A Christmas Ale Story...

Yesterday I received my first Christmas Card, many thanks Neil and Sara, so I thought I'd open this bottle that Jackie had kindly donated to me, cheers m'dear! Indeed, I hadn't drunk Harvey's Christmas Ale (website) since we visited East Sussex Harvey's Brewery 6 years ago (blog), and it was a pleasure to return to drinking their, as they describe it, Barley Wine.

First brewed in 1972, Harvey's Christmas Ale, a mere 7.5% 😉 and I believe brewed with locally grown hops, Fuggle (hopslist) and East Kent Golding (hopslist). These hops, combined with the malts used, produce an ale with dark fruit flavours, notably damson/plum and a suggestion of port wine. A deep chestnut colour, a bit sweet to start off with, though a nice bitterness coming through at the finish. It's not quite as good as the cask version we drank back in 2019, but as I said before, it's a bit of a Christmas Pudding of a beer, I like it!

I'm not saying Harvey's nicked my calling it a "Christmas Pudding of a beer" and now include it in their blurb, they probably always have, but I came up with that description back then independently, but which came first, who cares? I guess we'll never know, cheers! 😁