Tag Archives: 25 Beers of Christmas

25 Beers of Christmas: Day Four – Founders Backwoods Bastard

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So much about this beer reminds me of my Grandfather, from the bourbon & coke he faithfully made with dinner, to the big green hat & flannel that I’ll forever associate with him. Both sides of my family are from Georgia, and I cannot overstate how much he was the essence of a Southern man (and what a wonderful Southern woman he raised aka my mother). He was born and raised in the same county, bred and used Walkers & Beagles for hunting, constantly kept his faith next to his heart, worked hard, and thought his wife was the most beautiful woman in the world. He also made the best hushpuppies & fried fish you would ever have. Oh boy were those irresistible.

Though I can’t pinpoint a specific time I remember him wearing one of the hats that we now have at home, it is one of those images that will always stay in my mind. Wearing red flannel, jeans, a wide green hat, and his glasses while loading up the canoe in his green Ford Ranger. Singing wayyy out of tune on our way to the creek. My brother and I had several great years of learning how to fish from him, a little bit about guns, a few life lessons sprinkled in – mainly observations on how to be a good man and great grandfather. I wish I had been there more, asked more questions, but the hope that my brother and I can one day go fishing in the same hats and enjoy the same serenity he found on the river is amazing. But hey, back to the beer…

All in all…This is absolutely oozing with bourbon smell & taste. The flavor is so beautifully blended that it is almost convincing me that this is the only form of bourbon whiskey I’ll ever need. Almost. Almost. It has a delightful oak flavor to me, but it doesn’t venture too far over to the charred or smokey side, and in my opinion has a small hint of oily coconut. That may be just me, as some others who had this the other night remarked on the vanilla flavors. Surprisingly it also feels very light, as opposed to having an overbearing nature that bourbon barrel beers can have.

I’m curious, though, about the barrels they used for this beer.  Bourbon barrel aged beers are very prevalent these days, and it would be really interesting to hear more about what specific barrels are used in the aging process. Also, getting more information about their process would be fascinating. Was there a certain flavor in the bourbon whiskey that they liked and inspired them to select these certain barrels? Or were these bought from Scotch whisky distillers? And how interesting would it be to see what a Scotch whisky barrel aged beer is like? Did they rinse/wash the barrels out before putting the beer inside? What did that do for the flavor? There’s so much to ask!

Recommend to a friend? If you are any type of whiskey lover, you must try this.

How much snow are you willing to scrape off your car for this? Any beer that makes me throw my hands up in the air and and exclaim how happy it makes me deserves a (5) Dig through a Minnesota blizzard

Safe for lightweights? Alas this is not safe for lightweights at 10.2% ABV

Plus one? I wish I could, but that wouldn’t really be wise.

And from Founders: “Expect lovely, warm smells of single malt scotch, oaky bourbon barrels, smoke, sweet caramel and roasted malts, a bit of earthy spice, and a scintilla of dark fruit. It’s a kick-back sipper made to excite the palate.”

25 Beers of Christmas: Day Three – Brugge Černé pivo at Twenty Tap, Indianapolis

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All in all…This was actually an impromptu “beer for the day,” and unfortunately I wasn’t completely happy with it. However, this could have been attributed to the fact that (1) I already had a Sun King Wee Mac followed by an Upland Dragonfly that afternoon and (2) immediately prior had a pulled pork slider & Greek style lamb slider.

[Sidenote: I was at the NUVO cyclocross race today with Sun King's beer truck, and four other food trucks. That explains the Wee Mac, growler and different sliders.]

Anyways, there were quite a lot of beer and food flavors going on before having this, which really makes me want to try this beer again in a different situation. Our server didn’t know much about this other than it was a “dark beer,” and I couldn’t find a whole lot about this other than that it is a Belgian style dark beer Czech black lager (see below), and that it is about 5.0% ABV so my frame of reference was not spot on in any sense. Tonight I didn’t think a lot of it, the hops that were in it left it a little dry, and any bitter flavor felt a little burnt. It did, however, have a refreshing feel right upfront, but it simply left me wanting the Mad Anthony Pale Ale that my friend had ordered.

It is so true that food, previous beers, and even your environmental situation can affect how beer tastes and feels. There are some that may completely flop one evening, but the next time you have them you fall in love. A dark beer like this may be wonderful starting your night out, but probably isn’t the best after a tiring afternoon and following a Scottish Ale, IPA, BBQ, and Greek style food.

Recommend to a friend? I can’t give an informed answer for that right now. I’ll definitely update this though if I get to try it again.

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

Safe for lightweights? Absolutely, 5.0% ABV

Plus one? Not tonight. I’ll be really interested in trying this another time by itself, or maybe with some food that will bring out more of its good points.

update: My apologies for the mistaken identity of this as a Belgian style instead of the proper Czech Black Lager-thank you to @hoosierbeergeek and Ken for the correction. This mistake says a lot about taking the time to verify information, and frankly stepping it up as far as proper research goes… “Černé pivo” is a black beer, while the similar “tmavé pivo” is a dark beer (Good Beer Guide: Prague & the Czech Republic)…working on more details, but I wanted to get this out there ASAP.

