I don't know about you, but Christmas with family for me has always seemed to run along some kind of theme. Parents, bless them, sometimes just can't figure out how to view your Amazon Wishlist (I kid, especially of my mom is reading this), so often they just go with the thing you're in to at the time. I can still remember one Christmas when nearly everything I got was Star Wars related. I'm talking extended universe novels, Micro Machines... even the dang Star Wars Encyclopedia. And I'm not saying it wasn't appreciated, because now I know what Greedo was doing earlier in the day before Han shot first.
As an adult, or a reasonable approximation thereof, Christmas has gotten understandably less ostentatious, but still has a tendency to run along themes. Lucky for me, I'm into beer. So is my brother, so between him and my parents, I picked up a tiny but very nice little beer haul. Oh, and some Moonshine, Vodka and Sake, but this ain't a hooch blog. Anyway, I just wanted to talk about a few of the literal beers of Christmas. The beers I got as gifts and the beers I brought along to various holiday festivities.
Let's start with Christmas Eve, which has become a traditional overfeeding and overdrinking session in my family. There was an obvious bid in Yuletide beering with The Bruery's Six Geese-A-Laying, which sadly didn't really do anything for me. I like Strong Ales and I like Belgians, but the latter I'm finding that I, 99% of the time only like when they're actually Belgian. A lot of Belgian-inspired American beers leave a burnt candy sugar taste in my mouth, and the tartness of the berries in this one didn't really blend. So I followed this with a new tradition (at least for me and my Uncle) of Brouwerij De Koninck's flagship De Koninck, which is a Belgian I can get behind. Simple and (almost) sessionable. But this was no session, and the coincidental Belgian theme continued with some of Brewery Ommegang's Three Philosophers (2008 vintage). I've long loved Three Philosophers, but never had it with age. My notes from that night don't add much nuance, but I must have really liked it because all I wrote was "dang". Good work, Tim.
There wasn't that much room in any of us Christmas Day, but we managed to fit in a few mimosas (mine had orange juice merely for color) and a shared bottle of this year's Goose Island Beer Co. Bourbon County Brand Stout. This was my first time having regular BCBS, though I've had the coffee variant before and loved it. Although this is a sipper, it went well with breakfast. I'm definitely going to have to get better at finding this beer and age some of it, because just a few days after Christmas I got to try some of the 2009 vintage, and it had a very smooth upfront vanilla taste, which carried right up until it hit you with a steel chair made out of bourbon.
Fun fact? I originally intended this to be a very short blog, so let's speed right in to the beer gifts:
Throwback Brewery Fat Alberta Imperial Stout - One I've had before, but I found this batch to be quite a bit different than previous iterations. It may just be that I'm used to bigger beers now, but I remember struggling to get through a bottle of this before (and enjoying it, I assure you), whereas this time I could have done with some more. I also found the peanut butter flavor to be less pronounced, but when it comes to me and peanut butter, I can never have enough.
Mikkeller Milk Stout and Beer Geek Brunch Weasel - I did a side-by-side of these for comparison's sake. The Milk Stout has a pretty complex and rich, roasty flavor, and is just an incredibly well put-together beer. It clocks in at 6%, but tasted like it was a bit higher than that. I found a similar theme with the Brunch Weasel. This one is nearly 11%, and the booze in this was so hot I could have sworn there was some kind of pepper additive in here. It still had the nice oatmeal mouthfeel, but a lot of the other flavors were overpowered for me. Not to say I didn't enjoy both, because sometimes you want a big beer... and for me, that sometimes is pretty often.
Marshall Wharf Brewing Co. Cant Dog Imperial Pale Ale - This was the surprise of the season for me. I had never heard of this beer, and I don't think I've had anything from this brewery... but I'm buying a truckload of this next time I see it. In a time of year where I subsist on porters and stouts, lo, a Pale. A downright juicy, tropical fruit flavor-filled Pale. It's style I don't always seek out, but between this and Maine Beer Company's MO, an entire state's brewing industry is making my ignorance show.
Of course there was a lot more beer shared around the holiday, including a surprise gift of Jack's Abby Pro-Am Pilsner from one of my roommates (I know! Cool roommates, yeah?) and some proper glassware from the 'rents (actually, desperately needed proper glassware), but this blog, like this season of joy, must come to an end. Seriously, one day I'll write shorter entries. I'm chatty. It's a double-edged sword.
What beers did you enjoy around Christmas?
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