2015 Advent Beer 7: Into the Shade Unfiltered Saison

The saison is a style originating as a farmhouse ale, brewed in French-speaking Belgium during the less busy months and then stored for drinking in the summer. A worker was entitled to up to 5L per workday, which sounds debilitating, but remember that back in the day saisons were about 3.5% ABV, and not the 7% on average they are today.

 

 

Cameron's Into the Shade ranks right in the middle at 5.2%, and although I didn't labour extensively today, it has been a long one, so I at least share the frame of mind of our fieldhand forebears.

 

This version of Into the Shade is a limited edition unfiltered variation, so it ours a deep and hazy straw gold. It also handily wins the head category to date, with nearly an inch of crisp and crackling white foam dominating the top of the glass.

 

This effervescent crown gives traces of yeasty esters and mild citrus notes, with traces of a not-unpleasant mustiness.

Sadly, my thirst was such that this saison was not long for this world, but I can tell you it is a very pleasant beer indeed. Tremendously smooth, if a bit earthy, with tremendous flavour, and it even follows through a bit on the promised citrus, almost akin to a lemon bread.

 

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2015 Advent Beer 6: Biere De Noel

At 10.1% ABV, this Holiday Extra Strong Ale from Big Sky Brewing in Missoula, Montana, is the highest test beer to date, which seems somewhat of an odd choice for a Sunday night. Still, having just returned from what is likely to be Fenya's last Cantilon Christmas Concert and dinner with family friends, an early nightcap with such a festively themed label really would seem to be in order.

 

Biere De Noel pools a deep, coppery Amber, with very little caramel coloured head to speak of. There is some alcohol and yeast in the first sniffs, but they are secondary to the sweetness and aromas of fruit and spice. Not quite a fruitcake style, with apples and faint citrus overshadowing traces of darker raisins and the like.

As far as the taste goes, Biere De Noel is a real treat, in that it is far too sweet to my palate for more than one to be advisable (which is probably for the best anyhow), but spoiling yourself with that one is absolutely imperative. This is a real winter warmer, with a rich mouthfeel and complex flavour, even if it is a bit on the sweet side. All the hallmarks of the monkish brews, with a little less of the sour yeastiness that permeated yesterday's beer.

 

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2015 Advent Beer 5: Devil's Tramping Ground Tripel

Today's selection is another can, resulting in both a difficult extrication from the calendar and the possible compromising of the remaining structural integrity. This should not have a tremendous impact upon the contents unless a catastrophic failure ends with the top row plummeting upon the bottom row without warning. I do hope that the calendar's purveyors are planning improvements for next year's edition, since it is likely that even more cans will be warranted.

 

As far as the beer itself goes, it comes from Aviator Brewing in North Carolina, and is named after an ominously sobriqueted campground in those parts, where Old Scratch himself is reputed to spend time pacing about, ruminating upon ways to trouble humanity (as if we need any help in that regard). He certainly seems to get around, what with that tower in Wyoming, but I imagine that is to be expected.

 

Devil's Tramping Ground does what it says on the tin, pouring a clean gold with a brilliantly white and effervescent head that proceeds through lace and then a ring or pearls as the beer warms. As a rule of thumb, apparently there is an inverse relationship between the alcohol content of a beer and how cold it should be served; at 9.2%, this tripel is ideally suited for just a few degrees below room temperature, and a lot of the affiliated glassware is meant to be held in the palm of the hand, akin to a brandy snifter.

 

9.2% ABV also means you should have all of your driving-related and fine motor skill responsibilities out of the way before imbibing, playing hob with my plans to do this post earlier in the afternoon.

 

These Trappist-style ales are always a treat for the olfactory, and Devil's Tramping Ground is no exception; behind the esters and yeasty goodness of this liquid bread are traces of the promised sugars, and the tingle of crisp fruit such as apples and pears.

 

The first sip felt dominated by sourness to me, but subsequent samplings let the sweetness come into play, along with the fruitiness hinted at in the aroma. A pleasant, winey mouthfeel and strong, sweet finish make this devilishly apellated brew a surprisingly appropriate pick for the Christmas season.

 

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2015 Advent Beer 4: 1815 XXXX Peacemaker

This one, from Strathroy Brewing in Ontario, poured out quite a bit darker than I expected from a traditional ale. Very little head, which dissipated quickly, and not much for the nose to do, sadly. Not unpleasant or musty, just very little beyond a trace of malts and some alcohol.

 

Overall, 1815 XXXX Peacemaker was a little disappointing, given both the audacity of the name and the standard I have come to expect from this calendar. A thin mouthfeel, not much in the way of body, an adequately malty flavour which gets pushed aside by the 6% alcohol, and kind of a tinny aftertaste. Not an awful beer by any stretch, but certainly nothing special. I found myself craving a Big Rock Traditional Ale afterwards to sort of calibrate my palate, but the reviews at ratebeer.com seem to back up my impressions, although there are a few fans.

