Where's the beef?!

Brewery: Bison Brewing
Location: Ukiah, CA
Name: Organic Gingerbread Ale
Type: Spiced Beer
ABV: 6.0%
Tis the season for all things gingerbread. Houses. Little men. Beer. Beer? Yes, beer. I've never had a gingerbread beer before. The label says its brewed with ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon. I've had all of those things in beer before and I have to be honest, my least favorite on that list is ginger. I ran across a few ginger based beers and none of them sat well with me. But I do like ginger ale... Fascinating, no? No. The beer is about the same color as the bottle it came in, perhaps a shade darker. It actually looks like overcooked (burnt sounds so negative) gingerbread cookies. Not a bad thing at all. The notion of a big head is foreign to this brew. Nothing more than a quick appearance of a light tan head and then its foam around the top of the beer. The nose is very reminiscent of a lot of good pumpkin ales I have had in the past. There's a healthy amount of nutmeg and a healthy amount of spices, noticeably cinnamon (hooray for accuracy!). Ginger provides a quick bit of spice and heat to the bouquet. It also has notes of clove that can be picked up during deep sniffs. Somewhat of a medium body makes for a good mouthfeel. This beer looks like it should be a little more chewy and I feel like that impacts the flavors negatively. Mix that with a carbonation level equivalent to a standard soda and the flavors come out thin and a bit watered down tasting. I wish the aromas from the nose translated to a better tasting beer. There is a fair amount of roasted malt up front but very little of the nutmeg, cinnamon, and spice. Towards the back end you get a strong sensation of earth and herbs but, again, does more harm than good. There is a fairly noticeable bitter stinger that lingers for a moment. If this beer were fuller and perhaps more assertive with its flavor profile I could definitely see myself enjoying this beer much more. However, the deceptive nose paired with the weak mouthfeel and underwhelming flavor profile make this little more than a novelty. I wanted to really be blown away by Bison's Organic Gingerbread Ale but it ultimately left me wanting something a little more.

Fast as fast can be, you'll want to think twice about drinking me.