12 Beers of Christmas | Day 10: Goose Island 2013 Sixth Day

ABV: 8.3%

IBU: 55

‘Tis the season to sample the myriad Christmas concoctions that are offered throughout the cold months every year. At this time of year, I’m always on the lookout for something I’ve never tried before. Goose Island, always innovating and experimenting, provided that opportunity with this year’s version of their “Sixth Day” Christmas Ale. Read More

12 Beers of Christmas | Day 9: Sam Adams’ Winter Lager

Style: Bock

ABV: 5.6%

There’s nothing more horrifying than the disgusted look on your guests faces as they try a beer that you’re particularly enamored with. Ever have a time when your family wasn’t quite that impressed with the girl/guy you brought home for the first time? Yeah, it’s kind of like that. You go in thinking you’ll be the life of the party, but end up rationalizing your decision to bring that 8-9% sour to a group of Keystone drinkers.* Read More

12 Beers of Christmas | Day 8: Avery Old Jubilation Ale

ABV: 8.3% | IBU: 45

Everyone has their favorite local watering hole. Because Avery Brewing Company is my local watering hole I am generally biased towards their beers. Their holiday seasonal is not only delicious, but unique to other breweries winter seasonals in that it is one of the most quaffable of the holiday ales I have had. I can easily get through two or three pints without feeling like I was pouring cinnamon and cloves on my tongue. With no spice additions or other adjunct ingredients, Avery puts their twist on a holiday ale with their Old Jubilation Ale. Read More

12 Beers of Christmas Day 7: Ommegang Adoration

10.0% ABV

As the shopping days wane before gift-giving commences, those in my line (the line of purchasing procrastination) get ready to start thinking of ideas for the buying spree. As has always been the tradition of my brother and I, we go out on the 23 or 24 of December and buy all of our gifts in a matter of a few hours. We have a generally good idea of exactly what we need to get, and we spend our time buying, not shopping. As gift ideas seem less and less inspired every year with gift cards being the easiest way to shop for everyone, I became inspired when I saw the Christmas seasonal from Ommegang brewery. The label of this beer features a silhouette of the three wise men bearing their gifts in the form of tulip glasses and bombers all in a boat the shape of a crown. Beer as gifts: sounds wise to me.

Read More

12 Beers of Christmas | Day 6- Port Brewing Bourbon Barrel Aged Santa’s Little Helper

Style: Barrel Aged Russian Imperial Stout
ABV: 10.0%

Background: We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns and beer. Well not exactly the words of Buddy the elf but, he would definitely like Port Brewing’s 2011 Bourbon Barrel Aged Santa’s Little Helper. The barrel aged version has spent an extra 9 months in bourbon barrels and this particular bottle has spent just a little bit over a year in the cellar allowing the flavors to meld into the perfect helper to get you through the holidays. Read More

12 Beers of Christmas | Day 5- Jolly Pumpkin Noel de Calabaza

ABV: 9.0%

What better adjective to describe the holiday spirit than Jolly? Jolly Pumpkin brewery delivers their holiday beer with great complexity to the tune of Brettanomyces funk. This malty brew is best served with many leather bound books and an abode that smells of rich mahogany. Enjoy this sophisticated Noel de Calabaza. Read More

12 Beers of Christmas | Day 4: Saint Arnold Brewing Christmas Ale

If you’re like me, and don’t enjoy every Christmas ale to taste like you’re drinking potpourri this holiday season, this Christmas Ale is for you. This Christmas ale will sing you a siren song with her subtle sweet malt mouth feel and ever so gentle spice and everything nice hop profiles. But be warned, the St. Arnold’s Christmas Ale will coax you into wearing that terrible ugly sweater at the company holiday party and committing every party faux pas in the book that will ruin your future chance at management.

Read More

Blue Moon Brewing Co. – Mountain Abbey Ale

ABV: 5.6%

This year we went to Carrollton, Kentucky for Thanksgiving. My brother Kyle lives in Cincinnati, so we stopped at his place on our way down. I know you all don’t know my family, but let me just say, we love our alcohol. I mean we had to bring the alcohol to dinner because there wasn’t going to be any there otherwise. So then it’s no surprise my dad had a beer quick before we got back on the road. (For the record, my brother took over driving from there on out.) Blue Moon Mountain Abbey Ale was what was in the fridge, and I heard from my dad that it tasted pretty good. Same thing came from my mom when we stopped on the way back. So again, no surprise, it ended up in our fridge at home, and yet, I still hadn’t tried it. Read More

12 Beers of Christmas Day 3 | Schlafly Special Release Christmas Ale

ABV: 8%

IBU: 30

The first of the many great American winter holidays has come to a close. Leftovers are still heaped in the fridge, you are justifying eating pie … Read More