Full marks for the striking label, although it did make reading the ABV nearly impossible. Hopefully we will have better luck with tomorrow's offering!

 

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2015 Advent Beer 3: Independence Pass Ale

I find this whole turn of events off-putting.
This morning, I hustled downstairs to retrieve the daily gift of Advent Beer, popped open door number three, reached in to grasp the neck of the bottle and...
felt nothing.

Panic swept in almost immediately: had the packaging collapsed, dropping one bottle into the compartment below? How could I retrieve it while maintaining the surprise? Or had this package somehow been been shorted a beer?

My fingers swept the inside of the corrugated cardboard compartment, looking for a mis-angled bottle, a telltale hole, or perhaps a ransom note, when they brushed something circular and familiar: the top of a can.

Now, had I read the side of the box, I would have noted that, indeed, 4 of this year's selections do come in cans as opposed to bottles. There is a growing movement towards canning amongst craft brewers, once the sole domain of corporate macro breweries. I don't have anything against cans, per se, but the associations still make it difficult to associate characterful beers with this particular style of container. Having said that, I have had more than a few very decent micro-brews from a tin, going back quite a ways to Mill Street (recently purchased by AB-InBev), so I am doing my best to be open minded.

Independence Pass Ale (IPA) by Aspen Brewing in Colorado decants as a hazy golden-orange sort of affair, with a decent if impersistent head which turns to lace fairly swiftly. A hop-forward scent, with elements of both floral and citrus notes, and no mustiness at all.

Tremendous mouthfeel with a hop intensity that is simultaneously assertive and restrained; very well balanced with the malts. At 62 IBUs, this is a strong IPA, not a Double IPA of the "I Dare You To Drink This" school. Pete has turned me on to some stupidly-hopped stunt beers, and you know what? In the right company, on a hot day, they can be delightful. On the whole, Independence Pass Ale is a more enjoyable experience for me, moderation of hops and all.

There is a bit more sweetness than you might expect, no doubt due in part to the 7% ABV, but it keeps this ball in the air as well as the others. Overall, this may be one of my favourite IPAs to date.

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2015 Advent Beer 2: Black Sam Licorice Stout

I know some people will look upon a licorice infused beer with apprehension, if not actual dread, but not I. Since having stumbled across Imperial Megadestroyer Imperial Stout from Howe Sound a while back, I have lamented the fact that my friends who like beer dislike black Licorice emphatically, while those I know who like licorice are not beer drinkers.

 

Even at 7.2% ABV, Lighthouse Brewing's Black Sam is a lightweight compared to Megadestroyer (at 10%), but maybe there is room on the licorice beer spectrum for something moderately less intense, eh?

 

Black Sam pours out an appropriately dark, rooty brown, but is dark enough in the glass to appear black. In fact, the kitchen light fixture has three bulbs in it, but the inky blackness of the glass is impenetrably Stygian. Plenty of licorice for the nose to enjoy right off but the modest head effervesces away far too quickly, possibly a victim of the high alcohol content.

 

This licorice beer has a much thinner mouthfeel than my previous experience, which is a bit disheartening for a stout of any disposition. The licorice presence continues to assert itself through the initial tasting, but not unpleasanty; at least, not to a blackroot fan. There are lingering afternotes of coffee and bitter chocolate, but the licorice dominance continues unabated, concluding with a relatively smooth finish and a subtly acrid aftertaste.

 

All in all, not an unpleasant ale, but Black Sam can't help but remind me of its bigger, bolder cousin, and I think that Megadestroyer is by far the better of the two licorice stouts. Still, as someone mocked for their love of allsorts, licorice flavours have tremendous holiday associations for me, so this is definitely a worthy addition to the Advent Beer Calendar as far as I'm concerned.

 

 

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2015 Advent Beer 1: Fall Hornin' Pumpkin Ale

Having picked up this year's iteration of the Advent Beer Calendar over two months ago has meant an even greater sense of anticipation than in previous years. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing; I even applied limits to my beer consumption in November (within the bounds of proper hospitality, of course) in order to heighten this sensation. But at long last, December has arrived, and the first surprise beer may be had.

 

The initial offering is from Anderson Valley Brewing, and is their Fall Hornin' Pumpkin Ale. Now, I like me a pumpkin ale, for certain, but while it is an easy enough style to do, it is a difficult one to do well.

 

Fall Hornin' pours a dark, dark Amber, with a generous head. Traces of cinnamon and nutmeg precede any trace of malt or hops in the scent, at least initially.

 

The spices dominate the initial taste but soon gives way to a malty finish, and best of all, it is not overpoweringly sweet, despite having little to no bitterness. One of my favourite versions of this style is Alley Kat's Pumpkin Pie, and Fall Hornin' compares very favourably to it.

 

I also appreciate the label's whimsical mascot of an antlered bear, but starting the Christmas beer calendar while looking at a label decorated with bats is a little incongruous, I must say.

 

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