Tag Archives: 25 Beers of Christmas

25 Beers of Christmas: Day Fifteen – New Glarus Spotted Cow & Farewell George Whitman

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Have you had a Little Kings? Do you feel like you have an enormous hand when you do drink one, and could possibly be a giant? That’s about the end of my list of positives for that beer, and Little Kings (and an unfortunate Thomas Creek Vanilla Cream Ale) are the only cream ales I have had. It’s so sad, I know, so I’m hoping to change things around. I’m not sure if I mentioned in my last New Glarus post, but I received a sampler pack as a wonderful present, and I’m diligently making my way through it-and look at that! A cream ale!

All in all…this New Glarus Spotted Cow is a stunning honeybell orange color with a small but soft head, and a sweet aroma. I have to say that I was really excited to try this, and pleased to report that I like it. Additionally, I was nervous about how it would feel, but the mouthfeel is not too much like cream soda (I’m 99.99% sure that’s the first time using the word mouthfeel) – I actually think that this felt very similar to the Wee Mac as it leaves a bit of a fatty/oily sense with its aftertaste. This isn’t a bad thing, though. Taste-wise, it is reminiscent of a Hoegaarden & Upland Wheat lovechild. It has the blonde airiness of the Hoegaarden, but the wheat sweetness of an Upland Wheat. I’m not overjoyed about this, but I’m happy that New Glarus has redeemed my faith in my ability to enjoy a cream ale. Huzzah!

Recommend to a friend? Hmmm. Perhaps if you are like me and have only tried disappointing cream ales before. Otherwise, I would recommend moving on to something else.

How much snow are you willing to scrape off your car for this? (3) Ten minutes

Safe for lightweights? 4.8% ABV Yeyeah.

Plus one? I would most likely choose to try something else after this, but with how low in ABV and with the nice feel, I don’t rule out having a second completely.

I’ll take a minute here to touch on something that has nothing to do with beer and nothing to do with baking. George Whitman, the founder of Shakespeare & Co., a bookstore that meant the most to me in a wonderful way, passed away yesterday – the Times has a beautiful obit here about him and about the essence & philosophy of the bookstore.

When my family moved to Paris originally it took me months and months to adjust. Moving to another country during high school never goes over well with a teenager, and I was hardly thrilled. Shakespeare & Co. was a safe spot, a solid connection back to America and the English language through books. As winter turned into spring, as I bought more books, walked all over the surrounding neighborhood, I fell in love with the city. Then I loved Shakespeare & Co. because of how much I was part of the city when I was there – on the squishy beds, couches, in between nooks created by haphazard bookshelves. It was rare to read alone. It was common to enter one of the tiny rooms, nod & flash a friendly smile at the people already deep into their stories, and simply sit together quietly. And I just can’t stop thinking about how the breeze felt brushing up against my arm in April – with the windows wide open over the river. With just the stairs creaking, muffled voices from the 1st floor, the pages swishing. I read Hemingway’s words “you belong to me and all Paris belongs to me and I belong to this notebook and this pencil,” for the first time there. I breathe a sigh of relief to know those words will permanently be with me, and that the beautiful spirit of Shakespeare and Co. is still cherished by so many that he touched.

Shakespeare & Co. helped show me that there are few things in life more magical than being an American in Paris.

25 Beers of Christmas: Day Fourteen – Boulder Never Summer

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What I’m expecting. Or if not that serene, then maybe a little bit more of adventure. Can you tell I’m a little bit into Iceland?

All in all…Totally not what I got. I thought clean! Crisp! Icelandic! But that’s alright. I can deal. I can adjust.

