Blog entries for winter

Holiday Beer Blog: Corsendonk Christmas Ale

winter — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 18:36:31 GMT

Corsendonk Christmas Ale hails from the Brouwerij Corsendonk in Belgium. The ale gets its name from the 15th Century Augustian monk priory established in the same town.It's available in 750 mL and smaller 11.2 oz. bottles.

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Pours a dark shadowy garnet with a khaki head. Thick lacing down the side of the goblet. Aroma consists of spice, malt, licorice and cherry. Mouthfeel is full-bodied with plenty of carbonation. Rich malt is apparent followed by a noticeable anise or licorice spice. Turns a little minerally toward the back. Flavors of cloves and dark fruit emerge as the beer warms to room temperature. Alcohol is not noticeable in the flavor, but hits you after the first glass. The masked 8.5% abv can sneak up on you rather quickly.

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Merry Christmas!

Holiday Beer Blog: Anchor Brewing Our Special Ale

winter — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 19:11:47 GMT

This is the 32nd offering of Our Special Ale (Christmas Ale) from San Francisco's Anchor Brewing Co. Every year the recipe for OSA and labeling are different. The labels always feature a tree -- the symbol of life and renewal during the winter solstice. This year's label artwork depicts the Fagus Silvatica (European Beech).

It pours a dark brown with mahogany highlights. Tan creamy head. Pleasant aroma of spruce, cocoa, ginger, chocolate and dark fruit. Layered and complex in flavor, Our Special Ale, features a lot of spicing upfront. Flavors of dark roasted malt, cocoa, and spruce follow. Hints of plum appear toward the back. There's an underlying mildy dry bitterness that is apparent throughout and lingers into the finish.

This is an amazing sipper to enjoy in front of the fire on Christmas night. It's a hearty winter offering which will be gone soon. Get it while you can!

Holiday Beer Blog: Goose Island Christmas Ale

winter — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 15:25:49 GMT

Goose Island's Christmas Ale pours a muddy brown with a light tan head that never completely goes away. The aroma consists of chocolate malt, sweet cinnamon and spicy hops. Midtones favor a roasted maltiness and mild sweetness that builds up to a layered finish. The finish at first has a nice chocolate malt taste with hints of nut that transcend into an almost ghost-like smokiness that lingers for a bit before fading. A pretty good holiday ale that's not too sweet or spicy.

The brewery says it changes the recipe for its Christmas Ale slightly each year. Goose Island Beer Company is located in Chicago, Illinois. Their flagship beer, Honker's Ale, is a nice mild English bitter. The brewery's Oatmeal Stout is also a comforting beer during cooler winter weather.

Holiday Beer Blog: Delirium Noel

winter — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 05:01:21 GMT

Belgians take their beer as serious as the French take their wine. In a country where each beer is served in its own custom glass, it should come as no surprise that Belgium has a long tradition of brewing Christmas beers. Delirium Noel is produced by Brouwerij Huyghe in Melle, Belgium. You may have seen the brewery's more famous offering, Delirium Tremens (a strong golden ale), on tap at a few bars around town. It's kind of hard to miss the Pink Elephant tapper.

Delirium Noel comes in a 750 mL white ceramic bottle with red foil covering the corked cap and neck of the bottle. The label depicts Santa Claus being pulled in his sleigh around the globe by pink elephants adorned with Santa caps. You too might be seeing pink elephants after a few glasses, considering the abv is 10%.

It pours a clear dark brownish-garnet in color with a creamy light tan head. Aroma consists of sweet fruity overtones, candied sugar, peppery yeast and alcohol. The mouthfeel is medium-bodied, creamy and smooth. Some sweetness upfront that is followed with spices. Caramel malt and honey flavors near the middle. Alcohol is blended nicely and detected toward the back of the throat and provides a nice warming feeling on the way down.

Roman's Pub (3475 S. Kinnickinnic Ave), according to their website, currently has it listed as available on tap. You can also find Delirium Noel at better beer stores around town.

Holiday Beer Blog: Samuel Adams Old Fezziwig Ale

winter — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 13:07:37 GMT

Every year Sam Adams releases a Winter Classics 12 pack and this is the only place that you're going to find 2 of these in the mixed assortment. Old Fezziwig, of course, is named after the character in Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol". It's a perennial favorite of mine and reason alone to pick up the 12 pack.

It pours a dark mahogany in color with a light tan head. The aroma consisted of fruit, malt, ginger and orange peel. Good carbonation with a smooth mouthfeel. Taste consists of roasted caramel malt, slight citrus and cinnamon. The finish is of sweet malt with hints of chocolate layered in there too. Reminds me a bit of the Winter Lager from Sam Adams. A nice Christmas brew. I wish this offering was available in more than just the Winter Classics pack.

In addition to the Ol' Fezziwig, the 12 pack assortment also contains 2 each of Sam Adams Winter Ale, Holiday Porter, Boston Lager, Black Lager, and Cranberry Lambic. The Winter Classics 12 pack is available at grocery and liquor stores all over town.

Holiday Beer Blog: Santa's Private Reserve Ale from Rogue

winter — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 05:24:12 GMT

Perhaps Santa is a beer connoisseur. That might explain the belly. This hoppy Christmas offering is from Rogue Ales Brewery in Newport, Oregon.

