Before Another Year Slips By...

Lately I find that my beer notebook fills up with new entries that never make it here to the blog. Here's a quick post for a new one I had just last night. 

Here's the low down as noted in the yellow engineer's notebook:

Alta 75 Anniversary Ale, Utah Brewers Cooperative. 4.0 abv. Nice bronze color with a medium beige head. Smells slightly of pine. Malty sweet and a bit dry at the finish. GOOD. 

This one was a single given to me as a Christmas gift. I recall trying to track this down last year and I'm glad to have gotten a chance to try it this time 'round. I'll try to snag more in the next day or so.

I looked back through the book and found the entry I made for this day in 2011. Seems I was in Utah then as well. 

 

(Posted from the phone.)

Beer Moment: Carbon Footprint. Winter Beer in Summer Climes

That stash of Norwegian Nogne O Winter Ale that I picked up for a song is living out its last days in a cabinet in the garage, but alas, the temperature here at Beer Rant HQ is consistently hitting the mid 80s and it won’t be long before the remaining Winter Ale migrates inside the house to be hidden in the back of a dark, relatively cool, closet.

On the drive home this afternoon I figured I’d better pop the top off one of those Winter Ales and once home I promptly placed one into the freezer for a prompt cool down while I proceeded to work in the yard, waiting.

I’m dry setting some pavers in a shady corner of the yard. The Japanese boxwoods that once were there are gone – failure to thrive. I figure this little niche is a nice nook for the grandkids to play and cavort and a few pavers will make a nifty little flat spot for them to do whatever 4- and 2-year olds do when they’re visiting Papaw. (Turns out I'm better at cultivating grandkids than I am at cultivating Japanese boxwoods.)

It’s pushing 86 degrees in the backyard and I’d imagine that’s as far from Norwegian climes as I’m likely to be ever in my life this time of year – dry setting pavers in the desert southwest, waiting eagerly for that dark, licorice Norwegian goodness. I didn’t finish my work – the prospect of cold beer was too enticing.

Gee, we’ve got it good in this country. Fresh bananas in northern Washington in the winter and dark, robust Norwegian Winter Ale in Arizona in April with the thermometer pushing 90 degrees!

Please spare a prayer for the folks in West Virginia – you know which ones I’m talking about – then thank God every day if you don’t make your living underground.

One Last Time: Cinder Cone Red, People!

I’ll confess: if I was ever seriously inclined to switch this blog to a fan site devoted solely to one brewer, I think that brewer would be Deschutes Brewing in Oregon. (Sorry local guys – I love you too though.) But with that said, I swear, this will be the last time I go on at length about Cinder Cone Red.

Since no side-by-side comparison is possible, I’ve gone back and compared notes for both the Cinder Cone Red and the Red Chair.

The first entry I have for the old Cinder Cone Red is dated June 28, 2008 and it reads simply:
“Deschutes Cinder Cone Red. 5.4 abv. Seasonal ale. Vegetable smell in the bottle. Dark red, active beading. Nice cream colored head. Sweet taste with hints of caramel or maybe licorice? I like everything I’ve tried from this brewer!”

The next entry for CCR appeared on August 2nd, 2008 under the heading “Beer Pairing.” I evidently thought it would be a good idea to try CCR with chocolate. My notes read: “Cinder Cone Red and Norwegian chocolate. Tastes a bit like chocolate pie! Very good.”

My first sampling of Red Chair is noted in an entry dated November 22, 2009, wherein I wrote:
“Deschutes Brewing Red Chair IPA* (Bomber 1 pt 6 oz). Beautiful orange amber color with a foamy beige/orange head (aggressively poured). Correct pine-citrus smell. Dry from the start and definitely hop driven but (as the label claims) not overly bitter. Despite a relatively low 6.4% abv there is a warming characteristic here. I didn’t originally like IPA’s when I began paying attention to beer. Now I find I like IPA’s if the abv is within a reasonable range and even if a particular IPA isn’t something I like, I can now at least tell if it’s a faithful representation of the style. Red Chair IPA is both: it’s a great beer and it represents the IPA style. Another hit for Deschutes!”

(*You’ll note that the first entry was for a sampling of the Red Chair IPA, not the Red Chair NWPA. The IPA was part of Deschutes’ Bond Street Series.)

The next entry for Red Chair (this time the Northwest Pale Ale) is on March 15, 2010 wherein I wrote:
“Light bronze with ample off-white head. Smells fruity but not of citrus. More like a faintly sweet apricot or peach. Quite malty. Mouth feel a bit thicker than you might expect. A faint hop bitterness emerges at the finish.”