12 Days of Christmas | Day 2 West 6th – Christmas Ale

9.0% ABV

Egg nog and chocolate, the essentials of Christmas. The egg nog all rich and boozy, smelling of nutmeg and bourbon, often hangs up in my mustache waiting for retrieval from my bottom lip. And as I sip the egg nog various dishes filled with assorted chocolates garnish the rooms, tempting me to sin again with each pass. Like Romeo, give me my sin again. Conversation stays non-confrontational and smiles stay affixed to faces, as we enjoy each other’s company or at least wish to not upset the jovial vibe that has been created by loved ones and the proper proportions of alcohol. Hey, I thought this was a beer blog not “The Night Before Christmas”…right you are. I digress from my Rockwellian fantasy, now on to the important stuff – beer. Where does beer fit in to this holiday utopia? Read More

12 Beers of Christmas | Day 1: Upslope’s Christmas Ale

You know the feeling you get while barreling down the stairs on Christmas morning as a kid, and you find a twinkling tree replete with packages, that have been neatly wrapped, waiting to be clawed apart? Well that’s kind of the feeling you might get when you see the red shimmering packaging for Upslope’s debut Christmas Ale.

Read More

Playing Tap Roulette With Ballast Point’s Indra Kunindra

Indra Kunindra

ABV: 7.0%, IBU: 50

It’s a terrifying moment. As you and your crew walk into your favorite beer bar, a familiar call rings out from the back of your pack “first ones on me, what do you want”. Hooray! Right? Or maybe not. This bar has a great selection, always something new, but it’s going to take you at least 5 minutes on Google to sort out what looks like a Stone tap on the left, the Southern Tier on the right, or the 8 obscurities in between. You don’t have that kind of time. Ok, no Guinness tonight, not a Stone IPA night either. What’s that on the right? Ballast Point? But you can’t read the tap from back here. They just made it across the state line, and you know they make a kick ass IPA. Screw it. Time to play Tap Roulette. Read More

Beer by Design Brewery Jacque’s Double Black IPA

ABV 6.1% IBU 66

In the front of a small industrial park housing an indoor soccer complex, an MMJ dispensary and a local hydroponic vegetable grower sits one of Colorado’s newest breweries, Beer by Design. The brewery is located in Northglenn, a little metro Denver town filled with mid century suburbs built from GI Bills. Their beer, “designed to be enjoyed”, is made for the demographic of the town, a shrinking retirement population and a growing group of young professionals and blue collar workers.

Read More

Hardywood Park Craft Brewery- Saison Rustica

The holidays are the time of year we associate most with family and home. Unfortunately, I’m on the opposite side of the country as my family (I’m in Oregon, they’re … Read More

Ecliptic Brewing Showcase

A few months ago, North Portland rejoiced as Ecliptic Brewing opened its doors and its taps.  Adjacent to the ultra-hip and well-travelled Mississippi neighborhood in an remodeled old warehouse that … Read More

Lagunitas Brown Sugga’

Lagunitas Brown Shugga’ ABV: 9.9%A

Around this time every year, I look forward to this brew. The aroma: sweet, hoppy, spicey. The taste: all that aroma in a crisp burst … Read More

Funkwerks – Oud Bruin

Funkwerks – Oud Bruin

ABV: 7.5%
IBU: who cares, it’s an Oud Bruin

Funkwerks, the award-winning Saison-focused brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado, has released its first barrel-aged sour, Oud Bruin. Oud Bruin is the product of Funkwerks’ sour program which launched in early 2012. The base for Oud Bruin sat in oak whiskey barrels and oak red wine barrels for more than twelve months.

Read More

Southern Pecan Brown Ale – Lazy Magnolia

IBU 19
ABV 4.39%

It was Thanksgiving, and I had a mountain of vegetables to peel and pare. That’s thirst-provoking work and I wanted a beer. But not just any beer. I wanted an American beer, something to go with my favorite all-American holiday.

Read More

New Belgium Brewing Company: 2 Below

ABV: 6.6%

IBU: 32

I don’t like to shop. I need to have a carrot dangled in front of me in order to even get in a car and head in the general direction of a mall or department store. Typically that carrot is beer. Do I get to get to go to a liquor store? Fantastic. A good liquor store? Even better. Target doesn’t qualify as a good liquor store, or even a liquor store, but it has an aisle that I can wander and at least acts as a distraction from the buzzing overhead lighting and constant eyeball assault of red and happy imagery. We made this trip recently, and I was lured with the promise of a new coffee maker and beer. This is the way to my heart, friends.

Read More

The Commons Brewery- Flemish Kiss

I have been on a mission to try as many new beers as possible and have definitely had my fair share of seasonals recently. However, there is something to be … Read More