25 Beers of Christmas: Day Two – Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout

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Hey! You made it to Friday! You deserve a treat. An indulgent Friday treat. TREAT YO’SELF! [Thanks Tom Haverford]

All in all…Pours like an extremely creamy & viscous chocolate milk (9th grade chemistry class anyone? I remember my vocabulary), and even holding it up to a lightbulb didn’t let light through. It smells like a very sweet stout (as it should), and reminds me of a malted milkshake…with only the slightest touch of dark unsweetened baking chocolate. If you’ve ever tried baker’s chocolate you know how incredible it smells, yet how bitter and unappetizing it is – I’m hoping the latter isn’t true for the Brooklyn.

And success! The first thing that comes to mind is how smooth it is, and how utterly dark dark dark the chocolate is without being dry or overdone. Dark as in one of those ungodly expensive 80% cacao bars…someone may also have dropped a wee bit of benissimo espresso in when I wasn’t watching. Probably not, but there is definitely some beautiful espresso somewhere in this glass. It’s not a packed, jittery type of taste, but more of a level, indulgent flavor. It also makes me crave biscuits. Hmm, Sunday morning brunch idea.

The moral of the story is: go have this, and make sure it is in your friend’s next six pack. If not there, then just buy it for them at a bar. How great of a friend are you?

Recommend to a friend? Yes yes yes! However, please see “lightweight” section below.

How much snow are you willing to scrape off your car for this? Between (4) Twenty minutes what! and (5) dig through a Minnesota blizzard

Safe for lightweights? Hahah oh so funny. At 10% ABV this isn’t so safe. If you want another great chocolate stout, though, with half the ABV go for a Young’s Double Chocolate Stout

Plus one? If it did not have the 10% ABV to go with it, I’d be all over this

And finally, from Brooklyn itself: ”We use three mashes to brew each batch of this beer, achieving a luscious deep dark chocolate flavor through a blend of specially roasted malts. We brew it every year for the winter season. It is delicious when newly bottled, but also ages beautifully for years.”

25 Beers of Christmas : Day One – Bell’s Christmas Ale

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Have you had your first official snow yet? Did you stand outside with your face flat up against the sky and try to catch the snowflakes falling? Have you ever thought about if someone looked down upon earth in the winter, there would be thousands of people who just look like they’re screaming up at the heavens?

Anyways, I totally did, and I’m always surprised that I am actually able to succeed at catching some of the snowflakes. I also couldn’t believe that the weather waited until December for real snow, and my breath is always taken away at how stunning & muffled the world is when it coats the ground and trees. It’s strange how you can forget something so profound within a year, isn’t it?

But even if you haven’t been able to stand around like a kid waiting for snow to fall all over your face, that’s about to happen in the form of a beer. True, you may need to spend twenty minutes cleaning your car off to go get one, but I think it’s worth it. Well, maybe ten minutes. This is worth ten minutes of cleaning off your car.

All in all…This ale tastes extremely pure and surprising, just like those small snowflakes when they finally hit your tongue. I really didn’t know what I should expect from a Christmas Ale (evergreen? mulled spices? chestnuts? cookies?), but if I have my say, Bell’s is on the right track. To me this tasted like a standard American Ale with a little more “!” and more clean lines added for the holidays. When is more “!” ever really a bad thing?

This pours a downright sexy amber/carmel color (even though my iPhone doesn’t capture it), and has a soft head that is maintained throughout the beer’s life in the glass. However, this Christmas Ale didn’t linger in the glass for very long for it was too yummy for me to exercise much patience. I honestly did not get any toffee or toasted flavors in this, but I did think that I sensed the tiniest pinch of spice at the end of a taste, but when I read about this on the Bell’s Brand Page they described that there were no spices in the beer. My bad.

[My apologies for just saying "my bad." That is genuinely the first time I've done that...shhh...no one has to know. What would the Christmas season be without blurting out embarrassing things? Back on track here...]

Recommend to a friend? So far the only other Christmas ale I have had is the Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale, and though it makes me grin like an idiot, I wouldn’t recommend it to someone who doesn’t have a fondness for hoppy beers. It is also 6.8% ABV, so I would recommend the Bell’s Christmas Ale as a holiday “drink more than one so we can be merry & friends” beer.

How much snow are you willing to scrape off your car for this?

We’re going to use a system of

1. Stay inside and rummage through the cabinet for scotch

2. Five minutes

3. Ten minutes

4. Twenty minutes what!

5. Dig through a Minnesota blizzard

I hope it’s clear that is a “Christmas-themed” 1-5 system here. And as I mentioned above, I would clean my car off for ten minutes for this beer. I would much prefer tromping through the snow to a nearby beer/liquor store, but alas, there are none nearby.

Safe for lightweights? 5.5% ABV. Si!

Plus one? Maybe later. First I would like to try another Christmas beer that has more spices, and more ooh la la.

And finally, from Bell’s itself: ”The basic inspiration for Bell’s Christmas Ale was to create a sessionable holiday beer, using locally grown malt, which would stand apart from the array of spiced winter warmers that are typically introduced this time of year. In contrast to many other seasonals, Christmas Ale doesn’t contain any spices: all of the dry, toasted notes & subtle toffee flavors come from the 100% Michigan-grown barley, custom malted by Briess Malting, while a blend of hops from Michigan & the Pacific Northwest lend earthy, herbal aromas. At 5.5% ABV, it stands as a smooth, highly drinkable beer intended to complement holiday menus, not overshadow them.”