chewy caramel-roasted center. Resin-hopped chocolate-seeded coffee-caffeinated punctuation and sour prune-plum nuance add depth. Creamy to the core, yet crisply clean-watered and neat – like Guinness Stout with a walnut ice cream scoop.

Lacking the brawny brashness, but not the steely metallic pungency, of its ‘burly’ descriptive, this coarsely phenol brown ale gets mired in sour nuttiness. Grain-burnt peanut-shelled walnut char coats resinous hop astringency, overwhelming chalky mocha malting. Bitter rough-edged nutty finish falters.