2018 Advent Beers: Part IV

Three breweries from Norway, Ireland and New Zealand submit two bottles apiece for the final fourth of this last year's Advent Beer Calendar. 

Day 19: Calm Christmas - Belgian Tripel

The more Belgian-styled beers I try, the more I find I like them. I tend to find them more yeast-forward than malty or hoppy, and they often have that wonderful "liquid bread" feel to them, in addition to being quite potent. This Norwegian tripel from Nøgne Ø is no exception, adding a bit of smoke to the recipe for good measure and seasonality.

Day 20: Winter Storm - Nordic Farmhouse Stout

Even stronger than the tripel, this stout is a true winter warmer at 10.5%. In addition to the coffee and chocolate notes, the extra hops give it a roasty mouthfeel, and there are fruit traces in the afternotes. 

Day 21: Warrior - Irish Red Ale

I normally associate a piney taste with hoppier beers, but there is definitely some here, balanced out with lots of citrus aromas and a grapefruity taste. A bit of toffee comes through in the aftertaste too, as advertised.

Day 22: Phat Phantom Irish Stout

Barrel-aged stouts are normally a big hit with me, but I felt a bit let down by this one. I found it a bit too dry and bordering on the sour end of things. Not completely unpleasant, but certainly not what I have come to associate with this style.

Day 23: Stone Free - Hoppy Apricot Ale

This beer was sour as well, but I was more prepared for it, having read the label. Very nice, but not really in keeping with the season, is it? Although, I suppose it is pretty warm in New Zealand, 8-Wired's country of origin... Light, fresh, fruity and sour, I think this would be a delightful beer for the patio on a hot day.

Day 24: God Save the Lager - Imperial Pilsner

I suppose amping up the ABV to 7.5% is one way to get more further into this style of beer, but once again, this one failed to connect with me. I don't mind lots of hops (all australian and NZ in this case), but I'm there for the tartness and aromatics more than the bitterness, which this one had in spades.

And that's it for the 2018 Advent Beer Calendar! More hits than misses, but fewer standouts this year, I'm afraid. With so many more options available year-round, and events like the Craft Beer Festival where samples of strange and wonderful beers abound, I'm not one-hundred per cent sure I will be back next year, but it's such a wonderful tradition and delightful element of surprise that it would be very hard to give up. Let's see how I feel next November!

2018 Advent Beers: Part III

Ah, what the heck, I'm on a roll and Glory hasn't made her way downstairs so we can start work on the jigsaw puzzle yet - let's squeeze in another six-pack of advent beers!

Day 13: Saison

As a brewery name, Yankee & Kraut is hard to top, as is their logo, a rodeo cowboy riding an enormous pig while raising a goblet of beer in his free hand.  The label to this farmhouse-style saison is likewise delightful in its homage to Edward Hopper's painting Nighthawks, except with animated suits of clothes replacing the figures we are used to. Brilliant floral aromas, crisp citrus flavours and malt-forward body make this strong (8%) yet light-tasting beer a real winner.

Day 14: Stout

Somehow managed to avoid taking a photo of this one, which is a shame, because it is another very creative label. As the art implies, this 5.4% stout is a feast for the senses, with bitter chocolate rising up over the roasted malts and returning as a lingering aftertaste to every sip.

Day 15: Ambra

Red and amber ales are a preferred style of mine, but normally clock in well below the 9.3% in this version from Italy's White Pony. Sweet, strong and malty, with herbal aromatics and afternotes.

Day 16: JeFe

Hefeweizen are a wheat-based ale suited for hot days and multiple glasses, but the addition of passionfruit to this one, as well as the hints of cloves and spices, make it appropriately festive.

Day 17: Morpheus 

A saison from Brouwerij Alvinne in Belgium, this strongish (6%), yeasty beer is light, fruity and refreshing, but I still can't fathom going back out into the midday sun to plow a field after drinking a pint of it!


Day 18: Un Belle Histoire

This porter is 5.6% and the normal coffee flavours are almost overpowered by an oakey sourness - not tremendously unpleasant but certainly unexpected!

2018 Advent Beers: Part II

Wow, that holiday season blew by pretty quickly, didn't it? Looks like some of my advent beers won't hit my blog until 2019...but at least these six snuck in under the wire!

Day7: Fruit Salad

In lesser hands, the idea of an India Pale Ale flavoured with grapefruit, passionfruit, mango, raspberry and blueberry might be a bit offputting, but Denmark's Evil Twin Brewing can always be counted on to bring creativity and balance to the table. Extremely fresh tasting and crisp thanks to the hops you normally associate with IPAs.

