Christmas is all about excess, splurging, treating yourself and others. You buy the fancy cheese, wine, biscuits, and assortments of sweets. The booze cabinet is filled in case someone calls over. Sure Mary loves an ol’ sherry and you know your uncle Tommy will have a whiskey and god forbid it wasn’t there for them might they arrive up. Dinner has more courses and meats than last week’s square meals. Here at the boar house things are no different and for my Chirstmas day drinking I splashed out on a bottle of Jule Maelk from the good folk at To Øl. Jule Maelk is a 15% imperial milk stout and the 37.5cl bottle cost a whopping e10.95.

As dinner was being served I decided that it was not a ‘with dinner’ kind of drink and so I had a traditional glass of wine. Once our dinner of venison, salt crusted celeriac, red cabbage, roast potatoes and roast carrots had settled I decided it was time to open this beast of a festive beer. It pours pitch black with a generous dark tanned head. The smell was roasted chocolate malt and warming alcohol. It tasted velvety smooth, with rich chocolate and cherry. A decent bitterness matched with a drinkable but heavy hitting alcohol taste which lasted and lasted. This was a decent and interesting beer but at just under 11 euro there is no real value for money. There are many equally good if not better beers available for much less money.

Aroma: 3/5

Taste: 3/5

Originality: 5/5

Overall 3/5 (if it was cheaper It might have gotten a higher score)