Friday, December 25, 2009
The 12 Beers of Christmas: Day 1Santa's Little Helper
In all of holiday beerdom - through the spicy, the dark and the not-quite-either - there is one beer that seems to crash down the chimney with more ferocity than any other of the season. And that beer is Port Brewing's 13-year-old tradition, Santa's Little Helper.
The 10% ABV imperial stout is steeped in both dark, roasty malt and in harrowingly bitter aftertaste hops that sing of its strength. Pouring as thick as the motor oil in the fat bearded guy's sleigh, this presents an alcohol flavor that is certainly present but also is masked somewhat by the prominent chocolate and peat tastes.
Yet, through all this darkness, you keep coming back to the hops, the lingering characteristic under all of the burly, chewy taste that gives it its outstanding foundation and ridiculously loud flavor. It is wildly satisfying, like a brilliantly written subplot to an already top-notch movie, and it works in concert with the rest of Santa's Little Helper's personality to create the biggest burst of flavor to come along in winter beers.
I hope you've enjoyed these past 12 days. I know that I sure have. Merry Christmas.
Labels: Holiday beers, Port Brewing
Thursday, December 24, 2009
The 12 Beers of Christmas: Day 22 Turtle Doves
Note: I'm a fan of holiday ales, and I want to use this forum this year to lay out 12 beers that just seem essential for holiday party drinking. Plus, I want to see if I can sit down and write for 12 days in a row, a feat I've never pulled off on this blog.
Even at a time of year when you're overwhelmed by all the forms that chocolate can take, this year's seasonal by The Bruery will make you believe again the power of dark sweetness to be the official taste of the season.
Two Turtle Doves is a Belgian-style dark ale brewed with cocoa nibs and toasted pecans and coming out at a marshmallow-roastingly 12% ABV. Like many holiday beers, it employs the flavors of dark malt and chocolate, but this gift from the Orange County, Calif. brewery brings its own very, very unique style.
The chocolate here has a liqueur sweetness drifting through it rather than a straight cocoa darkness. Considering this is a medium-bodied beer despite the ridiculous alcoholic wallop that it packs, the chocolate runs through it like a river of added syrup, becoming the filling inside the big, bold, dark candy, if you will.
You can chew it or swirl it between the roof of your mouth and your tongue, but the sweetness is the ultimate compliment to the big body.
I give special props too to The Bruery for coming up with the 12 Beers of Christmas concept in a more more interesting way than a writer can - by producing a different winter seasonal each year for a dozen years (this is the second effort, following last year's Partridge in a Pear Tree). I can't wait to see what comes next.
Labels: Holiday beers, The Bruery
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
The 12 Beers of Christmas: Day 3Winter Warlock Oatmeal Stout
Note: I'm a fan of holiday ales, and I want to use this forum this year to lay out 12 beers that just seem essential for holiday party drinking. Plus, I want to see if I can sit down and write for 12 days in a row, a feat I've never pulled off on this blog.
There are big winter beers and there are dusty, pleasantly dark winter beers that aren't overpowering. And somehow, Bristol Brewing combines these two seemingly diverse genres into one spectacular bottle.
Having lived for six years in Colorado Springs, I learned that Winter Warlock is slightly tweaked every year - maybe it's a little more roasty or just a little more chocolaty in any given winter cycle. But the thick-tasting, medium-bodied combination remains, a testament to the ability to combine what is best about several winter styles and produce one of the most drinkable, most satisfying seasonal beverages available in stores.
Warlock's secret brilliance, though, is it's mixing commercial appeal with beer-geek craftsmanship in its oatmeal bedding to its lightly murky feel. Churn the two together, add a little roasted quality and you have something that defines the best of the season.
Labels: Bristol Brewing, Holiday beers
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
The 12 Beers of Christmas: Day 4Anchor Our Special Ale
Note: I'm a fan of holiday ales, and I want to use this forum this year to lay out 12 beers that just seem essential for holiday party drinking. Plus, I want to see if I can sit down and write for 12 days in a row, a feat I've never pulled off on this blog.
