Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
We go a little off the beaten snow path for the 5th beer of Holiday Ale season….
A Weiss beer based Shandy from Leinenkugel’s.
“A shandy is a beer mixed with a little something extra, and our new Leinenkugel’s Spiced Pear Shandy is our refreshing winter beer inspired by the season. Made from a mix of our traditional Weiss beer and pear and spice flavors, our Spiced Pear Shandy has a balanced spiced pear taste with notes of cinnamon and nutmeg.”
A little more mercantile than merry but also democratic. That is how Mobcraft in Wisconsin rolls when they brew. And this time to honor of internet buying they have a barrel aged cherry accented stout to help you get through the checkout process.
“Cyber Monday is a smooth, full bodied, black as night stout with plenty of bourbon on the nose and hints of tart cherry. It’s heavy mouthfeel leads into distinct flavors of whisky and cherry that ends with a nice long toasty finish. This Russian Imperial Stout with cherries was aged for 10 months in 12 year bourbon barrels.”
Two on the list is the punny named beer from Boulevard.
“A perfect winter beer for curling up by the fireplace, this malt blanket features prominent toffee and caramel notes with just a hint of smoked malt. A subtle spiciness is provided by hopping with Magnum, Chinook and Styrian Goldings.”
We start with the holiday season off with the 8th in the series from The Bruery. If you had to guess a style for each line of the song, this would have been the easiest to get right.
“8 Maids-a-Milking is the 8th beer in our “12 Days of Christmas” series, and we’d be udderly crazy to release anything but a milk stout. So we made an imperial milk stout to stand up to whatever Old Man Winter throws our way from now through 2019 with the final release of our series. 8 Maids-a-Milking is brewed with lactose, which is commonly referred to as milk sugar. It’s the only type of sugar that is unfermentable by yeast, which adds more perceptible creaminess and sweetness to the finished beer. This mouthfeel and sweetness is complemented by robust layers of milk chocolate, subtle spice accents from our house Belgian yeast and roasty, cafe elements indicative of our take on the style. Celebrate the seasons with the best of both worlds: enjoy some now, and lay a few down for up to 4 years to be enjoyed upon the release of 12 Drummers Drumming.”
We conclude the 2014 version of the Beer Search Party advent-ish calendar with a seasonal from Orange County and the new Barley Forge Brewing. Fusty Puckett should warm the souls of SoCal (even though we don’t warming).
Have a wonderful holiday and I look forward to seeing what people drank to celebrate this festive occasion.
Cheers to Christmas beers!
SanTan Brewing has a canned Winter Warmer that has been released From The Vault! The beer “has been conditioned for a minumum of 8 weeks. The very first specialty beer ever brewed at SanTan. Arizona orange blossom honey is added before it is spiced with fresh ginger.”
To Øl is the next in the spotlight of holiday ales with their Shameless Santa. This Belgian Strong ale is brewed at De Proefbrouwerij and will surely get shamefull glances from whoever takes the last sip.
We peer over the precipice of the canyon to find wax dipped bottles of snowy white from the Grand Canyon Brewing Company as the Beer Search Party Advent Calendar of Holiday Ales, re-starts with Winter Bourbon Barrel which they describe as, “Our seasonal brown ale brings the warmth back to the winter. Brewed with maple syrup, and aged on bourbon oak. Note: This bottle also contains our flavor bomb. This revolutionary product changes everything you know about beer! The flavor bomb is packed with bourbon barrel oak sticks, then placed in the bomber to condition with the beer.”
Up from the Cellar for December will be focusing on multiple vintages of the Anchor Christmas beer. I will be covering the years 2008-2014.
(You can check out last years review HERE)
2012 pours a dark brown color. There is a caramels sweetness here with an almost cola like sweetness. Getting a toasted bread type of note in the background too. A hint of the cherry note is underneath there lurking. But this year has held up nicely.
2013 The tree, pine, spruce notes are back! Good amount of spice and the cherry notes are gone! The cola note is in the back as well. Still lively as well. Good amount of bubbles which really helps the beer. Nice espresso foam lacing as well. Way in the back are some leafy hop notes too.
OK, I am changing the rules. 2012-13 are the winners. I will compare them to the latest incarnation. Previous to 2012, Our Special ale is just too cherry and slightly tangy to really recommend.
That is one hop crazed fish on the label from Midnight Sun. Or maybe crazed from the juniper berries? “CoHoHo begins with generous measures of pale two-row and specialty malts along with spirit-boosters like brown sugar and honey. Hefty doses of Cascade, Centennial and Simcoe hops beautifully balance that outrageous malt bill while juniper berries heighten the festive character of this exuberant beer.”