X‑Mas Ale 2025

Style: English Barleywine
Brewer: SheppyBrew
ABV: 8.0%
IBU: 36
SRM: 14 (deep amber)

Appearance 👀

Pours a glowing copper‑amber with ruby highlights at the edges. A modest off‑white head forms, then quickly settles into a thin lace that clings to the glass. The body is clear yet rich, catching the light like stained glass in a winter chapel.

Aroma 👃

Sweet malt dominates—caramel, toffee, and biscuit—with undertones of dried fruit (fig, raisin, plum). A gentle waft of English hops adds earthy spice and a touch of floral character. There’s a warming alcohol note, subtle but inviting, like brandy by the fire.

Flavor 👅

Layers of malt complexity unfold: caramel and toffee up front, followed by hints of dark fruit and a whisper of molasses. The bitterness is firm but balanced, keeping sweetness in check. Alcohol warmth lingers, rounding out the sip with a dignified finish. No spices this year—just the pure expression of malt, yeast, and tradition.

Mouthfeel 🫦

Medium‑full body with smooth texture. Carbonation is gentle, allowing the malt richness to coat the palate. The 8% ABV provides warmth without harshness, making each sip feel like a slow, steady ember.

Overall Impression 💭

X‑Mas Ale 2025 is SheppyBrew’s most traditional holiday offering yet—a straight English Barleywine brewed at the low end of strength but firmly in style. It’s bold enough for celebration, yet approachable enough to share. A beer for long winter nights, hearty meals, and reflective toasts.

The Tale of the Yuletide Barleywine 📜

For years, the SheppyBrew elves brewed their X‑Mas Ale with tricks and twists—blueberries one winter, candy canes another, oak spirals in yet another. But in 2025, they grew weary of enchantments.

Legend says that BrewMaster Sheppy rolled the sacred “Style Dice” of the brewhouse, and fate decreed: English Barleywine. The elves gasped. No fruit? No spice? No smoke or sorcery? Just malt, hops, yeast, and time?

And so it was brewed. A cauldron of rich English malt, kissed by noble hops, fermented into a warming elixir. The gnomes called it “Yuletide Barleywine,” a beer of honesty and tradition. They say it was poured into goblets carved from oak, raised high in Union Station’s halls, and toasted with words: “To simplicity, to strength, to SheppyBrew.”

Thus, X‑Mas Ale 2025 became the year of purity—a holiday ale stripped of gimmicks, brewed in reverence to the style itself. Its tap handle bears a barley stalk wrapped in holly, glowing amber beneath the winter moon.

Drink it fresh for its lively malt and fruit, or cellar it to let time weave sherry notes into its depths. Either way, the elves will nod approvingly, for this year’s magic lies not in tricks, but in tradition.

As always ...keep an eye on the regular SheppyBrew Channels to see what is happening with beer, barbeque, biking and other things in my life: SheppyBrew's Facebook Page; Sheppy's Twitter Feed; SheppyBrew's Instagram Page; and SheppyBrew's Website.