Day 8: The Check Please

This Black IPA from Evil Twin is made with Cascadian dark hops. I've had a few beers in this style now, and although they will never be my favourite, they are a delightful variation on regular IPAs, with a bit of roast-taste making its way through the hops.


Day 9: Galaxy Hoppy Blonde

Huh, apparently I neglected to log this one in on Untappd...well, my recollections are of a strong (6.5%), hoppy, Belgian-style beer brewed in Denmark by Ugly Duck, with added tartness brought forward by Galaxy hops. Lots of subtle fruit aromas from the yeast esters, I presume. I seem to recall that their bottle copy reflects the sort of mindset that keeps many women away from beer, but in the glass I had no complaints.


Day 10: Export Lager

I associate lagers with a time in my life when practically every beer you were offered was a lager (including some labelled as IPAs...yes, I am looking at you Alexander Keith!), most weren't very good, and as a result I hardly ever drank any. There are plenty of good examples of the style now, but the association remains. Ugly Duck's Dortmunder lager (as opposed to Pilsner) is a solid example, with a great malt/hops balance and clean, rich taste. A great entry point into craft beer for those who mightn't have taken the plunge yet.

Day 11: Can You Pass Me the Milk?

Milk stouts are one of my favourite subsets of my favourite style of beer. This Dutch one from Brouwerij Frontaal is surprisingly light at 4.5%, but still rich, smooth, and a little sweet, with hints of chocolate. Plus a fantastic label design.

Day 12: Ceres

The other half of Brouwerij Frontaal's advent offerings, Ceres is a lighter (5.3%) Scottish Ale with lots of body and hint of smoke, to my palate at least.

2018 Advent Beers: Part I

As some of you have observed, I am no longer continuing my long-running daily blog for the Craft Beer Advent Calendar. I can't say whether it is the result of complacency, familiarity or a simple lack of human capacity, but last year's entries became a bit of a chore, I'm saddened to say, and I resolved on the 24th that I wouldn't follow through this year.

Besides, now that I am tracking my beers on Untappd, it feels a bit superfluous to do so again here, in a format that demands I struggle to come up with new synonyms for "effervescent", "resinous", or "pungent."

Still, there have a been a couple of notable entries in this year's calendar, and some of the labels have been quite striking, so I will be doing a summary of this year's offerings in four parts -  a series of "six-packs", if you will (or even if you won't).

This is the first time I can recall the advent beer calendar having a discernible pattern, but thus far each brewery has had two selections proferred on successive days. In the first six days I've had the good fortune to try beers from England, Mexico, and the Yukon Territories.

Day 1: FUBAR

Tiny Rebel Brewing in Wales kicks it off with a session Pale Ale. Hoppy beers will never be my favourite, but this was a nice one, crisp and light.

Day 2: Orange Mocha Frapp Stout

The latter half of the Tiny Rebel dyad, and worth the wait. This milk stout is thick, rich and creamy, without being cloyingly sweet. At 7% ABV it is either a poor or brilliant choice for a breakfast beer.

Day 3: Mexican IPA

The best label thus far, courtesy of Mexico's Baja Brewing, this is another well-balanced India Pale Ale that is both strong and refreshing.

Day 4: Ay Ay Ay PA

From the best label to the best name, this 4.5% session IPA was not really my style sadly. But maybe it's because I only had one of them? More research may be required.

Day 5:  Imperial Stout

From Yukon Brewing in Whitehorse, our first heavyweight at 9.5%. One of my favourite styles, and this one was fine. Higher marks may be from people who can actually taste all ten different malts, but I was just glad to have them all there. Disappointingly named though, I have to say.

Day 6: Tamarack and Spruce Tip IPA

The other Yukon beer is far more creative and distinct. Not overpoweringly piney, thankfully, but still enough woodsy, resiny aromatics to be a hophead's delight.

2017 Advent Beer 24: Pōhjala’s Jōuluöö

Safely ensconced once more at home, but having just finished opening presents, I am now unwilling to leave the recliner, hence another iPad-driven phone-driven copied-and-pasted-on-the-darned-PC post.

Today’s unpronounceable beer comes all the way from Estonia, and is a chocolate-vanilla oak-aged Porter, weighing in at a respectable 8% ABV. Decanted into a stout glass, there is the ubiquitous coffee aroma but also hits of chocolate. A solid, dark, sweet, strong beer would be a great way for this year's calendar to stick the landing, but if nothing else, at least the label is pretty. Pōhjala's entry last year was awfully good, and this one is almost tailor-made for my palate, so my hopes are actually getting a little high here...

