Christmas beer update

I've had a few of the Advent beers without blogging them. Here's a quick update:

Peche Mortel imperial coffee stout. This gets a "meh" from me. It's a decent strong stout, but the coffee adds a harsh bitterness that isn't great. Not bad, just meh.

Guinness Foreign Extra Stout: what's to say, it's Guinness. I like it.

Weltenburger Barock Hell: another "meh" for me. It's a fine German beer, very light with a pleasant mild hop aroma and very light crisp and dry flavor. Ok, just not really my style.

The rest of the leftover Advent beers are pretty strong and will age well, so I'll be hanging on to them for a while. I'll blog them when I get to them.

Beer Advent Day 28 -- Merry Christmas!

The final beer in the calendar is the "standard" Christmas beer:

Samichlaus Classic, 2009 bottling
Malt Liquor
11.2oz bottle, 14%abv

This one definitely needs some aging before it will be drinkable, so it goes straight to the aging stash. I've got lots of the earlier beers to catch up on though.

It's been another great calendar this year, and it's fun to have the holiday last all month and then some. Thanks Tracie!

Merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, jolly Festivus, etc. Most importantly, thanks to the Pagans for starting the whole thing off with the various solstice and Mithras celebrations that the Christians could later steal and claim for their own. Cheers to the season and the especially the gradual return of longer days!

Beer Advent Day 27 -- Christmas Eve Edition

The penultimate beer in the calendar for this year is a special one.

Figgy Pudding
Ale brewed with molasses and matured in brandy barrels with figs and spice.
11%abv, 25.4oz bottle.

This is the first ever bottling from Block 15 brewing here in Corvallis. The bottles sold out in a couple of days, and I had missed out until now. I did have a taste of this while it was briefly available on tap, and it's tasty. It will age well though, so I'll probably put it in my special aging stash.

Beer Advent Day 26

Today's beer is a German beer I've never heard of, Marke Weltenburger Barock Hell.

Beer Advent Day 25

Today's beer is a classic -- Guinness Foreign Extra stout.

11.2oz bottle, 7.5%abv.

Beer Advent Day 24

Today's beer is Dogfish Head World Wide Stout. According to the label, it's "a very dark beer brewed with a ridiculous amount of barley.". We'll see...

Ommegang Biere de Mars

Ale refermented with brettanomyces bruzellensis.
Ommegang brewing, Cooperstown, NY
6.5%abv, 25.4oz bottle
Batch #2, October 2008

This a very nice drinkable Belgian-syle ale.

Pours amber in color with a thick fluffy white head.

Aroma is lightly sweet with a hint of hops.

Flavor is similarly light with a bit less sweetness and a bit more prominent hops.

Finish is crisp and clean, with solid bitterness.

Overall a very nice light and refreshing beer. The brettanomyces flavor and aroma are very subtle, which is pleasant.

Beer Advent Day 23

Today's beer is an imperial coffee stout from Canada, eh. Peche Mortal ("mortal sin") from Brasserie du Ciel, Montreal, Canada.

Southern Tier Oat

Imperial Oatmeal Stout
Southern Tier brewing, Lakewood New York
11%abv, 22oz bottle

Pours black with a moderate head.

Aroma is caramel, hints of coffee, chocolate, and alcohol.

Flavor is balanced toward the sweet, but not too sweet. Coffee and roast malt dominate.

Mouthfeel is thick and rich, but it finishes with some bitterness to balance it out nicely.

Another good big beer from Southern Tier.

Beer Advent Day 22

Last week of the calendar :(

Today's beer is Ommegang brewing Bier de Mars, a Belgian amber I haven't had before.

Beer Advent Day 21

Today's beer is another one I haven't had before: Red Hook brewing's 8-4-1 Expedition, Limited Release Oak-aged Ale Brewed with honey. This one is less than a year old, so I'll probably try to hang onto it for a while.

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine

2007 Expedition
12oz bottle, 9.6%abv
Sierra Nevada Brewing, Chico, CA

This pours dark amber with little to no head, even with a hard pour into the bottom of the glass.

Aroma is lots of alcohol, hops, and malt.

Flavor is surprisingly not all malt, with big hop flavor and a wallop of alcohol.

Finish is strongly bitter, with some lingering alcohol warmth.

It's a big, tasty beer, that's actually not too badly balanced. I don't think it's quite as drinkable as the Stone Old Guardian reviewed earlier, but that's a minor preference. It's very nice to drink these properly aged barleywines regardless.

Beer Advent Day 20

Today's beer is another offering from Southern Tier, this time an imperial oatmeal stout. I haven't had this one, but their other beers are great.

Beer Advent Day 19

Today's beer is Limited Edition Rodenbach 2007 Vintage Oak Aged Ale. It's a reddish-brown Flemish sour ale.

Beer Advent Day 18

Today's beer is Mirror Mirror, Barleywine aged in bourbon barrels. Deschutes Brewing, Bend, Oregon.

I've had this one before and it's a good one. I'll probably try to hang on to this one a while, even though it's already past its "best after" date on the label.

Mikkeller I Hardcore You Imperial IPA

11.2oz bottle, 9.5%abv

I don't think I've had a Mikkeller beer I didn't like, and this continues the trend.

Pours dark copper with a substantial white head.

Big bold hoppy aroma, with some malty undertones.

Flavor is solidly hoppy, but with a big malt presence too.

Mouthfeel and body is fairly thick, and a hint sweet, but with a big bitter hop finish that helps balance it overall.

Very tasty beer.

Beer Advent Day 17

Today's beer is "I Hardcore You," Imperial IPA, from Mikkeller. Brewed at Brew Dog brewing, Aberdeen, Scotland.

This should be interesting...

Beer Advent Day 16

Today's beer is Cascade Brewing's "The Vine" Northwest style sour ale. Ale brewed with grapes and aged in oak barrels.

I've had a couple grape/beer hybrids, and haven't been pleased. I have liked the Cascade sour ales I've had though, so we'll see how this one goes.

Glorious Doughnuts

We're up in Portland to pick up Tracie's sister at the airport, so we of course had to stop at Voodoo Doughnut on the way. I got two of the legendary bacon maple bars, one for now, one for breakfast. Delightful!

Pickled Santa

English Christmas Ale brewed with spices.
Beer Counter Ltd., Oxfordshire, England
25oz bottle, 6%abv

This is a pretty mellow holiday ale from England. Pours copper colored and clear, with a nice white head. Aroma is mild malt with subtle spice character. Flavor is quite spicy, with hints of cinnamon and nutmeg, and a bit of spruce. Finish is dry and crisp. A nice refreshingly crisp holiday ale from the folks in Yurp.