Holidays '10 - Part 1

For many of us, this will be a hectic Holiday season. In that spirit, I will keep this post simple and to the point. I'd like to wish you all Happy Holidays. I'd also like to wish my dear beer friend a very Merry Christmas. Hopefully, I can close her lead down to 20 before the new year begins...

Great Lakes Eliot Ness: One of the more enjoyable beers that I've had in the past month. This amber lager was very, very smooth. The caramel hops really came out in the flavor, and were well balanced with the hops. I've heard many excellent reviews of Great Lakes brewing, and this certainly lived up to those expectations.

River Horse Belgian Freeze Winter Ale: This was a rather mediocre winter brew. It's style is related to Trappist beers, which really aren't my thing. I thought the beer, which had a nice amber hue, was a bit sweet. The alcohol was moderately high. Overall, I'd probably avoid this in the future, but if Belgian styles are your preference this is worth giving a shot.

Terrapin Rye Pale Ale: The interesting part about this beer comes down to the rye in the recipe - hence, the name. If you like hops or are an IPA junkie, this is worth giving a shot. I think the rye malt helped balance the hops out well.

Peak Organic Pale Ale: If you look at the review on ratebeer, you will notice that this beer got a rather low rating. I greatly disagree with the review there. I thought this is how a pale ale should taste. There was a pleasant after taste that really persisted. When purchasing the bottle, I worried it might be underrated due to the buzz word organic in the name. I was wrong. If you like pale ales or IPAs, try this.

Peak Organic Nut Brown Ale: Unlike its sibling, this beer does not do much for me. It came across as being rather underwhelming. In this case, the term organic was more of a marketing buzz word than an indication of quality.

Ommegang Three Philosophers: This beer is a blend of a malty, Belgian style ale and a classic cherry ale. The Belgian ale accounts for 98% of the volume, and the cherry ale accounts for the remaining 2%. The cherries are quite present in the taste, but by no means is this Kool-Aid for adults. Like a lot of Belgian style ales, the yeast is still present in the bottle and gives a fruity aroma to the beer as well. This would make a good beer for a few friends to try.

The scorecard:
Colleen - 341
Paul - 317

Cheers,
Paul

a pre-DBF staff meeting update

As I've mentioned, I'll be spending the rest of the coming week and weekend in the Washington, D.C. Metro area, couch surfing with some old friends while attending the annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers. I'm staying with Paul for the first two nights, and we have some grand plans for catching up with each other... both as friends and in the number of beers we've tried. Here's what I'm going into this with:

Moo Thunder Stout: I bought this because it looked and sounded ridiculous. It comes in a can with a cow and a lightning bolt on it. I know I tried a beer last weekend based on the fact that it had a cow on it, but this was more just the ridiculous name and the fact that it was a stout. This is by Butternuts Beer and Ale, who also make Porkslap Pale Ale and Heinieweissen Farmhouse Ale (a hefeweizen). This beer was SO GOOD. A little sweeter than Guinness (it's actually a milk stout, so that's to be expected), but so smooth and just a really nice stout. It was also not particularly expensive. I would absolutely recommend this beer to all the stout lovers of the world!

Saranac Winter Lager: This was ok. Nothing bad, but nothing particularly amazing. It actually reminded me of this sweet bread I ate in Mexico, that I imagine is probably pretty common in other Latin American countries or bakeries. It was nice, but I'm in no hurry for a repeat.

Kona Longboard Island Lager: I would add this to my proverbial "whatever lager" list. It was fine. A little sweeter than the average whatever lager, but still nothing in particular to write home about. I've heard good things about some of their other beers though, that I'm looking forward to trying.

St. Bernardus Abt 12 Abbey Ale: This was way too sweet for me. It just felt heavy, even though it wasn't. It's a quadruple, which I've never heard of before. Just strong in all the ways I'd prefer it not to be. My friend Cristina tasted it and liked it thought. Just not my jam. If you're into doppelbock beers, you might like it. After all, it's a quadruple! That's doppel the doppelbock! Right?...

Chimay Red: This was LOVELY. This came on the recommendation of my friend Jeremy, and was well worth the price. Very smooth, very pleasant, very nice nice nice. It's a trappist, which Stuff Yer Face brags on their menu to be among the best tasting beers in the world. I might not go THAT far, but it was really good.


I noticed Paul has started an entry and not finished it, presumably because he noticed I did the same thing and wanted to see what my score was. Well, my beer friend, I'm coming to see you tomorrow with 223 beers on my list, to your 220 including the two in your unpublished post. See you in the afternoon!

Now, off to pack...