Christmas beer on New Year's, take 2

Another Advent beer. This time an Oregon IPA in a can. Nothing all that special, just a nice normal IPA. Caldera Brewing, Ashland, Oregon. 12oz can, 6.1%abv.

Happy New Year!

Christmas ale on New Year's Eve

I'm still working on the many Advent beers I have left. This beer is Gose Bier, Gasthaus & Gosebrauerei, Bayerischer Bahnhof, Leipzig, Germany. Beer brewed with spice, specifically coriander and salt. 11.2oz bottle, 4.6% abv.

Appearance is light and clear with a white head that dissipated fairly quickly.

Aroma is mild. Very slight notes of hops and malt and little else.

Flavor is crisp with very mild sweetness and a hint of sourness. Quite pleasant. Well balanced and tasty. Body is also light. Very refreshing beer. Quite different from many of the big beers in the calendar.

Boxing Day Advent beer catch up

Christmas is over, but the Advent beer still lingers. I'm drinking the 12 oz bottle of Goose Island brewing's Bourbon County imperial stout, 13% abv aged in bourbon barrels.

Slightly sweet aroma with some roast and solid notes of bourbon and alcohol.

No head at all, and very light carbonation -- it would be better with more of both.

Strong alcohol flavor and warmth, malty sweet and quite sticky. Not much in the way of hops.

Mouthfeel is thick and rich, with a sticky finish and a bit of lingering alcohol warmth.

A decent beer, and as much as I like over-the-top beers, I'd prefer it if this one was a bit more refined and balanced. Even just a bit more carbonation would help lighten it up and improve it quite a bit.

Drinkable, but not a favorite.

Happy Boxing Day to all the Canadians out there...

I got a lump of coal!

A 25 ounce "Lump of Coal" dark holiday stout, 8% abv, by Ridgeway Brewing in England. I'm bummed that the Advent calendar is over, but now we get to dive into the gifts under the tree.

Happy Holidays!

Christmas Eve Advent beer

Today's beer is the 2007 Samichlaus Helles. 330ml bottle, 14% abv. Castle Brewery Eggenberg, Austria.

Samichlaus is kind of the definitive holiday beer. This Helles version is brewed slightly paler in color then the original. I've had it before, and will probably hang onto this one for a while. They age well for years.

Only one more to go for this year...

Christmas Nightcap

Only three Advent beers left :(

Today's beer is "Kerstmutske Christmas Nightcap" 750ml bottle, 7.4%abv.

Brewed and bottled by DeProef Brouuerij, Lockristi, Belgium, for Brouuerij Slaapmutske, Melle, Belgium.

Take your Pils

This is ok. Not a huge fan of pilsners in general, although at least this one leans more toward the European version and not the dumbed-down American style. Extremely subtle aroma. Fairly bitter with a hint of fruitiness. Like the stout-in-a-can from the same brewery, this one is OK, but not great. If you need a canned beer, you could do way worse, but that's not much of an endorsement.

Note: I didn't just drink this for breakfast. This was sent from my phone last night, but evidently there was some sort of major Blackberry outage for all their data services yesterday, and it wouldn't go through until now.

Black Oil

This is a great beer. It's definitely black, but not oily. It's also not particularly thick or "gloopy". Lots of roast malt in the nose, with nicely subtle hints of oak and some scotch whisky and alcohol. Flavor is strong roast malt, with some noticeable alcohol warmth, and some licorice with just a hint of whisky.

This is a surprisingly drinkable beer, malty, but pretty dry. Quite enjoyable and I'm actually wishing the bottle was bigger. I may have to catch up on my backlog a bit and crack open another Advent beer...

Note: I didn't just drink this for breakfast. This was sent from my phone last night, but evidently there was some sort of major Blackberry outage for all their data services yesterday, and it wouldn't go through until now.

Bad-Assed Belgian Extravaganza

I figured I should provide a few more details about the Belgian beer dinner I went to and documented a bit of a few posts down.