The Boulder Never Summer poured a dark cherry/brown color, and the information I could find indicated it is a winter seasonal (I think specifically it is a Winter Warmer…correct me if I’m wrong here). I did not find any hint that it purposefully has bourbon flavor, but it really did remind me of a Bastard minus 10 in “sweep me off my feet.” If you want a hint, just the tiniest, slightest sense of what the Bastard is like, but you’re very nervous about having an all out bourbon barrel beer then you might try it. But I won’t promise that it will stop you in your tracks. It fell a little bit short for me, as the flavor was all upfront without a good aftertaste (except a slightly metallic flavor at the sides of your mouth) or second wave of flavor. Hmmm, I hope that describes that well. It’s that sometimes when I have a beer (hopefully complex), it seems to me like the flavors come in waves. Or they’re like shapes (round, angular, etc.). The waves were part of what I loved about the Bastard, and I wish this beer resembled it in that sense as well.

Recommend to a friend? Not this one. But if you want to try another Boulder beer this winter, I thoroughly enjoyed the Cold Hop I recently had of theirs, and I would recommend that.

How much snow are you willing to scrape off your car for this? (2) Five minutes

Safe for lightweights? 5.94% ABV

Plus one? Naw

25 Beers of Christmas: Day Thirteen – Sun King Wee Mac

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This is the second day in a row I’ve picked up a beer that has “quaffable” in its bottle/label description. Ahhmazing. Because you know what you do after having a lame day? You come home, have a Sun King Wee Mac, appreciate vocabulary, and watch dogs in cars. (thank you Laura!)

Ah I feel so much better. Don’t lie. That was inspirational. Doesn’t hanging your head out the window look so peaceful?

All in all…I really thought that this Scottish ale was actually quaffable – it is very mild, smooth, but not in a velvety or heavy sense like a stout, and the hops are delicately understated. It has a genuinely nice flavor – I think that if the Wee Mac was to be personified it would absolutely come help you change your tire or come pick you up if you were stranded somewhere. If it had a truck it would help you move, as well.

I can also attest to the fact that it is a very good beer to have in a plastic cup at a cyclocross race…truth. It also makes me want to eat many many carmel candies. Though I liked changing things up with a can and truly enjoyed this beer, I’m not the biggest fan of the design. There is a lot going on for the eye to process, and the style of the ale on the bottle was easier to read than the name itself. On second look I can make out the “Wee Mac” and see the blue and white, but whenever my eyes shift back to the can they cross for a minute in order to adjust to everything.

Recommend to a friend? Yes, I really would

How much snow are you willing to scrape off your car for this? (3) Ten minutes – (4) Twenty minutes what!

I haven’t had enough Scottish Ales to compare this to any others, so right now I’m between those. Part of the (4) is attributed to the fact that I would (see below) have several more of these, and that it is low in ABV, which I really appreciate.

Safe for lightweights? Yes it is, at 5.3% ABV

Plus one? Because this is so mild, but still retains flavor that I really like, I would definitely have another and stick to it for the evening. It’s a beer that is really satisfying to me, and that provides enough flavor so that I don’t get bored.

25 Beers of Christmas: Day Twelve – Bell’s Third Coast Beer

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I’m spending my evening with the New Jersey Devils vs Tampa Bay Lightning, my old Tintin books, and Bell’s Third Coast Beer (not to be confused with Third Coast Ale…that one is on my wish list). I’m embracing it. The movie is coming out next week, and I’m becoming increasingly excited every day. Plus, how great are these “action words?”

Regarding the Third Coast Beer: I should have done some research before pouring this one out, as it appears to be unfiltered. There are tiny speckles that have been suspended in motion for the entirety of this beer, and while they aren’t distracting and I don’t notice it at all, it’s usually better to be prepared for that. I don’t typically like to look up a beer in extensive details (other than general details) before drinking it, because as a newbie I’m really nervous about getting other reviews or phrases about beers stuck in my head.

According to the label from Bell’s, it is “A golden beer with American hops contributing to a crisp, refreshing bitterness. A tribute to the Great Lakes, T.C.B. is a truly quaffable beer.” Now I can’t just move past a word like that and not do some exploring.

