Winter Tilt Festivale

Thanks to one of the guys in the home brew club for bringing this to me last Sunday. I got around to tasting it on Sunday afternoon following a quick 16 mile run. Pint glass served.
6% ABV

Appearance: A beautifully colored amber with a dark orange tint and a faint haze. Carbonation looks to be very high and prominent. It seems as though that the carbonation fuels a tremendously well sustained soft frothy head of a milky white texture. Reminds me of a Nitro-based beer.

Aroma: Big malt bill and rye spicing. A lager scent permeates the nostrils in the second half while toffee and caramel accompany on out to the finish.
Taste: Like the aroma explained, this beer has a lot going on in it, primarily on the basis of malt complexity. From the start one can easily decipher the caramel and toffee. Belgian pale malts? But as the palate becomes more acquainted with the beer, you realize there is also a subtle flavor coming from peated malt, crystal and even rye, which parallels a smoky flavor with some spices. Warming and smooth at the finish, leaving behind a very woodsy aftertaste.
Mouthfeel: As smooth as smooth can get. Heavier bodied. Definitely a beer that must have had Nitrogen or a Nitrogen/Carbonation incorporated into it. Soft, velvety and with a minute bubbling across the tongue as it goes down. Some cloy at the roof of the mouth. Some warmth from the alcohol is acknowledged going down and in the chest.
Overall Impression: An awesome beer for the malt aficionados. Smooth, rich spicy and choked full of flavor. Warming for those cold days. Woody and nutty character develops as the beer is progressively drunk.