Rogue Ale Santa's Private Reserve

Welcome to the new year :) My brother kindly purchased me a 6 pack of beers from breweries all over the world that I have never tasted before, so I'll be reviewing them over the nextfew weeks. This is the first one of the six.

Tasting Notes according to the bottle(r): A double-hopped Red, reddish in colour, with a roasty, malty flavourand a hoppy spruce finish.

(These notes can be found at the extremely informative Rogue Ale website, http://www.rogue.com/)

My own opinion: To be honest, I was a little disappointed when I first tasted it. I was hoping for a richer beer with hints of Christmas pudding, which is what I expect from some of the English Christmas ales. Having said that though, this beer pours well and forms a good head that holds its bouquet well. It is a very red beer but it doesn't really hold much of a flavour. There is a slight spicy flavour on the middle of the palatte, but almost nothing on the back of it.

My rating: A couple of pints tops...I can't see myself firing up for a night on this beer.