On Sunday night, Corvallis Brewing Supply (the local homebrew supply and bottle shop) put on a Belgian beer tasting and dinner. I've been to all of these that have been put on so far, this being the fourth one. I really enjoyed the holiday theme of this one, and the local brewpub that these are held at (Block 15 Brewery, Corvallis, Oregon) did a great job with the food. I still think the Pommes Frittes that were done at the first one were the best food so far, but this one was quite good too. What follows is the notes about the food and beer that were provided to the attendees:

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"The Most Bad-Assed Being Belgian Christmas Beer Dinner Extravaganza!
Exclusively to you by Nick of Block 15 and Joel of Corvallis Brewing Supply
20 December, 2009, Block 15 Brewery and Restaurant."

First Course:

Carbonnade a la Flamande
Santa's Little Helper, Mikkeller, De Proef Brouwerij, Lochristi

Dark winter warmer brewed with restrained spices of sweet orange, coriander, cinnamon and cocoa. Finishes dry with a lingering cocoa dryness, toastiness and a fresh hop bite.

Food notes: "Carbonnade a la Flamande" is just the Yurp'n way of saying "beef stew" -- and it was damn yummy. The only liquid added to the stew was beer. Lots of nice chunks of beef, good flavor. The only thing that would have made it better was a nice chunk of crusty bread to dip in it. Really nice.

Beer notes: Just damn awesome. If you see a bottle of this beer, buy it. Yeah, it's expensive, but it's worth it.

---

Second Course:

Belgian Potato and Shrimp Kroketjes with white Peppercorn Cream Sauce
Christmas Gouden Carollus, Het Anker Brouwerij, Mechelen

Dark ruby red beer slightly sweet and malt forward, brewed with 6 different herbs and spices. At 10.5% abv this is a beer to settle back and watch the snow fly

Food notes: "Kroketjes" are "croquettes" which is just French for some sort of a dumpling. Really tasty though, could've eaten about six of them. The white peppercorn sauce was quite nice too.

Beer notes: Yum. Definitely strong, as noted. Lots of great malt with a bunch of spice and fruitiness in the flavor and aroma -- licorice, figs, apricot...

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Third Course:

Belgian endive au gratin wrapped in prosciutto with melted Gruyere cheese
Geant Noel des Geants, The Brasserie des Geants, Irchonwelz

This wonderful holiday gruit is brewed with a special aromatic herb found near the town of Irchonwelz, a French-speaking section of Belgium. Long-lasting finish with all sorts of contorted flavors and aromas.

Food Notes: If vegetables were always like this, I would eat more vegetables. I'm fairly sure this dish was invented simply to make me feel better about eating prosciutto and cheese. Yeah, there's endive in it, but it's really there simply as a medium for the meat and cheese. Yummy.

Beer Notes: A "Gruit" is a kind of beer brewed with something other than hops to add bitterness. This one also had hops in it, so it's not a "pure" gruit. Anyway, it was nice. Kind of mellow compared to the first two.

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Fourth Course:

Palate Cleanser - no food
Grand Cru, Rodenbach, Roeselare

This is a classic, world-class beer that kindles the hearts of beer connoisseurs around the globe! You are drinking a beer 24 months in the making with top-cropping yeasts and bacteria to produce a crisp, refreshingly tart fruity profile. While this is an amazing food beer, none is served with this fine beer so that you may continue to savor the endive salad and to prepare for Duck a l'Orange! (Go Beavs!)

Beer Notes: This was indeed a good palate cleanser. Nicely sour, light and refreshing. This is an amazingly good beer, and at about $10 for a 750ml bottle, is a really good value. This would be as equally good on a hot summer day as it was on this cold winter's night.

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Fifth Course:

Duck a l"orange, Compote Aux Fruits
Delirium Noel, Huyghe Brewery, Ghent

Delirium Noel is a dark brown with ruby highlights ale, at 10%abv, with a strong character of caramelized sugars, alcohol, citrus fruitiness, and dark dried fruits like raisins. Aromas of roasted toffee and darker sugars. May your winter nights be full of beer and delirious delights!

Food notes: The duck was super yummy. Served medium rare, so it was nice and tender. The compote served along side was a great accompaniment.

Beer notes: As described above, and as described in my Advent beer post about it below.