According to The Oxford English Dictionary (1971…don’t judge. It’s the only print version I have)

Quaff: to drink deeply; to take a long draught
Quaffer: one that quaffs or drinks deeply
Quaffing: copious drinking
Quaffling: that quaffs (adverb: quaffingly)
Quaff-tide: the season for drinking
Quaffy: of the nature of drinking

How versatile is that word for the world of beer?

All in all…The hops in this are stronger and more present in this than say, the Moon Man from last night. While that may be for better or worse depending on your personal preference, I wish that there was some other flavor, like malts or some citrus, to complement those hops. I do love me some hops, but for a goldilocks ale to stand out in my book (not too heavy, not too light on the hops) I would also love to have something else to help enhance their flavor.

Recommend to a friend? Bell’s is so solid across the board, that I would say you should try it.

How much snow are you willing to scrape off your car for this? (3) Ten minutes

Safe for lightweights? Yes it is, at 4.8% ABV

Plus one? You know, at that ABV a second one could be on my schedule. My very low ABV picks are usually Upland Wheat and Young’s Double Chocolate, so it will be nice to have another choice available.

25 Beers of Christmas: Day Ten – Wells and Young’s Banana Bread Beer

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All in all…I just had to try this one. And no. Just. No. This is not for me. I already have a tricky relationship with fruit/vegetable beer, and though I commend Wells & Young’s for creating a really unique beer, bananas + beer are not a combination I think I love. The aroma to me really is like bananas that are mostly speckled and about a day away from attracting fruit flies, and the taste is distracting me from appreciating if it is a well crafted beer in and of itself. I wish I felt differently, as I’m head over heels with their Double Chocolate Stout, but I just can’t finish this one.

Recommend to a friend? If you’re adventurous in food/beer that you try, I think you should try this at least once.

How much snow are you willing to scrape off your car for this? (1) Stay inside and rummage through the cabinet for scotch

Safe for lightweights? 5.2% ABV.

Plus one? Nein

Alright, I need to catch the rest of the USGP Deschutes Brewery Cup that is on live right now at Cycling Dirt!

25 Beers of Christmas: Day Nine – Breckenridge Christmas Ale

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I may or may not have just had a cinnamon roll and cookies for dinner. Possibly.

Isn’t choosing our own dinners one of the perks of being an “adult?” To be honest, I’m not much of a cook, and my mind goes completely blank when I stare into the fridge trying to come up with dinner. But I did the unthinkable this week and made my own pasta sauce from scratch. True, I ended up with bits of tomatoes in my hair and beer, but it was overall a great success.

I used this recipe from the baking/cooking goddess at The Smitten Kitchen, and it was gloriously simple. I did use a potato masher to mash the tomatoes for basically thirty straight minutes after her recommended 45 minutes of simmering the ingredients, so the sauce wouldn’t be so chunky. And I think next time I’ll leave in the onion much longer (I got paranoid about having too much onion in there and took it out thirty minutes in), because mine was a teensy bit acidic without it. I’m hoping to make this again soon, and post some pretty pictures, and maybe it will be even better the next time around. Righto – day nine’s beer!

All in all…Woah this poured a lot darker than I expected – I was thinking it would be a light carmel, but this turned out just a matte, hazy brown. And with that festive label I would also expect there to be some nutmeg, cinnamon, or any kind of spice in this right front & center, but alas, none were found. Alright, no spices, so is there anything else that Breckenridge gives us for Christmas? Unfortunately not. But hey, I did still enjoy it. It was definitely a good ale (according to Breckenridge it is an American Style Strong Ale), I just prefer something with more “oomph” for Christmas.

Recommend to a friend? No.

How much snow are you willing to scrape off your car for this? (2) Five minutes

Safe for lightweights? 7.4% Probably not, as this is an easy-drinker so you’ll most likely finish it pretty quickly and move on to another.

Plus one? No thank you.

What Christmas beers do you make a priority during the holiday season? 

