Lloyd's Christmas Ale
by BradI know what you're thinking - Christmas in May? That doesn't make any sense. At least wait for July, right? Well, there's a silver lining here: we're just wrapping up Madison Craft Beer Week, which is basically Beer Christmas, and considering I've been sitting on this since November, it seemed like a good time to dust it off.
Lloyd's Christmas Ale comes to us all the way from Ellicotville, New York, a tiny little village about an hour South of my hometown of Buffalo, NY. My parents brought it with them when they came on a visit back in November for Kanopy's Fall show. Lloyd's pours a dark brown with a surprisingly thick/hearty tan head. The beer immediately had a dark fruity aroma which smelled more like raisin than the fig the bottle mentions. It's not overly spiced, which makes me think it might be better labelled as a Winter Warmer instead of a Christmas Ale.
Prep/Cooking
The thickness of the beer's head translated directly into the thickness of the batter. I've always wondered what makes some batters thick and some not. The consistency was almost like cake batter, and while the aroma picked up a sweeter note, the flavor totally lost the subtlety and richness the beer had.
Results
Thick head. Thick batter. Thick pancakes. Well, maybe thick is the wrong word for it, but they were really fluffy and hearty. Flavor-wise, the pancakes picked up some of what the batter had lost: a subtle sweetness and notes of dark fruit. Not nearly as malty as its liquid counterpart, but overall an interesting pancake.
The Decision
- Pancakes: Yes. Even after aging for 6 months, this beer still just isn't as complex as I want it to be.
- Syrup: No. 0/10 would not recommend. The syrup completely ruined the subtlety that was so delightful in these pancakes.
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