“As the sun of the winter solstice casts a long shadow across the cold land, our flavour craving palates start drifting to the thought of winter warmers and the great tradition of European Spiced Ales.”
That’s how Little Creatures have introduced their latest limited release, on sale in bottles and kegs from 25 June.
With a Christmassy edge it promises to be an innovative brew from the Creatures team – and hopefully not one of their last. The beer is described as having “hints of allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg play with a yeast primed with dark muscovado sugar delivering ripe fruit, molasses and delicate spice.” The lads also used UK Sovereign and Challenger hops to give a gentle bitterness to balance this deep red coloured ale.
“Best savoured long into a cold winter night sipped slowly while solving those elusive problems of the world…chesterfield and fireplace optional.” Sounds good to us.
Specifications
1. Style: Spiced Winter Ale.
2. ABV: 8.9%
3. Malt Bill: Pale Ale Malt, Abbey Malt, Medium Crystal, Dingemans Special B (Belgian Crystal Matt), Light Chocolate Malt and Belgian Candi Syrup D2. Conditioned (primed) with Dark Muscovado sugar (AKA Barbados Sugar)
4. Spices: Allspice, Nutmeg and Cinnamon
5. Hops: UK Challenger and UK Sovereign
6. IBUs: 401BU
7. Colour: 60EBC
8. Ferment: As per our standard Ale profile
9. Filtered: Filtered bright
10. Bottle conditioned: No
11. Pasteurised? Certainly not.
12. Anything else about the beer?
A Winter Warmer Ale that is an absolute celebration of Spice.….Allspice, Nutmeg, Cinnamon and Dark Muscovado combined with our Ale yeast give this beer a distinct Christmas flavour, all wrapped up with a careful balance of ripe fruit and molasses.
13. The beer — in a nutshell: With a deep red colour and a spicy and fruity aroma, the Day of the Long Shadow is a rich velvety full flavoured Christmas Ale with a distinct spiced palate. Best enjoyed between 8° –12° to bring out the aromatics, this is a strong ale full of complexity and best savoured during long winter nights. This beer will continue to develop for a long time to come.