Holiday Beer Round Up

Alright folks, despite my best intentions the hustle and bustle of the holiday season kept me from blogging about all of the holiday beers that I procured over a month ago. I have finally had the chance to try all of them and thought I would give you a sampling of what I thought was good and unique this year!

Best New-to-Me Winter Seasonal
Drum roll please.....this award goes to Anderson Valley's Winter Solstice! This delicious brew gives you a bright maltiness not to mention warms you up at 6.9% ABV. The finish on the beer is the big surprise, an extraordinarily smooth cream soda finish. Cream soda taste in a beer? Delicious! I drank it while chowing down on my favorite holiday treats but could have also done a few really fantastic cheese parings!


Most Unusual Seasonal
This has to go to the Spoetzl Brewery with their Shiner Cheer. This was like drinking a peachy fruit cake! Part of you wants to like it and part of you wonders why on earth anyone ever decided to make a fruitcake a holiday tradition. It's claim to fame is the combination of peach and pecan flavor. Well it certainly has the peach part down, the aroma of this beer is like cracking open a can of cling peaches and breathing in the overly sweet nectar. You have to think pretty hard about the nutty flavor but it is there hiding in the distance. There was something appealing about the brew, however. I found my glass empty quicker than most holiday tastings this year as I enjoyed this sweet substance.

Yearly Must Haves
All of this being said, I do have a few bottles that I must pick up each year. As you have read before New Belgium's Frambozen is still firmly at the top of my list and 2 Below gets an honorable mention. I also always have to try Anchor Christmas Ale. After touring Anchor Brewing in San Francisco and being in the presence of Fritz Maytag's creation I have a fondness for that brewery and have yet to find a beer there that isn't worthy of being enjoyed with friends.

Finally, I hope that if you are reading this you have had a chance to enjoy a beer with those you love. After all, the friends we keep, the family we treasure and the ability to celebrate the season in each others company is really what the holidays are about!

Warming up to Ebenezer

May the seasonal beer tasting continue with Bridgeport's Ebenezer Ale! I found this beer to be aptly named, with it having much in common with Dicken's famous character Ebenezer Scrooge. At first sip, I was taken aback - offended almost by strong malty flavor that was a tad harsh. But just like the story's Scrooge I warmed up to it as time passed.

This is a very malty beer with a distinct caramel flavor and just enough hops to keep it from getting too sweet. I tried it for the first time in a pint glass, but would recommend a goblet or something similar that is easy to hold on to and warm up the beer. It will stand up to most traditional holiday family meals which gets a thumbs up from me. While not my favorite, not a bad beer either and if available, is definitely drinkable.

First Up, Frambozen

Do you ever have a beer that you look forward to all year? That when you see it in your local store you stand there dumbfounded with a big goofy grin like you found your long lost friend? My old friend in holiday beers is New Belgium's Frambozen.

This raspberry brown ale pours a deep ruby color and provides the lucky drinker with a delicious experience. The flavor of the raspberries balances perfectly with the rich malty brown ale. The beer is not over-the-top sweet or sour like some raspberry beers (especially lambics), but rather provides a highly addictive full flavor that allows you to enjoy more than one in a session. The other great part is that they use real raspberries from the northwest, not a manufactured syrup or artificial flavor.

As many of you know I also have a fine appreciation for all baked goods. That is probably why I love this beer so much, it is a perfect partner for a good ole fashioned chocolate brownie but also pairs well with flan and fresh berries.

Cheers to the season of new Beers!

I will be the first to admit this is a tad over the top. I stopped by my favorite Total Wine & More tonight and went a little crazy picking up holiday and winter seasonal beers. What can I say, some indulge in chocolate, cookies and other items each holiday season and even though I do enjoy my chocolate and cookies, beer is really my favorite indulgence each holiday season. The anticipation of trying a limited edition set of beers is awesome....knowing that some will rock my world and others will be hard to choke down. So, I must officially mark the beginning of the holiday season with this shopping trip and what is sure to be a lot of blogging as I work my way through the collection I amassed tonight.

Belgian fun with St Bernardus

Who knew that my day was going to take a fabulous turn when I poured a bottle of St. Bernardus Abt 12? I knew it was going to be good, I had no idea it was going to blow me away! This is hands down one of the best beers that I have had the pleasure of consuming to date. The brewery has past connections with the Trappists and sits in Watou, West Flanders in Belgium. No, I didn't know that off the top of my head but pulled it from one of my new favorite books, Michael Jackson's Great Beers of Belgium 6th Edition.

Ok, so what makes this so good is that the beer is huge but disguises how strong it is amazingly! 10% ABV in a 11.2 fl oz bottle. You don't really notice the alcohol until you hit the warm finish of the beer, as you have a virtual cornucopia of flavors you experience first. So far I have picked up raisin, vanilla, dark fruit, brown sugar in a syrupy way, a little phenolic and am sure I will get something different and more complex with each sip. For a beer of this style that is this big it drinks impossibly light bodied while remaining it's complexity with many different flavors that play shockingly well together.

The Lost Abbey's version of the 10 Commandments

Ok, so I have a bit of a weakness for Belgian beers - I do believe I found a brewery that shares the same affliction. The Lost Abbey a sister line to Port Brewing is all about the Belgians. My first bottle of 10 Commandments, a seasonal from Lost Abbey was awesome. A BIG beer in both flavor and ABV (10%), it did not disappoint.

Brewed with honey, raisins and rosemary it took the Belgian Abbey to a new place with a fruity sweetness and an herbal finish. But the fun didn't stop there, on the bottle is their version of the Lost Abbey 10 Commandments, couldn't have put it better myself!

- The most imaginative beers are our crusade
- We believe we are all in this together
- We strive for honesty and integrity in our lives like you
- Fresh beer is great. Aged beer is better
- Now that you have found us help us spread the message
- There is good and evil in the world. Our beers are good
- Passion isn't something you can buy at the corner store
- We believe an inspired life is worth living
- Life is about choices. The Lost Abbey is a good choice
- We are not perfect, but no one is

It's still 100 degrees in AZ = I am still ok drinking summer beers!

I know it is starting to snow across the country but here in sunny Arizona we broke a record when temperatures climbed to 102 yesterday. So, instead of diving into one of the fall beers in my fridge I decided to try out Dogfish Head's summer seasonal Festina Peche (pronounced peshy, in case you were wondering).

I always get a little excited and a little scared when I pick up a Dogfish Head beer. Excited for what is sure to be a trip to a new place in beerland and scared for what is almost without fail an incredibly strong beer. Festina Peche proved to appeal to the excitement but delivered it in a rarely seen low ABV of 4.5%.

This is a Berliner Weisse style of beer - what is that you ask? I had to look it up to be sure. It is a beer whose grain is half wheat, half barley and is characterized by a distinct tartness. A style that is not widely used in the US and is given a unique twist in this beer by adding peach juice during fermentation. What you get is a beer that would appeal to a cider lover, Belgian sour lover or anyone that enjoys mowing through a king size bag of sweet tarts. While tart, it does have a pleasant fruit quality from the peaches that makes it refreshing instead of pulling your mouth into a permanent pucker.

Finally a note on Dogfish Head - these guys are pioneers in the craft beer world. Spend 30 seconds on their website and you will know what I mean. Often a little more expensive than the other crafts beers out there but most definitely worth the price of admission!