There aren't many beers that are brewed with a different annual recipe that you keep coming back each year, knowing that no matter what the brewery threw in, the end result is going to be rewarding. But Anchor Brewing's annual Christmas Ale, Our Special Ale, constantly rewards its quaffers, and the 2009 edition is a rather exceptional one at that.
A combination of cocoa, caramel and cotton candy hits your tongue immediately, and the individual tastes swirl together to form overlapping layers that keep rolling back at you. A few sips into the bottle, the taste of licorice begins to appear, slowly and quietly rising to add to this beer's considerable backbone.
As it settles, the licorice blends with the cocoa to produce a unique dark but edgy flavor. This fine brew comes in both 12-oz. bottles and magnums, and I can assure you from very recent experience that bringing a magnum to a holiday party will make you a very special guest.
Labels: Anchor Brewing, Holiday beers
Monday, December 21, 2009
The 12 Beers of Christmas: Day 5Great Divide Hibernation Ale
Note: I'm a fan of holiday ales, and I want to use this forum this year to lay out 12 beers that just seem essential for holiday party drinking. Plus, I want to actually see if I can sit down and write for 12 days in a row, a feat I've never pulled off on this blog.
At age 14, Great Divide's Hibernation Ale is reaching its adolescence, but it has a maturity way beyond its years.
A dry-hopped English-style old ale, this dark and dense sipper presents an intriguing combination of flavors. Part of it is is a woody caramel that speaks to its 8.7% ABV strength. And part is the late-building taste of its aging, an almost intangible largeness of body that just makes this rest a little longer on your palate and taste a little heavier going down.
A strong, echoing taste of toffee leaves a signature personality of this beer behind. There are feelings of dark cold nights quenched by a malt-and-hop fire that just resonant with this holiday masterpiece, which is tasting better than ever.
Labels: Great Divide, Holiday beers
Sunday, December 20, 2009
The 12 Beers of Christmas: Day 6Black Cauldron Imperial Stout
Note: I'm a fan of holiday ales, and I want to use this forum this year to lay out 12 beers that just seem essential for holiday party drinking. Plus, I want to actually see if I can sit down and write for 12 days in a row, a feat I've never pulled off on this blog.
In the cold, cold days of winter, nothing seems so warming as a thick, dark, full beer. And though it is a new entry this year, Grand Teton Brewing's Black Cauldron Imperial Stout jumps to the front of the pack as one of the most frost-killing, more-appropriate-for-spooning-out-than-sipping versions of a winter seasonal that has come along in quite some time.
Both smoky and sweet, this blaringly thick concoction features beechwood-smoked malt and raisins and dried fruit soaked in cherry. The smoke mellows as it warms, but the thick body stays, building up in fortitude.
This is a wonderfully complex, rich beer that you drink just one of in any given sitting. But the appreciation of its craftsmanship grows with each mouth-filling taste, and you're left both savoring it long after you've finished and pondering what taste buds each swish over the tongue will enliven as you slowly work your way through it.
Labels: Grand Teton Brewing, Holiday beers
Saturday, December 19, 2009
The 12 Beers of Christmas: Day 7Avery Old Jubilation Ale
Note: I'm a fan of holiday ales, and I want to use this forum this year to lay out 12 beers that just seem essential for holiday party drinking. Plus, I want to actually see if I can sit down and write for 12 days in a row, a feat I've never pulled off on this blog.
Avery Brewing's Old Jubilation Ale may pack a more complex combination of flavors into one 12-ounce bottle than any holiday beer sold in six-packs in Colorado.
This 8% ABV concoction is highly hopped buy still dark and chewy, presenting the hops and malt in balance (BIG balance, but balance all the same). The combination is a full-on malty bitter deluge of the taste buds.