I should point out that this entry was made after I learned that Red Chair was replacing Cinder Cone as Deschutes’ spring seasonal.

I’ll miss Cinder Cone and I’d be less than honest if I said I was going to be as diligent in my efforts to track down next year’s Red Chair as I have been in tracking down past year’s Cinder Cones – eh, that’s just me. Perhaps as time and distance insinuate themselves into what was once a great friendship between me and Cinder Cone, then perhaps you’ll see me doggedly pursuing six-packs of Red Chair…next year.

Up next: Perhaps a search for Woody, the Deschutes traveling beer wagon, rumored to be in the Phoenix area in honor of Spring Training baseball!! Yeah.

For those of you who are really into beer blogs (you’re here so you must be), Deschutes has a nifty BLOG of their own. You can noodle around here and find out what’s going on at the brewery and with their beers.

Free Stuff! In my previous post I noted that the first two followers to post a comment with their mailing address would receive a complimentary copy of the documentary film Eddies: The Documentary. I won't post addresses, but I'll pass them along to the filmmaker who will mail you copies directly from Canada.

Farewell Cinder Cone Red....

...we hardly knew ye!

Just as I was preparing to post my last set of Quick Riffs, I learned that Deschutes Brewing has discontinued production of their stellar Cinder Cone Red seasonal ale. To me this is big news because my discovery of Cinder Cone coincides roughly with my new found appreciation of beer and I believe I waxed effusively about it in one or two posts and I snapped dozens of pictures, of which, only two or three survive. My scant photographic record does note that I spent one Fourth of July grilling with Cinder Cone.

As I’ve already pointed out, my first instinct was to get pissed off. Then, very quickly came the impulse to fan out and scoop up as much Cinder Cone Red (let’s call it CCR) as I could and hoard it. (Ironically, that was my first impulse when I first discovered CCR and learned it was a seasonal. I kept 12 of them stashed in the back of the closet for more than a month!) Now, in my zeal, I immediately sought out the local distributor, the local Total Wine outlet and Deschutes themselves. I neglected to bother with much detailed research on line at places like Beer Advocate; an oversight that would eventually prove significant.

Cutting to the chase:
Last Monday I visited no less than three Walgreen’s outlets, a Fry’s grocery store, a Trader Joe’s and a BevMo in search of some Deschutes CCR. I was helped in my quest by kind assistance from the customer service folks at Republic National Distributing Company, the go-getters at Total Wine and ultimately the gurus at Deschutes Brewery and the brothers at Beer Advocate.

The Outcome:
I returned from my sortie, bereft of any CCR. I logged on to the Beer Advocate site and found that the 2010 batch was only released in Oregon, parts of Washington State and Hawaii. Sigh. That’s that.

An email from the very kind people at Deschutes allowed as the entire stock of CCR was gone and none is even available in their hometown! Never mind that some lucky squirrels managed to get sample sets of both the CCR and the Red Chair to try out. One nice fellow even videotaped his experience and put it on YouTube for the rest of us poor saps to watch. Cruel bugger.

The scribe at The Brew Site also got one of these mystical, mixed six-packs of Cinder Cone and Red Chair – and on Christmas Eve no less? Christ, I’m not living right.

Then you’ve got some underachiever at The Beer Guzzlers who evidently took the time to track down or stumble upon what will be some of the last CCR ever made and all he can manage is a four-sentence complaint. I realize that I’m long-winded, but talk about understated. God, I worked harder to find Cinder Cone Red than he worked on reviewing it.

One of the reasons Deschutes has given for halting production of Cinder Cone is that it’s one of their least popular seasonals. So I found it a bit ironic that Drink Hacker rated Cinder Cone higher than its replacement Red Chair NWPA.

Finally, I found a post at Seattle Beer News interesting not simply because they evidently send beer samples to this guy too, along with some smoked salmon (Good lord what do I have to do to get beer samples mailed to me?) but because one of the folks leaving a comment indicated that Lagunita’s makes a beer that resembles Cinder Cone.

Which puts me in a great spot to close this out. While at BevMo last Monday looking for bottles of Cinder Cone that do not exist, I settled for a six pack of Rogue's seasonal Santa’s Private Reserve and you know what? It reminded me somewhat of my beloved Cinder Cone Red. Wishful thinking? Hallucination? Perhaps, but I sure didn’t imagine all those nice people who responded to my frantic emails seeking out Cinder Cone in Arizona. My quixotic search came to nothing, but the search was half the fun. I’m going to miss Cinder Cone a lot but I’ve gained a new appreciation for seasonals. Enjoy ‘em while they last and know that you may not see them next year!