Santa's Private Reserve Ale is actually the brewery's St. Rogue Red repackaged for the holiday season. Although the hop varieties -- Chinook, Centennial, and a mystery one called 'Rudolph'-- are apparently doubled for the brew.

It's a gorgeous looking beer that's a clear, deep, dark garnet in color with a light tan head. The aroma consists of hops, caramel and a touch of maple. Mouthfeel is medium bodied. Initial mild hoppy front to it. Smooth, yet, bitter with an ale fruitiness to it that leads to a dry finish. There's also a bit of pine or spruce that lingers toward the back. Flavor seems more like an IPA (India Pale Ale) than a traditional red ale due to the intense amount of hops utilized in the brewing process. Santa's Private Reserve ale is a tasty winter offering for those who like intensely hop-flavored beers.

Holiday Beer Blog: Samichlaus Bier for St. Nick's

winter — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 12:56:53 GMT

What does St. Nicholas' Day and Samichlaus Bier have in common? Samichlaus (Swiss-German dialect for Santa Claus) is brewed once a year on December 6th, the feast of St. Nicholas, and then aged for over 10 months before it's bottled and sold. It is a doppelbock beer and at one time, considered the "World's Strongest Lager" at 14% abv. Samichlaus was revived a few years back when Austria's Brewery Castle Eggenberg retained the rights from Hurlimann Brewery in Switzerland, the original producer, to begin rebrewing this Christmas classic. That being the case, this is an ideal beer to age and see what happens over time. The sample I have was from a 2001 bottling from a 4 pack I purchased a few years ago. It's a clear dark amber in color with a light tan head after a semi-hard pour. With the alcohol content so high, it's typically hard to get a head on a beer like this. The aroma consisted of spices, malt, raisins, caramel and alcohol. Taste is strong and reminded me a lot of a brandy or sherry. Flavors meld into that of malt, raisin, smokey oak and alcohol. Mouthfeel is rich and coats the tongue. Alcohol warms the back of the throat and stomach as it goes down. This is most definitely a sipping beer. Drinking more than one of these in an evening is probably overkill. Samichlaus is a rare treat and should be enjoyed as such. So rare, in fact, that it may be difficult to find on tap around town. Non-the-less, you should be able to locate it at better beer stores in the Milwaukee area. Have a Happy St. Nick's!

Holiday Beer Blog: Lakefront Holiday Spice Lager

winter — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 05:14:44 GMT

Let's get things started with a local offering from Milwaukee's Lakefront Brewery (1872 N. Commerce St.). Riverwest Stein and Cattail Ale can be found on tap all over the city, but it's the release of Lakefront's seasonal brews that I really look forward to the most. Holiday Spice Lager is my second favorite behind the White Beer they release in early summer. Holiday Spice Lager pours a hazy ruby brown in color with a light tan head. The aroma has a festive hint of nutmeg, cinnamon, plum, ginger and malt. The mouthfeel is medium-bodied and smooth with a slight tingle from the carbonation upfront. Rich and malty, the cinnamon spice and orange peel are easily noticed in the flavor. There's almost a gingerbread-like quality to it with some alcohol warmth in the finish. Six packs started appearing on shelves during the week of Thanksgiving and should be available throughout the holiday season. If you get a chance, head down to the brewery and try it on tap if it's available during one of their tours or Friday Fish Frys.

Holiday Beer Blog: Introduction

winter — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 19:02:31 GMT

Brew City loves it beer. With the holidays in full swing many breweries choose to celebrate the season and reward drinkers by releasing special Christmas beers and winter seasonals to the delight of many beer lovers. These beers are generally spiced, malty, sometimes hoppier, and often higher in alcohol content (thus contributing to the warmth factor). All are brewed with consumers tastes in mind for this time of year and for the cold winter that follows. In some instances, the brewers change the recipe from year to year and beer connoisseurs might cellar a bottle to compare when next years batch is released. The tradition of crafting winter brews originated in the European countries of England, Germany and Belgium. In America, it really became popular with the advent of the microbreweries in the mid-to-late 1980s and early 1990s. Anheuser-Busch and Miller Brewing, in an attempt to keep up with the microbrew movement have also been producing their own versions in recent years. Before prohibition many of the big breweries released seasonal beers with their bocks in late Winter and early Spring and Oktoberfests in Fall. Wisconsins microbreweries produce some very nice winter seasonals. Offerings are available from Lakefront Brewery, Sprecher Brewing Company, Capital Brewery and New Glarus Brewing Company. A few from the Midwest include Goose Islands Christmas Ale, Great Lakes Christmas Ale, Bells Winter White Ale and Schells Snowstorm. Across the nation, some other favorites are Anchor Brewing Companys Our Special Ale, Samuel Adams Old Fezziwig, Sierra Nevadas Celebration Ale and Smuttynose Winter Ale. From around the world, theres Samuel Smiths Winter Welcome (England), Hitachino Nests Celebration Ale (Japan), Samichlaus Bier (Austria) -- just to name a few. Throughout December Ill be posting recommendations and reviews for some of the winter seasonals that are available around town. Ask for them at your local bar or seek them out at your favorite specialty liquor store. Celebrate the Holidays with good beer!