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Sixth Course:

Ninoofse Vlaai
Oaked Saint Nick, Block 15 Brewery, Corvallis, Oregon

Ol' St. Nick has arrived! Our big & Bold winter warmer brewed with British Pal, honey and caramel amlts. 9% abv. A whole lotta warmth to this fine ale with warming alcohol, hints of dark dried fruit, candi sugar and rounded wood notes.

Food Notes: This was a tasty bread pudding. I ate around the dried fruit, 'cause I'm just not a fan. Otherwise good.

Beer Notes: I really liked this beer, but I felt it was a bit out of place in the tasting. On it's own it's a great oaked beer, with quite assertive hop flavor and bitterness. I really didn't get a big "Belgian" beer feeling from this -- it strikes me as a much more traditional Northwest ale -- lots of assertive hop character and some great maltiness. Again, it's a great beer, I just don't think it fit in all that well with the rest of the beers here. Maybe that was the intent?

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Overall: This was a great event. Well worth the cost, and a great way to spend a few hours on a Sunday evening. The next event of this type will be sometime in the summer of 2010 and will probably be limited to 25 folks again, so start planning ahead...

If it's not Scottish it's crrrap

Today we have a Scottish beer. A 330ml bottle of Harviestoun Ola Dubh Special Reserve 12. Ale aged in Highland Park Scotch Whisky barrels. 8% abv. Bottled September 2007.

According to the tag, "Ola Dubh" means "Black Oil" and the beer is named thus because it's "gloopy and viscous".

I'm intrigued and looking forward to this.

Another can

Today's beer is another can. This time it's an Oregon IPA, from Caldera Brewing down in Ashland.

I've had this one before, and it's nice.

Bonus beer

Bonus tasting beer -- Cantillon Saint Lamvinus Lambic.

Super sour -- a bit much actually. Could be worse!

Final course

Bread pudding (ninoofse vlaai) paired with Block 15 Oaked Saint Nick holiday ale.

Fourth course

Duck a l'Orange paired with Delirium Noel

Palate cleanser

No food pairing with this. Rodenbach Roeselare brewery, Grand Cru.

Nicely sour, great style change in between food courses.

Veggies, sort of

My kind of veggies...

Third course

The third course is Noel des Geants from Brasserie des Legendes brewery, paired with Belgian endive au gratin wrapped in prosciutto with melted gruyere cheese.

Mmm

Yummeh

Second course

Gouden Carollus Christmas ale, paired with Belgian potato and shrimp kroketjes with white pepercorn cream sauce.

Stew

First course

Belgian beef stew cooked with Belgian beer, paired with Mikkeller Santas Little Helper.

Belgian beer extravaganza!

The title on the placemat reads:

"The most bad-assed being Belgian Christmas beer dinner extravaganza!"

More to follow...

Bourbon County Brand Stout

Today's beer is 2008 Goose Island brewing Stout.

We've been out to holiday parties the last few nights, and I have a several-hour Belgian tasting and meal tonight, so I've got some catching up to do on beer later this week.

Mamma's Little Yella Pils

Today's beer is another from Oskar Blues brewing in Colorado.

Cleverly- named pilsner, 12oz can, 5.3% abv

Leipzig

More Yurp'n beer, this time from Leipzig, Germany.

Wheat beer brewed with spices. Half liter bottle, 4.6% abv.

Holiday Homebrew!

I just kegged the porter I made a few weeks ago. It was delayed a bit because we had a ridiculously cold stretch of weather here, and my kegerator is in the freezing garage.

Anyway, it's quite tasty. Extremely dry and crisp, with a balance finishing very slightly on the bitter side. Style-wise it's probably more of a brown porter than a robust porter. I used homegrown Goldings hops, and they lend a really nice spicy note in the nose as well as a good hint of flavor.

Mouthfeel is surprisingly crisp and light, but with a nice creaminess.

I'm waiting for the sample I pulled before I force carbonated it to warm up so I can calculate the alcohol content. I'd make a rough guess of 5% abv for now. I'll update after I get the final number.

Overall a really nice beer, even if I do say so myself...

Update: The sample finally warmed up: ABV is 4.71%

Post-work Jubelale on Tap

Definitely tastes slightly different than the bottled version. I wonder if they're using pub gas to pump it? I'll have to ask.

Update: Nope, they're not using pub gas. The on-tap version is smoother and less dry than the bottled version. Interesting, but still tasty.