25 Beers of Christmas: Day Eight – Great Divide Hibernation Ale

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This past summer when I did The Thirsty Thirty it was easy peasy – I just took a quick photo with my iPhone & Instagram, wrote up a nice short post et voila! This time around I’m trying to put more effort into taking photographs (I’ve always been uncomfortable & awkward with and in front of cameras), trying to put effort into observing creatively and accurately expressing into words what you taste & smell. Needless to say that takes more time, and a very broad library of adjectives.

I look back at some of the beers I’ve tried and it breaks my heart when I can’t recall in more detail what they were like. I want to try everything as many times as possible, because I think that is really how you develop a full understanding & a solid sensory memory of them. But sometimes that is impossible to do. For example, when I went home during one of my university breaks to visit my family in Paris, I had some of the Westvleteren they brought back from their visit to the monastery, and all I can remember is that they were good. Just good! How frustrating! I just cringe when I think about that. Granted, that was about two years ago, and they were some of the very first beers I tried, but I wish I had taken just a moment to myself to mentally note what exactly it was I liked, what smells they reminded me of, if I would recommend that one of my friends spend their money on it at a bar. Yes yes yes, I know you can’t get Westvleteren anywhere outside of the monastery (legally), but you catch my drift.

My goal is always to learn, improve, and remember. Not to technically review a beer, or speak with authority, but to be able to remember & appreciate what makes me happy, for example “Oh yeah! The Ruination IPA felt like getting kicked in the teeth with a bag full of hops. It was fantastic” Isn’t that part of we write? To remember? To learn about ourselves, to learn about what we love?

Life would be so boring if we already knew everything.

I digress.

All in all…It’s been an extremely stressful day and I needed something comforting: cue fleece leggings, a sweater, Netflix (“Ride the Divide” is the pick for tonight), and Great Divide Hibernation Ale. It has been such a long time since I’ve had such a heartening beer, and let me tell you my friend, it is reassuring.

This smells extremely malty & like roasted chestnuts, but poured with little to no head (I’ll have to check out some reviews of this to see if it is atypical), and with an auburn tint. It doesn’t feel as creamy as a milk stout, but it’s close with a little dose of carbonation. I want to say I taste molasses, but I can’t stand the smell of pure molasses, so that is really hard for me to come to terms with. The molasses flavor is more like the sweetness it gives to gingerbread cookies – very rich, smooth, and like the darkest brown sugar you could find. I love that this is robust, while being understated – it doesn’t have to exclaim that it’s here in all its winter wonderland glory. If you spend enough time with it you’ll know it all on your own.

Recommend to a friend? Yes. Especially for darker beer lovers. Marie you need to have this!

How much snow are you willing to scrape off your car for this? I haven’t had enough Strong/Old ales to compare it to any others…actually I’m not sure that I ever have had any. Hey. I’m only early twenties here, I have a long way to go. But right now this is sitting at (4) Twenty minutes what!

Safe for lightweights? Nahhh 8.7% ABV

Plus one? For the taste, absolutely. With that ABV…we’ll see. It’s just so yummy!

P.S. I think you can see half of a thumbprint in this picture if you look really hard.

25 Beers of Christmas: Day Seven – Victory Golden Monkey

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All in all…oh hey beautiful thing. I want to wrap this beer up in a tiny package and bring it with me everywhere. This Victory Golden Monkey smells like fresh tulips, and like white peach tea with a giant spoonful of honey.  It’s very sweet, extremely yeasty, and fairly carbonated. I’d like the Golden Monkey more if it was just a touch sweeter, and if the floral taste was more specific, or if it had more of a citrusy character.

Have you ever heard of Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury? That book was given to me by my favorite friend aka bestie during winter one year, and I held out until May to read it. It was a perfect spring book – after I left work every day I would spend an hour on the quad reading in the grass, enjoying the feeling of being warm again. In my mind, dandelion wine tastes like a Golden Monkey.

Recommend to a friend? Yes. Now I know that some people can have a pretty strong dislike for yeasty Belgian ales, but if you’re going to try one for a relatively reasonable price this would be it.

