Beer Advent Final Day :-(

It had to come to an end sometime. The final beer is Samichlaus, of course!

Happy holidays!

Beer Advent Day 27

Xmas eve eve brings us:

Tsjeeses
Belgian X-mas Ale brewed with spices
Struise Brouwers, Belgium
11.2 oz bottle, 10% abv

Beer Advent Day 26

Today we have an appropriate beer for the solstice:

Never Summer Ale
Boulder Beer Company, Boulder, CO
12 oz bottle, alcohol not specified

Beer Advent Day 25

Another one I hadn't seen before:

Solstice d'hiver
Barleywine
Brasserie Dieu du Ciel, St. Jerome, Quebec, Canada, eh.
11.5 oz bottle, 10.2% abv

Beer Advent Day 23 & 24

Southern Tier Old Man Winter Ale

And

He'brew Bittersweet Lenny's RIPA

I've had the Lenny's and it's yummy.  The Old Man is a new one for me.

Embrasse

Weird. Not my favorite. Served warm with a dollop of cream.  Sounds way better than it tastes, and it doesn't sound that great.

Dessert!

Wow. The chocolate changes the beer in great and wonderful ways.

Wow again.

Winteroninkske Grand Cru

HUGE beer with massive roast malt notes and tons of alcohol notes. Tasty, but did I mention it's big?

Fantome de Noel

Tasty. A great malty complement to the beef dish. Finishes sweeter than anything so far.

Food!

Sirloin tip pastry basket.

YUM.

Mikkeller bottle

Cool label.

Mikkeller Red/White Christmas

Hoppy yummy goodness. Some nice complexity here not present in some of the others.  A surprisingly American feel.

Cuvee de Ranke

Sour Belgian ale, but not ridiculously sour. Some nice nutty roasty notes in there. The consensus at the table is that some roasted chestnuts would be a great complement.

St. Feuillien Triple

Another yummy one.  Incredibly complex, great fruitiness with a cool salty/peppery finish. Damn good.

My that's a big bottle!

Held by one of our delightful hosts, Joel.

Bonus beer

A nice very limited release saison from Block 15.  Tasty but quite young and a bit imbalanced.  Not up to the standards of the previous beers, but shows promise.

Deus Brut des Flanders

As Bryan next to me says: OMFG!

Absolutely amazing "beer" ...

Affligem Noel

Delightful aroma reminds me of a vaguely recollected candy from childhood.  Very nice.

Kriek label

So sour...

First course

Schaerbeekse Kriek and pork pate.

Stella Artois Holiday with toast

A nice simple combo to start.

Being Belgian!

It's beginning!

Beer Advent Day 22

Today is another collaborative beer:

Highway 78 Scotch Ale
Green Flash, Pizza Port Carlsbad, and Stone Brewing companies
12 oz bottle, 8.8% abv

Beer Advent Day 21

Pannepot Reserva Old Fisherman's Ale Aged On Oak
2008 vintage, ale brewed with spice
De Struise Brouwers, Woesten-Vleteren, Belgium
11.2 oz bottle, 10% abv

Beer Advent Day 20

Today is:

Thomas Hardy's Ale
2006 Vintage
O'hanlon's Brewing, Whimple, Devon, England
11.7% abv, 8.5 oz bottle

This is a classic, at five years old it's probably drinkable, but more age won't hurt.

Funky e star

This advent beer from Mikkeller is a yummy one.

Pours amber and slightly cloudy, with a thin head that doesn't last.

Aroma is malty with a slight hint of sourness.

Flavor starts with a light hit of initial sourness, then moves to a mellow sweetness, then cleans up with some crisp hops.

Mouthfeel is balanced and surprisingly light for the 9.4% strength.

Quite tasty.

Beer Advent Day 19

Today we get:

Atomium
Premier Grand Cru
Van Steenberge Brewery, Entwelde, Belgium
11.2 oz bottle, 8% abv

Another one I've never seen and am looking forward to trying.

Maudite

I've reviewed this advent beer before:

http://subrew.blogspot.com/2011/07/canadians.html

My opinion hasn't changed -- it's yummerz.

Winter 2011 Being Belgian Preview

Here are me and Bryan's tickets and menus for the big tasting coming up on Monday. 

This promises to be the best Monday I've had in a while.

As usual, I'll be blogstificating about it as we go.

Beer Advent Day 18

Today we have another collaborative beer from Stone, Tröegs, and Jason Fields & Kevin Sheppard

Cherry Chocolate Stout
Ale brewed with chocolate, cherries, and vanilla beans
12:30 oz bottle, 7.3% abv

Double Diamond

Pours  dark amber, clear, with a fluffy tan head.

Light aroma of malt and subtle hops.

Flavor is slightly sweet, with almost a gingerbread flavor -- molasses and ginger.

Mouthfeel is medium-light and a bit creamy.  Finishes with a good hit of bitterness and some warmth.

A pleasant and interesting beer.

Beer Advent Day 17

Today is another beer I've never seen:

Double Diamond
Winter Ale
Dick's Brewing Company, Centralia, WA
12:30 oz bottle, 7.5% abv.

I'll probably crack this open later tonight...

Saison du BUFF

Pours golden and a bit cloudy, with a fluffy white head.

Aroma is floral and a bit spicy.

Flavor is light malt with pleasant fruit notes and some nice yeast notes.

