Celebration (Sierra Nevada) 6.8%Abv

Made with the fresh hop harvest, an IPA for the holiday season.

Pours with beautiful snow drift foam, a gorgeous toffee brown. The aroma is not big dry hops, but a lovely fresh spiciness, think candy apples.

The malt is sweet and welcoming, no tanginess or dry bitterness, flooding into a tidalwave of caramel and toffee, coating the sides of the mouth. The finish is a mix of gentle bittering, mixed with some beautiful spice notes, cinnamon, nutmeg, before leading to a balanced but noticeable dry hop bitterness, it's not Torpedo, but it's close.

8/10 A winter treat, sweet warming malt with lovely gentle spiciness. It's their Torpedo relaxed in a Christmas jumper.

Ginger Ale (Marks & Spencer) 6%Abv

Strong aromas of freshly grated wet Ginger. Pours lighter than expected a very dark mahogany.

The first taste is fresh and sweet, and well, very gingery. This progresses into a more recognisable maltiness and beery taste, with nice hints of biscuit, Ginger nuts obviously. The finish is lacking somewhat, apart from the obvious powerful Ginger flavours. Beyond that it lingers on the palate like, dare I say it, a can of coke. Yep, this beer actually tastes rather too similar to Ginger Coke.

Maybe it's unfair to review this as a "beer" it is after all labelled as a "Ginger ale" ? The ingredients list "Glucose syrup" as a main ingredient, the taste of which is all to prevalent, making this taste more like a soft drink than a beer.

3/10 This really could be sold in cans as Coke Ginger

Advent Ale (Hogs Back) 4.4%Abv

Pours like a dark bitter, glimmers of tawny peep through. Smells of dark chocolate and lightly burnt sugar.

Initial roasted malt, rich dark flavours follow with a wealth of coffee, molasses and liquorice.

Smooth fruit in the finish, blackberries and blueberries. Limited hop taste, a dry dark chocolate lingers.

6/10 A charming festive beer, one for a cold dark eve.

Yorkshire Christmas Ale (M&S)

A special brew created just for Marks and Spencer's by the Cropton Brewery.

It starts with an explosion of bold aromas, ripe cherry, clementines and powerful blackcurrant. The beer itself is on the ruby side of brown.

Big fruity malt to start with tangy notes, quickly flooded with ripe forest fruits. The middle lost as the edges of the mouth try to get to grips with the powerful fruit start. The finish is a long lingering aniseed, I would love to say I could spot other subtle spices there (the bottle lists nutmeg) but I am struggling.

This could almost be served warm in place of mulled wine, it feels like its almost half made of mulled wine.

4/10 A bold beer, trying to be different, sadly ends up like a beery spiced cocktail.

Southwold Winter Beer (M&S)

Brewed at Adnams by Fergus Fitzgerald, a man who knows his stuff.

Its somewhere between a light porter and a dark bitter in colour, ruby turning dark. It smells of choclate and light brown sugar.

Initialy malty but with a gentle mellow caramel smoothness. No big fruit middle or powerful spices. Tiny bitterness in the finish but mainly leaves a lingering sweetness and gentle dryness.

Reminded me of the Bath Barnstormer, but slightly thiner.

7/10 A warming christmas beer for those who don't like to stretch to a porter or stout.

Wiltshire Rum Beer (M&S)

This is a relabeled version of the Wadworth's seasonal Swordfish. Its the famous Wadworth 6X blended with Pussers Rum.

It pours exceptionally bright and clear, a glistening golden amber. The smell is malty but in place of fresh grassy hops we have a lovely subtle boozey rum smell.

The taste is big and malty, toffee sweetness with dry bitterness. The middle provides the biggest biscuity crunch i've ever had in a beer, its a famous characteristic of the Wadworth Yeast. The finish is where this beer is really different, in place of hops and bitterness we are left with a smooth Rum taste. Its very similar to the gentle finish of a Rum Coffee or the way whiskey does the job in an Irish coffee.

8/10 A malty biscuit of an ale with a warming rum finish, perfect for winter.

Thanks Marks & Spencer!

A big thanks to Marks and Spencer for providing samples of their new winter seasonals range!

Some very exciting sounding beers in here, some instantly recognisable as famous brews relabelled, others less obvious.

Perhaps you can help me fill in the blanks? And i'll update the post.

- Wiltshire Rum Beer (Wadsworth) 5% - Their seasonal Swordfish, its 6X with Prussards Rum
- Southwold Winter Beer (Adnams) 4% - ?
- Southwold Dark Ale (Adnams) 7.2% - I am guessing its Tally Ho due to the small bottle.
- Cheshire Brown Ale (Robinsons) 4.7% - ?
- Yorkshire Winter Ale (Cropton Brewery) 6.2% - ?
- Ginger Ale Stockport (Robinsons) 6% - The seasonal Ginger version of Old Tom
- Pilsner (Arcobrau) 4% - German pilsner

Looking forward to reviewing them.