Once released into its natural environment (i.e. my mouth) the coffee taste is quickly pushed aside by the cocoa flavour and a surprisingly distinct vanilla component. Jōuluöö's mouthfeel is smooth and robust, resulting in a beer that is the perfect capper to another great advent calendar! Now to figure out how to pronounce it so I can ask store staff if they have it...

2017 Advent Beer 23: DuClaw's Sweet Baby Java

After a sumptuous turkey dinner, there wasn't much room for today's decidedly desserty beer, and there is still sticky toffee cake yet to come! But I am committed to my course, and have made the effort.

Last year's Sweet Baby Jesus was one of my faves, and this year we get the sequel: Sweet Baby Java - a peanut butter chocolate espresso stout. Now, I like all those things, but how will they work together in a beer?

Pretty darned well, it turns out!

The peanut butter and coffee can be smelled even before the glass is filled with blackety black stout topped with coffee-coloured head.

The coffee is he most assertive flavour, with the chocolate and peanut butter in close pursuit. It's a little sweet, but the bitter nuttiness balances it out pretty well.  A great way to round out a meal as well as a family gathering.

2017 Advent Beer 22: Bridge Brewing's Santa's Sac

Hopefullly this emailed blog updates correctly, as I am currently kickin' it at my sister-in-law's place in Rocky Mountain House, and my go-to blogging app has bitten the dust.

Beerwise, I have to say: not a fan of the name or the label, but the contents are all right! Strong, sweet and fruity, with traces of spice and a bright sparkling mouthfeel.

Would I buy it again?  Mmmmmaybe.

2017 Advent Beer 21:La Debauche Saison

It's the winter solstice today - the longest night of the year. A dark day calls for dark beers, to my mind at least, so at my team's Christmas dinner tonight I tried two from Lacombe's Blindman Brewing: their Triphammer robust porter and Ichorous Imperial stout, and they were both splendid.

Their darkness stands in stark contrast to the hazy golden yellow of tonight's saison from La Debauche in France. It is quite frothy, building to an almost stereotypical head. Scents are mild, which is not that unusual for a saison; a bit of yeast, a hint of mustiness, some floral notes.

Fairly crisp for a 7% ABV beer, and very smooth, with a bitter finish that could make this a decent quencher (as dangerous a notion as that might be). There's traces of spice, like coriander, but all in all, a fairly unremarkable beer. On the other hand though, the pretty, semi-gothy label is a nice fit for the longest night of the year.

2017 Advent Beer 20: Loncium's Gingerbread Man

I suppose we owe the linkage between the winter holidays and ginger to the ubiquitous gingerbread house, but those big soft ginger cookies are my preferred method of ingestion. Perhaps this Gingerbread Man beer from Privatbrauerei Loncium in Austria.

It's a deep dark reddish-brown, with aromas of ginger but also coffee and something else - cloves maybe? There's some sweetness too, perhaps partially due to the 6.3% ABV.

There is ginger up front, as promised, followed by coffee bitterness, that clovishness again and some nuittiness as well. Not a great beer for meal pairing, but as a liquid dessert or an evening beer shared with a visitor, it is decidedly distinct and quite decent! This Gingerbread Man is well worth catching.

2017 Advent Beer 19: Sound Brewing's Baltic Porter

Imagine, if you can, my surprise at discovering that Baltic porters, unlike their British forebears, are lagers and not ales! Apparently brewers in the Baltic states liked the idea of the porter, but only had access to lager yeasts. They brewed them longer and stronger, ending up with what is essentially a lagered version of the Imperial stout.

You can smell the roasted malts and coffee right away, and this beer pours a very dark black, despite being not nearly as thick as stouts tend to be.

The coffee and malt lead the way, but there are traces of smoke and licorice in the finish which are, in a word, delightful. The mouthfeel is a bit think but only in comparing it to beers of similar opacity, which may not be entirely fair. Not as sweet as many RIS's, this Baltic Porter is a bit of a warmer too, at 7.3% ABV. A tremendous beer from Washington state, overall.

A tasty beer that comes with a lesson about brewing; hard to ask for more, really!

2017 Advent Beer 18: TicketyBrew's Salted Caramel Coffee Stout

Although they may not be graphically enticing, I have always enjoyed TicketyBrew's strip-style labels, coiling around the bottle like a set of tickets. This English brewer has presented me with a poorly timed beer for nighttime consumption, containing Peruvian coffee as it does. Having a milk stout base as it does, though (with lactose and lactose sugar, coffee does seem like a natural pairing.

