Christmas Beers are Here

I've been away from the blog for several months, however with the change in the season and the release of Christmas Beers, I decided it was time to review some beers!

I stopped at Capt Mike's in downtown Kenosha the other night and saw my first official 'Christmas' beer on tap. It was Great Lakes Christmas Ale. It was a nice amber color, with a fruity aroma and some spiciness. My initial impression was that it was a standard American Amber, not a winter warmer. However, as the beer warms, the flavors come out, the subtle spices becoming more pronounced but not overpowering. And about 1/3 the way into the pint, I felt my cheeks beginning to warm. This was very drinkable beer, with no harsh alcohols sometimes associated with the style. ($4.50 / pint)

Of special interest to Christmas Beer lovers, Capt. Mikes will be hosting a Christmas Beer Tasting on Saturday, December 5th, 4-7PM. Cost is $25 and includes appetizers. The beer line up hasn't been announced yet, check their website for updates.

Uncle Mike's Top Shelf Pub in Pleasant Prairie, isn't about to be outdone by Capt. Mike's. Uncle's has a few Christmas Beers on tap also.

The first beer I tried was Ommegang Adoration. Brewery Ommegang says "Adoration, brewed in the authentic style of Belgian winter, or noel beer, is dark, strong, malty and assertively spiced." It certainly lives up to that. The aroma is malty, with hints of candi sugar, tropical fruits and alcohol. The color was dark amber / copper (in the low bar light). Initially the beer was too cold, subduing the flavors and producing a harsh alcohol bite. As the beer warmed, the flavors came out. There were notes of spice and banana. Unfortunately, the higher alcohol notes remained. At 10% this beer could handle a little more age. ($6.75 / 11 oz)

While not truly a Christmas Beer, New Glarus Cran-bic Ale, does seem to fit into the season. It pours a light amber with cranberry red highlights. The aroma is fruity, cranberry and oaky. The initial flavor impact is tart cranberry, followed by oak, vanilla and hints of Brett. It was quite refreshing, though the carbonation level did seem a little low. It is a beer that would go well with your turkey dinner or as a palate refresher when drinking Christmas Beers. ($4.75 / 11 oz)

The last Christmas Beer I tried at Uncle Mike's (PP) was New Belgium 2° Below Ale. New Belgium calls it a Winter Warmer, which I believe is really just a subclass of an ESB. It was a nice amber color with a malty aroma, with hints of spice and hops in the nose. It was a very pleasant beer to drink, with good balance between the malt and the hop bitterness. This beer is not as big as some other Christmas Beers, however that can make it more drinkable. ($4.75 / pint)


That's all for now. Have a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving. Maybe I will go out to Uncle Mike's Highway Bar and see what other Christmas Beers they have!

I'm in Oakland for the National Homebrewer's Conference. Expecting great beer and food.

O'so Picnic Ants on tap at Capt Mike's in downtown Kenosha.

Beware the Night Stalker!

The scene opens with Carl Kolchak, wearing his signature seersucker suit and pork pie hat, heading down a dark alley way, furtively glancing over his shoulder. He knows that in the dark shadows of the night, all types of supernatural creatures hide just waiting for their unsuspecting victims. He isn’t afraid of them, he plans to expose them to the world, that’s why he is known as the ‘Night Stalker’.

Sorry for the literary license and the flashback to the 1970’s. Goose Island has a new seasonal beer out, named Night Stalker, in tribute to the 1974 TV series of the same name set in Chicago.

You don’t have to be afraid of this Night Stalker. While it is big (11.7 % ABV) and dark, it is still very friendly. Night Stalker is Goose Island’s Imperial Stout. It is the base beer for their Bourbon Barrel Stout, however instead of aging in bourbon barrels, this beer gets dry hopped.

Night Stalker has a caramel and toffee nose with some hints of dark fruits. There is some hop aroma, however the malt aromas dominate as they should.
It is a deep black beer, with a dark caramel colored head that is long lasting. The body is rich and mouth coating. Flavors of caramel, coffee, toffee chocolate malt and black licorice dance over your tongue, causing you to marvel at the complexity of the beer. The dry hopping adds some bitterness to the finish, however it is well balanced for the style. There is a slight alcohol bite in the finish, which acts more as a warning not to over-consume.

I think this version is better than the bourbon barrel version. The Imperial Stout characteristics are able to show through and are thoroughly enjoyable.

Night Stalker is currently available on tap at Capt. Mikes, downtown Kenosha.

On the 3rd day of December, my true friend gave to me.....Beer!

Greetings from the great Pacific Northwest. I decided it was time to talk about beer again. I've decided to not limit my comments to Southeastern Wisconsin. I will discuss beer where ever I find it.

My freinds Tom and Becky and I have headed west for the 13th Annual Holiday Ale Festival in Portland, OR. This is my 4th trip to this festival and I can not say enough good things about it. I would recommend it to any beer lover.

On December 3rd, we flew into Seattle and planned a leisurely drive down to Portland. Along the way we did stop for a beverage or two. Our first stop was Fish Brewing Company in Olympia, WA. We had a nice lunch and sampled several of the products from Fish, including Wild Salmon Organic Pale Ale, Fish Tale Organic India Pale Ale, as well as several beers from the Leavenworth brand of beers, also made by Fish. If you get the chance to visit the Fish Brew Pub, enjoy their beers and the good food too.