Now, I’m off to chat with Mrs. Beer Rant about putting in a beer cellar.

Next time: Perhaps a review of both the old Cinder Cone Red and the Red Chair NWPA and the Santa’s Private Reserve, which I seem to think resembles Cinder Cone. We’ll see.

Nogne O Winter Ale

I can’t pronounce it, but I can darned sure drink it!

I’ve already mentioned that I haven’t been tearing through the holiday beers as much as I did last year. Could be a number of reasons: (1) we’re more broke this year and I know that some of these holiday offerings will be on the sale rack in a couple weeks (2) I’ve had a houseful of women kinfolk this past week and consequently, I’ve been drinking less in an effort to keep my wits about me. (Men are generally less intelligent than wimmin and it only gets worse when the ladies congregate and a fellow gets a belly full of barley pop – I tend to say the dumbest things about six bottles into the evening!) (3) perhaps I’ve settled on a few seasonals that I know I’ll like and have wisely decided to pick only a couple of rare birds for sampling.

In any event, Mrs. Beer Rant and I stumbled upon a bottle of Nogne O in the seasonal rack at the Arrowhead outlet of Total Wine and More the week before Christmas. The bottle wasn’t pricemarked and some stooge had probably returned it to the wrong shelf but I decided to take a chance, agreeing with the Missus that we’d discard the bottle at the checkout counter if it proved to be too pricey. Well, the beeping scanner put the price at 8 bucks and change. I looked at Mrs. Beer Rant. Mrs. Beer Rant looked at me. I said something like, “I’ve never had a beer from Norway,” and that was that.

Damn. I wish I’d found a second bottle and bought that one too!

At 8.5% abv, this Nordic beauty trips the line between a hardy winter warmer and a sly seasonal session beer. It pours dark brown and opaque with a rich, robust tan head. I sampled it at slightly lower than the label recommended 53 degrees but no matter. Winter Ale smells like a porter, has a medium thick mouth feel and is literally like no beer I’ve ever tried before. It’s almost liquor like in taste but with no alcohol bite whatsoever. There is a hint of chocolate in there and I believe this beer is something like an imperial stout or porter would taste if one could get past what is often an overpowering alcohol bite. Terrific!


To top it off, I enjoyed this single bottle of Nogne O Winter Ale relaxing in the backyard while the grandkids cavorted through piles of freshly raked leaves. I may never know perfect, but I'm up to my eyeballs in good enough. Thank heaven.

Here’s what some better beer bloggers and reviewers have to say:

NY Press (I especially like this one. You think craft brewers in the U.S. have obstacles, read about what goes on in Norway for a real eye-opener!)

If you want a great laugh, if you appreciate obscure references to the band “Sexual Chocolate,” or if you just want to hear two Hawaiian dudes try to pronounce Nogne O, go to the Two Beer Queers review of Winter Ale. If you don’t save their site as a favorite, Norse raiders will pluck your nose hair while you sleep!

For an obscure reference to Bing Crosby, check out this review of Winter Ale at Spokane Food Blog.


Schadenfreude?
Frequent abusers here will know that I’m no fan of Dogfish Head and their recitative attempts at uber-quirkiness. I rarely buy a full six-pack or 4-pack of their product until I’ve assured myself that the contents will be palatable; their Festina Peche is no exception. I thought the bottle I sampled was miserable and evidently the beer drinking masses agree; at least the beer drinking masses that shop at the Sunflower Market just up the road from Beer Rant HQ. If you “hurry” you can buy a 4-pack of Festina Peche for the 75% reduced price of 3 bucks and change! I say “hurry” because this same stack of beer has been in the markdown bin for the last three or four months! (For the record, I love Dogfish Head’s Pumpkin beer and their Chicory Stout.)

Schadenfreude? Perhaps. But I’m gratified to see that my beer tastes are pretty much in line with most of the drinking public, especially when it comes to fermented orange juice concentrate. If I had to make one drunken prediction for 2010, I’d have to say that Dogfish Head will finally come out of the hallway and rejoin a classroom full of well behaved, if somewhat precocious kids. Face it; you can’t continue to fool people into buying 9, 10 and 12 dollar four packs of weird beer forever!

(Fine, I’m a Beer Jerk.)

Still looking for:
More Shiner Holiday Cheer, more Nogne O, and Pyramid Snowcap

In the tank:
Deschutes Obsidian Stout
On the desk:
Nothing but an empty Deschutes bottle.