Old Jubilation's official designation is as an English strong ale, but it is very American in terms of the amount of flavors it crams into one bottle. It falls into the holiday-ale category of beers that bathe us in warming malt for the cold season, but it goes well beyond that simple description lavishes as full a presentation to your tongue that you will find.
Labels: Avery Brewing, Holiday beers
Friday, December 18, 2009
The 12 Beers of Christmas: Day 8Left Hand Fade to Black
Note: I'm a fan of holiday ales, and I want to use this forum this year to lay out 12 beers that just seem essential for holiday party drinking. Plus, I want to actually see if I can sit down and write for 12 days in a row, a feat I've never pulled off on this blog.
I was somewhat distraught when Left Hand Brewing announced this year that it was discontinuing Snowbound Ale, its spiced holiday beer that ranked near the top of my annual Christmas sipping list.
I was far less bummed, however, after I tasted its replacement, Fade to Black.
This foreign export stout doesn't just greet you with the scent of espresso - it comes on with the smell of coffee that's been left to warm just a little longer, burning slightly onto the bottom of the pot in a way that ensures its attractive scent is lingering for all. And the taste follows as such: A highly palatable, medium-bodied affair with a roasted tinge that extends around the edges of your tongue and lights up your mouth.
After the introduction, you become aware that the hops in Fade to Black are present and accounted for, but it's the six types of malt that hold the upper hand in this drink. It fills you, it coats your taste buds and it leaves you wanting to leave the lights out so that you can contemplate it in an atmosphere as dark as it is.
Labels: Holiday beers, Left Hand Brewing
Thursday, December 17, 2009
The 12 Beers of Christmas: Day 9Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale
Note: I'm a fan of holiday ales, and I want to use this forum this year to lay out 12 beers that just seem essential for holiday party drinking. Plus, I want to actually see if I can sit down and write for 12 days in a row, a feat I've never pulled off on this blog.
A few sips into this seasonal, you begin to say to yourself, "How exactly is this a Christmas beer? There aren't spices, there isn't a profusion of dark malts. In fact it really tastes like a classically hopped , excellent northwest pale."
Then, a few sips later, the thought crosses your mind that you don't really give a damn if Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale meets some kind of style guidelines, because this bigger (6.8% ABV) offering is just a well-made creation that works well in any season.
Celebration Ale leaves an almost spicy hops lick on the back edges of your tongue, tinging your taste buds with its dry-hopped assertiveness. It deposits a penetrating back taste that envelopes your mouth for quite a while. And, like Santa leaving presents, it leaves you no doubt that it's come to visit.
This is one of the oldest holiday beers made by an American brewery, and it remains one of the finest. It's good to know that some things don't change.
Labels: Holiday beers, Sierra Nevada Brewing
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
The 12 Beers of Christmas: Day 10A.C. Golden Winterfest
There are those guests at every holiday party who want something lighter, something that's not as, well, overwhelmingly Christmas-y as a Breckenridge Ale. And this year, even beer geeks can feel good about giving them something that fits their parameters and still delivers quality flavor: A.C. Golden's Winterfest.
The experimental Coors brewery has come up with a rich lager that isn't spicy or heavily malted but adds just enough texture to be part of the holiday style. Its red-brown color gives away its caramel personality, and the lighter body helps the caramel to be soothing rather than overpowering, like some other major-brewery holiday experiments.
Despite the lighter body, there is an almost British malty aftertaste that lingers in your mouth. This combination of attributes makes it both drinkable and memorable, and should please a wider swath of your guest spectrum than you might expect something coming from Golden, Colo. to do.
Labels: A.C. Golden, Holiday beers
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
The 12 Beers of Christmas: Day 11Yule Fuel
Note: I'm a fan of holiday ales, and I want to use this forum this year to lay out 12 beers that just seem essential for holiday party drinking. Plus, I want to actually see if I can sit down and write for 12 days in a row, a feat I've never pulled off on this blog.