A few miles down the road, in Centralia, Dick's Brewing Company, shares space with Northwest Sausage and Deli. While not the standard brewpub, Dick's does offer a tasty selection of smoked meats and sausages. And then there are the over 20 different brews made through out the year. While there we tried Dick Danger Ale, Dick's Cream Stout and several Belgium style brews.

We arrived in Portland later that evening, and after checking into our hotels, went straight to Pioneer Square for the Holiday Ale Fest. The festival features over 40 strong, winter brews. Several of the beers featured were vintage barrels, which often were limited to a keg or 2. That evening we had the oportunity to taste beers from Hair of the Dog, Brasserie Dubuisson Freres, BridgePort Brewing Company and Firestone Walker Brewing Company. Some of the specialties were tapped out before our arival, however there were still too many beers to sample that evening. The small crowd allowed easy access to the servers and gave us the opportunity to be selective. This was the first year for a Wednesday session, creating more midweek festival time with small crowds, something which would soon be lacking.

The Beer Geek Returns or Chain, Chain, Chain...Chain of Brewpubs

More beer geek thoughts from Terry...

Since my first Beer Geek v. Beer Snob article had good feedback, I’ll try again. This time the snobbery struck close to home. I was at Romans Pub having a beer with one of my oldest friends and the conversation was about beer, of course. I mentioned the Rock Bottom- and the BOOM there it was, Beer Snobbery - “ I don’t care for them since they’re a chain” replied my friend. I sipped my Dragon Milk Stout, bit my tongue, and measured my response. Having more than one location would appear to be the sign of success. Do we criticize Rogue or Great Dane because they have expanded? Why does the Rock continue to get the “chain” treatment? Last time I looked at medals given out at GABF, Rock Bottoms, from all over the country, were winning with different recipes.

I choose my brewpubs based on a lot of things; atmosphere, price, pub food, customer service and yes the beer. Rock Bottom has scored high on my list on all of these. The mug club is an outstanding bargain; where else are you going on a Wednesday night, for $2 beers and free appetizers? The food is terrific and it is extremely family friendly. Now the beer- go get a growler of Up Your Kilt Scottish Ale and compare it with the peaty example from Sprecher. I think you will find Rock Bottom an excellent example of the style.

When it comes to my brewpubs, I do not care if it is a chain, or the beer is brewed with extract, or shipped in from Iowa, I go there for fresh beer, good pub food and the atmosphere. Two years ago, before I visited my brother in San Diego, I did a little research on the beer scene. Yes, there are a lot of no-brainers, Stone was the first stop, half hour from my brothers place and Pizza Port was 2 blocks from the hotel. However when asking locals, I got a lot of Snobbery about Karl Strauss Brewpub. The beer “snob” community despised it. We all know the late Mr. Strauss is a beer legend in these parts, but is not so appreciated in San Diego.

Well as a geek, not a snob, I found the perfect opportunity to visit a Karl Strauss right next to Lego Land. It was crowded, and appeared to be like a TGIF without the crap on the wall. Bottom line is I’m glad I went, because I had the best microbrewed Hefe Weizen I have ever had. I wish Mr. Strauss had opened up one of his brewpubs here in Wisconsin. It would just be another “chain” brewpub I’d love to go to.

Cheers,
Terry
Beer Geek in Racine

Everyone must get Stone

Stone Brewing made its entry into southeast Wisconsin last week with a release party at several bars on the south side of Milwaukee. Several friends and I visited Cafe Lulu and Sugar Maple for the event.

It was my first visit to Cafe Lulu and overall I was impressed. The beer selection was good, however I will admit we focused on the Stone products. The Stone Pale Ale was very nice, with some hop bitterness but not overpowering. Overall a very drinkable beer and at $12 for a pitcher quite affordable. While waiting for the release party to begin we enjoyed having a couple of appetizers. The Hummus Deluxe was tasty and plentiful and a nice change of pace from the standard spinach artichoke dip available elsewhere. We also had the Bleu Lulu, a basket of thick fresh made potato chips with a side of tangy blue cheese dipping sauce. The chips were huge and cooked perfectly cooked, crunchy but not overcooked or greasy. The addition of the blue cheese dip made them even more enjoyable. I was really happy to find such an interesting place to have a bite to eat, especially one so close to Sugar Maple.

After finishing our appetizers, we walked across the street to the Sugar Maple, to see it the release party was in swing there. That was when we found out there had been some transportation problems and pub crawl release party was having a slow start. No matter, Sugar Maple had 3 of the Stone beers on tap and we could start tasting right away. Stone Ruination was our first choice. Ruination is an IPA, however it is probably more correctly an Imperial IPA. It was intensely bitter, the hop character dominated the flavors. That being said though, there was still enough malt to make it an enjoyable beer. We ended up talking with Bruno (the owner) and found out that he was looking forward to having Oaked Arrogant Bastard on tap in a week or 2. Fortunately, my friend Terry who was with us had thought to bring along some samples from his cellar. Terry's brother lives in the San Diego area and often surprises Terry with Stone products that up til now were not available in Wisconsin. Well, the Oaked Arrogant Bastard was just the beginning. Soon bottles of Stone XI, Double Arrogant Bastard, Old Guardian and Vertical 06.06.06 appeared. They were all great beers with varying levels of hops and malt; almost magical elixirs or gifts of the Gods. At some point the tasting notes were forgotten and the simple enjoyment of the brewer's craft took over. With beers like these, you must experience them first hand; everyone must get Stone.