More beer from Yurp

Today's beer is another Belgian. La Monecuse Special Winter Ale, by the Brasserie de Blaugies brewery. According to the label, they're Belgium's smallest brewery.

750ml bottle 8% alcohol

Cans

of imperial stout are OK. This particular stout is quite yummy. It's thick, black and completely opaque. There's very little head, but what's there is a dark tan color.

The aroma is surprisingly restrained. There's a bit of roast malt, but the aroma is really lacking otherwise. I'd much prefer at least a hint of hops and a more pronounced maltiness in the nose.

Flavor is all roast malt, with a bit of alcohol warmth. It finishes fairly dry, but not overly so. Pretty well balanced.

Overall, a nice beer. Not the best imperial stout I've had, but not the worst either. If I needed a beer in a can for some reason, this wouldn't be a bad choice.

Box o' beer

Today's beer is the 2006 edition of Fuller's Vintage Ale, in a nice decorative box.

EKU 28 tasting

Zowie. This one is crazy strong -- 11% abv -- and it shows up. Very warm feeling. It's pleasantly not too sweet, styles like this can tend that way and this one doesn't.

Unsurprisingly, it's all about the malt in this. Rich and meaty, with some very sherry-ish and port-like aromas and flavors.

Not the kind of thing you'd want on a hot summer day, but a great warmer for the dreary rain here now.

More Belgian Beer

Today's beer is another Belgian -- Gueuze Girardin lambic.

I've never had this one, but I do like lambics.

Two years of Jubelale

Since today's beer is last year's version of a seasonal ale, I figured I'd pick up a six pack of the current version for a side-by-side comparison.

First, appearance -- they both are the same color, but the 2008 version is fairly cloudy.

Aroma: the 2008 version has dominant caramel tones with a bit of toffee and nuts, and a hint of smoke. This year's beer has a less dramatic nose, with mostly just a slight nuttiness and roast malt aroma. Not much in the way of hop aroma in either version, but perhaps a bit more in the '09.

Taste and mouthfeel: the '08 version has a bit of caramel sweetness with subtle hop flavor. Both versions are assertively bitter in the finish, but I'm a bit surprised that the '08 finishes sweeter than the '09. The current one is very dry. That is correspondingly reflected in the mouthfeel, with the '08 being fairly full bodied, and the '09 feeling considerably lighter.

They're both great beers, and it's interesting that they can be so different coming from (I'd assume) the same recipe.

Happy Monday

Today's beer is one of my favorites from last season: Deschutes Brewing's Jubelale.

Eku 28

Today's beer is an 11.2 ounce bottle of 11% brew from Germany. I've never had this one, so it'll be an interesting first.

And as you can see in the background, we put our tree up yesterday. It's an 8' tall Noble Fir -- first time in a number of years we've had a big tree. It's pretty and smells great.

Delirium Noel Tasting

This is nice. Not sure of the underlying style -- I guess I might call it a strong Belgian amber ale. Doesn't seem like a Dubbel or Trippel -- it doesn't have the banana and clove notes I would expect for those.

Anyway, it tastes good. Big malt flavor, with a fairly clean finish. Hops are subtle at best. Tastes like it might have had candi sugar added, which is appropriate for a Belgian ale.

750ml bottle, 10% alcohol, brewed in 2007.

Yes we can

Real beer, in a can? Yes!

Today's beer is "Ten Fidy" imperial stout, from Oskar Blues brewery in Colorado. 12 ounce can, alcohol not specified.

Anchor's Aweigh

I figured I'd catch up a day and crack open the Anchor xmas ale today too. This is a dark ale in a 12 ounce bottle, no alcohol content specified.

There really couldn't be a much starker difference in interpretation of holiday beers than this one and the French one from earlier. The Anchor is very dry, with lots of spices in the nose -- mostly ginger and cola notes. The flavor is malty but not sweet, with a very assertive hit of spruce notes, I'd be very surprised if this wasn't brewed with spruce tips. There's a bit of astringency, which may be from the spruce, but it's not overpowering. It's quite tasty. I'll have to pick up this year's version to see what it's like.

The French

Make nice beer. I'll update with more as I finish the bottle.