Vote the poll, people! Vote the poll!

Random Ramblin' and Happy Thanksgiving

Tip Up To Pour (Dummy).
Geez. You try to give the big brewers a break, maybe cut them a little slack now and then and how do they repay the kindness? They come out with cans that magically change color so you’ll know they’re cold. Fine. Gimmicky. Slick trick to sell beer. Whatever.

Well, thumbing through one of those upscale magazines to which my sister subscribes, I stumbled on an advertisement for Michelob Ultra, touting, get this, their bottle. More precisely, the shape of their bottle. Seems it’s more, um, bottle-like in its wonderful bottle-ness to such an extent that it’s bottle-iferous! (Madison Avenue? I’m here, waiting. Sigh.) Here’s the ad:

Hmmm. Lemme see iff’in I git this right. I simply tip up the bottom of the bottle and the juicy beer goodness flows out that little hole on the top of the bottle? That’s amazing! (Oooops. Dang it all tuh hell, I poured it on my shoes! Sum’bitch!)

Since seeing it in a magazine on my sister’s kitchen table in Denver, I’ve spied it on a billboard in Phoenix. Creeping crud.
Holiday Cheer! It's Here!
Um, on the bright side: Shiner Holiday Cheer is back on the shelves! Here’s a tacky picture I took over at the kids house this weekend.

I love this stuff! If you’re a fan of Shiner beers, you owe it to yourself to add this one to your beer life list. If you're not a fan of Shiner beers, try it anyway. If you don't like it, mail me the rest of the six pack!
Happy Thanksgiving, GI.
Finally, spare a thought for our men and women in uniform this Thanksgiving. Some may be eating MRE’s instead of the traditional turkey dinner and for every one of those fighting men and women you see in a mess hall on the television news, there’s a few more out in some dark, cold place grabbing a meal when they can and thinking how much more thankful they’d be if they could just be home this Thanksgiving. Think you’ve got it rough? At least you won’t be chowing down in Iraq or Afghanistan this week.

A long time ago, in a peacetime army seemingly long forgotten.

Dogfish Head Punkin Ale: Credit Where Credit Is Due

Yeah, I've been tough on Dogfish Head in the past but I'm the first to point out a keeper when I see one, too.

The field of pumpkin beers seems to be full of beers that come equipped with jazzy names and slick labels, but most just aren’t all that noteworthy. I think it’s important to point out the really good ones (though I’ve never had a pumpkin beer that was just a total stinker).

I first tried Dogfish Head Brewing’s Punk Punkin Ale during my trip to Colorado in 2008; I bought it as a single and liked it a lot. My notes for September 22, 2008 read:

Smells vaguely of spice/cinnamon. [Smells] Grassy with a slight alcohol bite in the glass. Amber gold, nice head. There’s an alcohol bite that isn’t off-putting. May be the best pumpkin beer I’ve tried based strictly on style. Finally a Dogfish beer that isn’t a dog. (Emphasis added.)
Based on that positive experience, I asked Mrs. Beer Rant to pick up a 4-pack of this stuff last week and was not disappointed. When they’re too quirky for me, I’m quick to call the Dogfish Head folks out (Festina peche? Really? What the hell is that?), and likewise, I’m thrilled to post positive feedback on their beers and this one remains, easily, one of the top two or three beers on my pumpkin beer list. I need to track down some more of that Lakefront Pumpkin Lager for another try.

Last year, I was a bit out of my element so the Punkin Ale ensemble shots were a bit spotty. I’ll post the few that were even remotely useful here…

This year, armed with a complete 4-pack and a stack of decommissioned jack o’ lanterns, I set up the ideal ensemble shot of bottle and glass. I’ll post all the best ones here because I love Halloween and pumpkin carving and pumpkin beer.

Now, on to November.

A Bobcat Walks Into a Bar…

Yeah, it’s a bad joke that probably ends up with Marlin Perkins and “Jim” arguing over who’s going to buy the next round.

In the real world, in the real Wild West, wild animals do still belly up to the bar I guess. In Cottonwood, Arizona, right up the road from Beer Rant HQ a rabid bobcat attacked some local saloon patrons. You can read the story here. I also see that a couple of news stories have already made the YouTube circuit and they include camera footage from the incident. Cool.

When A-1 Wasn’t Just a Steak Sauce…

I happened to snap a photo of a neat old beer sign while visiting another remote Arizona town a week or two back. A-1 beer has been out of circulation for years but this sign looks to be fully functional and in great condition, atop a pole outside a building in Aguila, Arizona.