The coffee scent is immediately apparent, but the live yeast used gives it sour tang as well. It took a full ten minutes to pour the bottle, however, as even my gentlest pour resulted in overzealous head production.

The first sips are overwhelmingly coffee, with a slightly sharp, kind of sour aftertaste.  As the beer warms, however, more of the milky and sweet aspects come through. In the final sips, there is a hint of the salted caramel as well, confirming that I would have been better off letting this beer warm in my hand for 20-30 minutes before tasting.

Still not a bad beer, provided it lets me get to sleep within an hour or so...

2017 Advent Beer 17: Big Sky Brewing Co.'s Power Wagon Wheat Wine

A lot of brewers are making big ABV beers today, but not all doublestrength brews are created equal, by any measure. There is a wide range of styles for the lovers of big beer to choose from, from crisp and bitter double IPAs to rich malty Imperial stouts, but one of the oldest in the infamous barleywine, which gets name dropped by no less a worthy than Xenophon himself in his tale Anabasis. (Why, yes - the same work that inspired Walter Hill's street gang classic, The Warriors - go to the front of the class!)

Power Wagon is different though, making up more than half its grain bill through three different varieties of wheat. Wheat ales make for some of the smoothest drinking, but sometimes at the expense of a robust flavour, which is why you so often see them augmented with citrus flavour or spices like coriander. I imagine there is a risk of having a high-test wheat beer turn out to have a mediciney flavour. Can Power Wagon dodge this bullet? We'll see...

It pours a pale, cloudy golden yellow with a hint of orange in there, and fruit and pine in the nose. 

The first sip brings the anticipated wheaty smoothness, and the grainy taste of wheat prevalent. There is a following sweetness, not unlike honey, and tinges of fruit. Even the fruit leans towards the sweet side - think oranges and maybe...mangoes? as opposed to grapefruit or lemon. But then the hops arrive to calm things down, reducing the sweetness and introducing a mildly piney bitterness that doesn't make your face want to cave in. Smoother and a bit sweeter than most barleywines. Some of the complexity undoubtedly comes from this special edition being barrel aged.

As the beer warms, both the sweetness and hoppiness appear to intensify, but perhaps that is just the 9.7% ABV talking.

All in all, Power Wagon is a wonderful departure from many other winter warmers, adopting a sweeter, breadier stance than many of its fellows. If this was an experiment, I would certainly consider it a success, and also a bit of a privilege - normally Power Wagon is only available as draft. I'm pretty sure I will be keeping a weather eye open for this one on tap at my local growler bars.

2017 Advent Beer:16: Wold Top's Ditto Doppelbock

Christmas is a frantic time, which is why tonight's beer was paired with a hastily consumed bag of Mary Brown's chicken instead of being savoured afterwards and reflected upon in an appropriate manner. As a result, there is not a lot for me to share with you about this beer from Yorkshire.

I can tell you that at 7% ABV, Ditto is a fairly big bock, and like the song says, I like big bocks and I cannot lie. It is a crisp, malty and strong beer with a sweet finish that belies its strength. Dark, with a lot of character.

And it pairs well with fried chicken.

2017 Advent Beer 15: Crazy Mountain's 2017 Bridge Street Holiday Ale

Crazy Mountain Brewing Company of Denver Colorado brings us the calendar's prettiest label thus far; a rustic painting of a covered bridge in Vail, draped with snow and festooned with Christmas lights. Elsewhere on the label they describe the bottle's contents as an ale brewed with maple syrup and spices.

The spices are in evidence shortly after pouring: hints of clove and ginger waft up from the glass, which in itself is quite pleasant to look at, filled as it is with a deep amber.

Clove and ginger sort of break down the front door on this one, leaving very little space for the maple sweetness to assert itself. There is an almost floral quality to the beer; not unpleasant, but certainly unexpected.

All in all, a neat experiment, but not a strong contender compared to other winter ales that have arrived via this calendar.

2017 Advent Beer 14: White Pony Brewing's Dark Signs

Apologies for the rushed post, but I have company arriving in 20 minutes and don't want to do the blog at 11:00 again. Hardly ideal conditions, but we press on regardless!

Another unusually multinational brew, Dark Signs is a dark winter ale brewed in Belgium for White Pony Brewing, based in Italy. Since this self-described 'extra-strong ale' rocks out at a whopping 11.9%, I have to wonder if there is perhaps an Italian law to prevent beers and wines becoming mixed up?  (The Untappd beer app has it reading as 13.1% for some reason.