Update: This is just generally yummy. Extremely malty, with a balance on the sweet side and minimal hop presence. Very strong caramel in the nose, but not a huge aroma other than that. Great mouthfeel, creamy with good body, finish is a bit sticky.

This is actually a "Bier de Garde" (roughly translated as "beer for keeping" or "beer for saving"), and not really a "Christmas" ale in the sense we mostly think of it now with lots of spices and such. I think that explains why it's quite a bit more subtle than some of the beers in the calendar so far. I do really like the style though, and is actually the only kind of French beer I've made myself.

Update the second: I forgot to mention: 750ml bottle, alcohol not specified, but not crazy strong, probably 6 to 7 percent.

Anchor brewing xmas ale

From 2007. Interesting -- they change the recipe and the label each year for this beer, and the recipe is kept secret: http://www.anchorbrewing.com/beers/christmasale.htm I'm curious to see what this aged example will be like.

Obliteration Tasting

With a name like obliteration, I expected this to be much harsher. This is pleasantly refined. No mistaking, it's got plenty of assertive hop flavor and bitterness, but it's got the malt to balance it out. It definitely finishes on the bitter side, but I think it's actually smoother and easier to drink than the Stone IPA that's the closest beer to it I would compare it to. Overall very enjoyable, and another nice break from the mostly-malty holiday ale styles in the calendar.

Sucky white elephant gifts suck

That is all.

Double IPA

Today's beer is "Obliteration V" from Midnight Sun Brewing in Anchorage. I've never had this beer or anything from this brewery, so I'm curious to try it.

Delirium Noel

This is a Belgian xmas ale. I've had it before, but it's been a while and I honestly can't remember much about it.

Good at either end of the trail

Still catching up on the days I've missed, so tonight I'm drinking the Oregon Trail brewing's Bourbon Barrel Porter.

This is 22 ounces of subtle bourbony goodness. While the Top Sail was like taking a slug of porter followed immediately by a shot of bourbon, this one is much more restrained. It helps that it's "only" 7.5%, but it's overall a better balanced beer. It's got a thick, luxuriant head, that lingers nicely in the glass. Overall it's quite enjoyable, and is both tastier and more drinkable than the similar Top Sail. A great effort from the tiny little local brewery.

Mirror Mirror

I'll need to save this one for a while. It's got a "best after" date of 4/20/2010. It's a 2009 limited edition release barleywine from Deschutes brewing. It's based on a double-strength batch of their Mirror Pond pale ale. A third of the 11 percent brew is then aged in oak barrels. Sounds yummy, but we'll have to wait 'til at least spring to find out.

Old Knucklehead Tasting

This is a pleasant surprise. This is Bridgeport's 12th bottling of their barleywine, released in early 2008. I think I had this when it was first available, and it was definitely too young back then. The nearly two years of bottle age have helped immensely.

This is a 22oz bottle of 10% beer, so it's not for the faint of heart or liver. It's surprisingly dry, with a great balance and crisp finish. Many barleywines I've had have been either ridiculously bitter or cloyingly sweet, but this exhibits neither of those traits. It's just a really big, nicely malty beer, with some subtle toffee and sherry notes. Quite enjoyable.

Edit to add: A couple quick notes as I continue drinking this. First, the mouthfeel is really nice, amazingly smooth and creamy. Second, the bourbon-barrel aging is only very slightly noticeable, mostly in the nose. I'm really enjoying this beer.

Delayed Sunday morning post: A local beer

(Note: This post got lost somewhere in the tubes when I first sent it Sunday morning)

This is another bourbon-barrel aged beer, this time from a local brewery here in Corvallis. I've had this beer before, and it's quite nice.

I'll probably crack this one open tonight after work while I'm making chicken-n-pasta for dinner.

La Choulette de Noel

Yum, more French xmas ale.

Cascade Kriek Ale Tasting

This is yummy. Lots of great sourness and wild yeast notes. Cherry flavor is there, but is not overpowering. If I didn't know this was beer, I'd think it was some sort of crazy cherry lemonade. Very refreshing, and although it's 8.1%, it seems light. It's a very nice change from the super dark malty stuff in the calendar so far.

Flanders!

This will be different. This style tends to be sour and very "non-beer" like.