How much snow are you willing to scrape off your car for this? (4) Twenty minutes what!

Safe for lightweights? 9.5% ABV. Comes with the territory of being a Tripel.

Plus one? Most likely not with this ABV, but if I was to get a second there’s this Gouden Carolus that my brother got when he was home, and let me try…And I definitely need to have one of those next.

25 Beers of Christmas: Day Six – Thomas Creek Up the Creek Extreme IPA

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Just a whiff of this beer made me feel like I had already been chomping down on raw hops for a few minutes there, and THIS beer is totally herbaceous dude. Seriously here, it is truly herbaceous. It pours a gritty mud brown, and smelled musty to me. There’s this unfortunate smell that your clothes, PFD (personal floatation device), and spray skirt get after being damp from kayaking or rafting many days in a row, a smell which you will never forget and stays in cars for days…bad news is this beer’s aroma reminded me of that. Not the best smelling beer in the world. But here’s the thing: I can’t put this thing down.

It isn’t clean, it isn’t bright, it isn’t citrusy. It’s messy, dirty, raw, earthy, different, and exactly what you want from an Imperial IPA with a kayaker losing his paddle on the label. I’m so thankful that I got a beer in the six pack that makes me want to get up off my butt and go do something. We need more of these in the world. Great beer to watch hockey to I might add.

Recommend to a friend? I wouldn’t recommend this to everyone, and I might not even recommend it to an IPA lover. If you want something straight forward or something you can have and remark about its subtleties and well-crafted complexity, then don’t have this.

How much snow are you willing to scrape off your car for this? (3) Ten minutes

Safe for lightweights? 12.5% ABV. A fourth of this bottle probably isn’t safe for you, but you should still have it.

Plus one? I truly wish I could. Truly madly deeply do.

Happy accident…lemon squares are really good with this, and takes away some of the earthy character that you may not care for.

25 Beers of Christmas: Day Five – New Holland Hopivore

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Frankly I grabbed New Holland Hopivore at Friendly Package this week was because of the label and name – sometimes I just have to get random beers on a whim, because otherwise I’ll just stand and stare, completely unable to make a decision. Plus who can resist a groan worthy/amazing pun? Are there any wonderfully awful hop pun beers you’ve seen or had this year?

All in all…As a pale ale, I thought this was decent. The hops don’t leave a dryness in your mouth, which makes it very refreshing (its good quality), and it has little lingering aftertaste. Overall it has a very modest flavor – a little too modest if you ask me. As in full-on turtleneck modest. I haven’t had enough fresh hop beers to compare this to others, or to fully understand the potential that fresh hops have as far as taste is concerned, but New Holland did state that this one had more “herbaceous” flavor than others. That being so, I’m not tasting any of said “herbaceous” flavors.

Since this is the beginning of December, and they shipped these in October, my guess is that we are past its prime here. I’ve heard having fresh hop beers within a few weeks of buying them is recommended, and this article in the NYTimes tells me that consumption within about three months of harvest is best. Unfortunately my timing caused disappointment for today, but this will be on my list for sure next year so I can try it at the best time possible.

sidenote: I’d like to work “herbaceous” into my daily vocabulary…you probably should too.

“Oh how is that [insert beer here]?”
“Herbaceous dude.”

How much better is that?!

Recommend to a friend? If I’m recommending a fresh hop beer, I’d rather you try a Great Divide Fresh Hop

How much snow are you willing to scrape off your car for this? (2) Five minutes. But tasting this at an off time this year makes me really hesitant to stand behind that.

Safe for lightweights? Yes, at 5.8%

Plus one? I’ll have something else for my second beer.

Other hoppy beers I hope are deserving of their names:

Deschutes Brewing Hop in the Dark

Uncle Billy’s Brew & Que Hop Dead Gorgeous

Hart & Thistle Hop Mess Monster

Port Brewing Hop Suey

NoDa Brewing Hop Drop’n Roll