Mouthfeel is light and crisp with a solidly bitter finish.

A tasty beer, despite the participation of Dogfish Head.

Beer Advent Day 16

Today we have a collaborative beer from Stone, Dogfish, and Victory brewing:

Saison du BUFF
Ale brewed with parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.
12 oz bottle, 6.8% abv

BUFF is "Brewers United for Freedom of Flavor"

Old Rasputin

Russian Imperial Stout
North Coast Brewing, Fort Bragg, CA
12 oz bottle, 9% abv

Pours black with a dark tan head that lasts well.

Aroma is roast malt, alcohol, and toffee.

Flavor is deep and rich with lots of dark fruit, coffee, vanilla and some higher alcohols.

Mouthfeel is moderately thick but not overly so. Finishes surprisingly dry with a strong hit of lingering bitterness.

A fine example of the style.  Really, really yummy...

Beer Advent Day 15

Today is:

Doggie Claws
Barleywine Style Ale, 2010 vintage
Hair Of The Dog Brewing Company, Portland, Oregon
12 oz bottle, 11% abv

This one will probably go in the cellar for a while.

Beer Advent Day 14

Forgot to blog this yesterday:

Funky e star
Belgian Wild Ale
Mikeller at De Proef Brouwerij, Loochrisri-Hufte, Belgium
11.2 oz bottle, 9.4% abv

Beer Advent Day 13

Today we get:

Noel des Geants
Belgian Holiday Ale
Brasserie des Legendes, Ath, Belgium
11.2oz bottle, 8.5% abv

Pietra

As mentioned this morning, this is an amber ale made with chestnut flour.

Pours clear amber, with a white head.

Aroma is light malt, no hops, and yes, a hint of roast chestnut.  I only know that because I had chestnuts for the first time last Saturday.

Flavor is lightly malty and very clean.  Quite lager-like, actually. Very balanced, not too sweet.

Finish is crisp, with an initial smoothness followed by a cleansing bitterness and then after a short wait, some lingering but light astringency.

A nice simple beer that's a refreshing change from some of the huge holiday Ales in the calendar.

Beer Advent Day 12

This is one I've never seen:

Pietra
Amber Ale brewed with chestnut flour
Brasserie Pietra, Corsica, France
11.2 oz bottle, 6% abv

Beer Advent Day 11

Today we have another one for the cellar:

Bommen & Granaten Handcrafted Beer
Brouwerij De Molen
Bodegraven, Netherlands
12 oz bottle, 15.2% abv

Raison D'extra

Pours cloudy brown with a nonexistent head.  Really a quite ugly beer somewhat reminiscent  of prune juice.

Aroma is pruney/raisiny with lots of alcohol.

Flavor is also a bit pruney. Lots of big alcohol notes too.  Thankfully as strong as it is, it isn't overly sweet, which is a pleasant surprise.

Finish is very warm but surprisingly not too out of balance.

Overall it is a bit harsh and it could use another year in the bottle. Hopefully some more carbonation will develop in time as well.

Again, a Dogfish beer I'm not a fan of, not a real surprise.  It's not horrible, but it's not great either, it's just ok.

Beer Advent Day 10

We have for today:

La Maudite
Unibroue, Canada, eh
12 oz bottle, 8% abv

Beer Advent Day 9

Today we have:

2006 Harvest Ale
J.W. Lees
Manchester, England
275ml bottle, 11.5%abv

This should be interesting after five years in the bottle.  We'll find out soon.

Stille Nacht

Here's the photo that was supposed to go with the last post. Stupid phone.

Beer Advent Day 8

Our second week starts with:

Stille Nacht, 2009 vintage
Belgian holiday ale
De Dolle Brouwers, Belgium
12% abv, 11.6oz bottle

I can't remember if I've tried this before or not, but I'm looking forward to it.  Not tonight though, after hanging out at the Portland Holiday Ale Festival yesterday, I don't want any beer today...

Beer Advent Day 7

Today is a beer from Dogfish Head, in Delaware:

Raison D'extra
Brown ale brewed with raisins
12oz bottle, alcohol unspecified

We'll have to see if this is one of the few Dogfish beers I like.

"It's got raisins in it.  You like raisins..."

Beer Advent Day 6

Today's beer is another one that will go into the cellar for some aging:

Bigfoot
Barleywine, 2011 vintage
Sierra Nevada Brewing, Chico, CA
12 oz bottle, 9.6%abv

Beer Advent Day 5

Today we have a favorite:

Old Rasputin
Russian Imperial Stout
North Coast Brewing, Fort Bragg, CA
12oz bottle, 9%abv

Beer Advent Day 4

Today's beer is Harvey's Christmas Ale, Harvey & Sons Brewery, Lewes, Sussex, England
9.3oz bottle, 8.1%abv

I've never even heard of this one, we'll see what it's like soon.

John Barleycorn Barleywine

Today's advent beer pours cloudy amber, with a very thin head that dissipates quite quickly.

Aroma is intensely malty with some strong fruity notes.

Flavor is similarly malty, but with lots of nice hops and plenty of alcohol.

Finish is pleasantly balanced, but leans a bit toward the sweet. There is a noticeable lingering alcohol warmth as well.

This is a really nice Barleywine that seems perfectly aged after two years on the bottle.  Highly recommended.