Sitting in the Bull and Bush tavern, which is modeled after a 17th-century English pub, you feel right at home drinking Yule Fuel, the Denver brewery's winter-specialty spiced beer. For in its thick, viscous body served lukewarm and its spiced aroma, you conjure up images of something very old-fashioned.
Though cloves, malt and honey are all apparent in its scent, it is the honey that takes on the strongest characteristic in this libation that reminds one of a more drinkable form of mead. It takes over as the beer warms even more, making this a very sweet, very drinkable concoction perfect for fireside sipping.
Yule Fuel is not for everyone, especially those who like their beer in classic styles. But if you want something less definable and more experimental, this is worth putting in your gas tank ... er, I mean, gullet.
Labels: Bull and Bush, Holiday beers
Monday, December 14, 2009
The 12 Beers of Christmas: Day 12Breckenridge Christmas Ale
Note: I'm a fan of holiday ales, and I want to use this forum this year to lay out 12 beers that just seem essential for holiday party drinking. Plus, I want to actually see if I can sit down and write for 12 days in a row, a feat I've never pulled off on this blog.
Breckenridge Christmas Ale is a curious hybrid - the caramel malt-heavy classic American microbrew winter creation with just a tinge of dusty English characteristics to it.
Few holiday beers seem to create as much of a following as this offering, a relatively big (7.4% ABV) mouth-filler that takes on a distinctly more old-school feel than many of this daring brewery's newer creations.
And while I might not put it, say, alone in a pear tree as the top beer of Christmas, it's still a must-have for any holiday party, both for its popular sentiment (both beer snobs and casual beer-drinkers have broken this out at gatherings the Beer Geekette and I have attended this year) and its chewy wintry quality that makes it a great beverage to warm the person who just had to park halfway down the street and trudge back to the party in ankle-deep snow.
Get a dozen, but certainly don't try to drink them in one night.
Labels: Breckenridge Brewery, Holiday beers
Sunday, December 06, 2009
My Florida Beer AdventureFlorida is known for many cool things: Bronzed beach goers in bikinis, kick-ass theme parks, lazy Spring Training vacations.
Unfortunately, beer is not one of its notable attractions. And while visiting my father in the Jacksonville area over Thanksgiving, I sought to find out if that non-reputation was warranted.
I can say with limited authority now that it largely is, though if you search hard enough, you can find a few decent offerings. But Florida beers seem to me like beers you find in many hot-weather Central American countries: made to quench thirst, not challenge the palate.
The best of the lot available in most liquor stores seemed to be Key West Sunset Ale, an offering that weighed in somewhere between an amber and a golden but with a sharp citrus taste. Again, this was a nice beer to have when sitting in the backyard on a 75-degree day, but not exactly something you'd choose from the list at the Falling Rock Taphouse.
Hurricane Reef Caribbean-Style Pilsner had similar qualities to recommend it: Smooth, refreshing, nice at the end of a kayaking trip. It's a decent lager with just a little more malt backing than many of its ilk. But it's particularly good for warm weather.
Karibrew Pub in Fernandina Beach had five offerings stretching from a red to a stout to a nut brown that all tasted light for their styles. Maybe it should not have been a surprise that its American Pilsner, full-bodied with a slightly lemon-wheat quality to it, was the most interesting of the options.
And there there was Land Shark Lager, the omnipresent bottle from Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville Brewing Co. that is starting to get national distribution, likely because of its famed maker, not because of its taste. All I could think was that if a shark swallowed a keg of Olympia and then had it pumped from his stomach, this probably would have been the result.
So, Florida, home of great seafood, cliff-hanging elections and Spring Break memories, hasn't reached Colorado levels in its beer-making yet. But, if in Rome - or, in this case, Miami or Jacksonville or somewhere similar - expectations of refreshing beers, if not complex or terribly interesting ones, at least can be met.
Labels: Florida beer