Dark Signs certainly smells like a Belgian beer, at any rate: the sweet tang of the heavy alcohol presence is joined by notes of toffee and caramel, and a hint of apple, at least to me. There is a bit of yeasty mustiness as well, and the bottle states that champagne yeasts are in play here as well.

Remarkably smooth for such a high-test beer, the tastes present as sweet first, then malty, then the other characteristics come sifting through. The toffee and caramel notes are pronounced, the apple less so. It is a most festive taste, an ideal tipple to share by a fire with a visitor from afar. And it truly extra strong - I can't dispute the possibility it is actually 13.1%. This is definitely a beer I will keep an eye out for after Xmas!

2017 Advent Beer 13: The Duck Rabbit's Wee Heavy Scotch-Style Ale

We now enter the second half of the Craft Beer Advent Calendar with high hopes tinged with apprehension after last night's unfortunately yeasty encounter. Today's beer comes all the way from Farmville, North Carolina, and a brewery which takes its appellation from a classic optical illusion, not just a classic exchange between Daffy and Bugs. The addition of a tam o'shanter to the label conveys both a sense of whimsy and cultural appreciation for this Scotch ale.

A lovely dark coppery-red in my mug, the sweet, malty aroma presages what is to come: a rich, malty beer, with lively carbonation, and a sweetness brought on by the 8% ABV. There is a hint of caramel in there as well, and the big alcohol taste is neither sharp nor hot, although there is definitely a discernible warming effect!

A great midwinter's beer, for certain!

2017 Advent Beer 12: Nickel Brook's Half Bastard Stout

It was only after photographing the label and noticing the pseudo-cyrillic lettering that I finally twigged to the fact that this is a sequel of sorts to 2013's brilliant Bolshevik Bastard. BB was one of my favourite beers from that calendar and I came across it afterwards a couple of times as well.

Half Bastard is an attempt to keep the characteristics of a Russian Imperial Stout but with a much lower ABV, 4.5%. As RISs are one of my favourite styles, this strikes me as a potentially worthwhile effort. I say 'potentially' because in some ways that high ABV is a feature of Imperial Stouts, not a detriment. But regardless, like the man in this criminally underwatched video (made here in Alberta!) says: I like stouts; that's what I'm about.

On to the beer though; another foamy bugger, this one, that takes a while to pour. Some coffee and a bit of chocolate come through on the nose, along with a hint of something tangy...hops maybe? Only a sip will tell!

First impression is not good, sad to say - the coffee bitterness is followed by a sour flavour I was not expecting. Further sips and a bit of online research leads me to believe this beer is 'infected'. Sigh. This is not to say the beer is undrinkable, lambics and other sour beers are intentionally infected by wild yeast all the time. But in my case at least, it this one unfinishable Half Bastard.

Still, should I come across this one again, (preferably in a can, as apparently bottling can be the cause of infection), my faith in Nickel Brook, and my deep and abiding love for stouts, are sufficient enough to justify another attempt.

2017 Advent Beer 11: De Molen's Dasher & Dancer

Dutch Brewers De Molen are frequent contributors to the Craft Beer Advent Calendar - unless I miss my count, Dasher & Dancer will be their 5th appearance.

Their labels aren't particularly captivating, but as someone who may or may not have an allergy to one or more specific types of hops, I appreciate the detail with which they list their ingredients.

The label also attempts to identify what style of beer is contained within, and Dasher & Dancer is characterized as "Red Ale - ish". With dry hops listed as an ingredient though, the prudent drinker should be prepared for something more along the lines of an American Amber than, say, an Irish Red Ale.

Said hops make a floral, almost pungent appearance immediately after opening, but but one really notices upon decanting is the aggressive and persistent head-building. Despite angling along the side of the glass, I had to abort the pour at about the 40% mark and slurp furiously at the foam in order to prevent a containment issue (plus, spilled beer is alcohol abuse).

Even after letting the glass settle for a bit, emptying the remainder proved to be a two-stage process, and it still left a full, textured head that would not have appeared out of place in a root beer float.

Once able to get some sips in, the charms of the style become apparent. The dry hops are sharp and biting, but the maltiness still carries through. Traces of lemon follow up in the finish, but there is an almost grainy texture to the mouthfeel - not unpleasant, but unexpected. Honestly, Dasher & Dancer has an earthy tang that reminds me of a roggenbier made with rye as much as any red ale, but it is still a crisp and tasty brew. Score one more for De Molen!