I posted a piece about the A-1 women’s baseball team awhile back. You can see it here. You can also visit A-1 Beer Prints for a great history of A-1 beer. My last recollection of A-1, is drinking it warm out of cans that sported images of famous figures in western history. I think the mountain man Bill Williams was on the can I last had – wish I’d saved that can.

Four Peaks Brewing evidently offers their Sunbru Kolsch as an homage to A-1 beer but you’d be hard pressed to figure that out in looking at their literature. (Not much of an homage if you don’t tell people!) Maybe I just dreamt up that whole homage thing. Here’s my earlier take on Sunbru. I didn’t know of its link to A-1 at the time I wrote this post, so I’m more inclined to try Sunbru again and will next time I visit the Four Peaks outlet near me. (Probably should quiz the server to see what he or she knows about Sunbru’s connection to A-1. Probably get a blank stare…I’m used to that, I have kids and grandkids.)

But while we’re on the topic of Arizona sites, here’s a picture of the original Four Peaks covered in a dusting of snow.



(More) Last of the Winter Wine
As I compose this, I’m drinking what will likely be the last glass of Gordon Biersch Winter Bock until much later this year. The label indicates it was bottled on November 5th, 2008 and it has held up well these few months, squirreled away in a cabinet out in the garage. But, with temperatures here starting to climb, I’m not eager to let this one weather the elements for too long so the option was bring it inside or drink it now. I’ve been busy with a lot of things – not this blog, that’s for sure – and as a bit of a wind down, I’ve decided to drink it today.

Watch out for them bobcats.

Lump of Coal. How Ironic.

File this under “Ungrateful Bastard” If You Like.

Where I work, there really isn’t such a thing as a “promotion.” If an opening occurs above you, you must apply for that job and interview alongside the myriad other desperate folk, eager to make their way in the organization.

I’ve been “promoted” a few times over the years, but I only remember my last real promotion. It must have been about 1986. I was in the hallway of a three-storey barracks building in far west Texas, making my way outside to stand in morning formation. My sergeant stopped me in the hall and said, “Smitty, you’re out of uniform.” (My goodness, doesn’t every platoon have a “Smitty”?) Panicked, I looked myself over and couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Smiling, Sergeant Nikita said, “You’re wearing the wrong rank. You’ve been promoted to E-4.” He then handed me two of his old Specialist-4 rank insignia. Ah, those were the days.

Well, I’ve been “promoted” in my current job, which is to say I applied for the job vacated by my now-retired supervisor and I’ve been chosen to take his place (big shoes to fill). Problem is, part of me is unhappy about the salary they’ve offered. The other part of me is telling the unhappy part of me, “Man up and be glad you’re not completely out of a job crybaby.” So I’ll let it go at that. Gee whiz.

In honor of today’s step up on the job, I finally popped open that bottle of Ridgeway Brewing’s Lump of Coal Stout. I’d like to say I was really, really impressed by Lump of Coal, but all I can say is that it’s the best of the Ridgeway products that I’ve had in the past few months.

Today’s tasting notes read thusly:
Dark coffee color, not opaque. Malt smell. Dry with a hint of chocolate but very faint. Medium to thin mouth feel.

I would also add that there’s a hint of licorice or other spice in the finish, especially as the beer warms in the glass. Not a bad beer and one that I’d be willing to track down next yuletide.

Guess I’ll finish up here, prepare myself for another week at work, and be glad for it.

Last of the Winter Wine?

The holidays are definitely over and it seems that some of those special winter beers that I'd loved so much - and so well - are long gone. I can't tell you when I last saw a bottle of Shiner Holiday Cheer and though I was tickled to find six-packs of Anchor Christmas beer on sale for $3.99 a couple weeks ago, I had the sad duty of pouring the last of that six-pack last night. I still have a couple bottles of Gordon Biersch Winter Bock, even as their local outlet is announcing the tapping of their most recent seasonal (an alt if I remember right).

So, imagine my indescribable joy when I stumbled upon six-packs of Pyramid Snow Cap on sale at the local grocery store this afternoon. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I'd wandered in there hoping to score a carton of Sam Adams' Blackberry Witbier. Didn't find the blackberry but the two cartons of Snow Cap will (hopefully) dribble away slowly over the next few months and, as their shelf life of June 2009 approaches, I'll sit in the shade of the back patio here at Beer Rant HQ and watch the grandchildren grow and the summer seasonals march by. I think it will be grand. I'm almost looking forward to the hot weather that spring ushers in! Bring it on!

Quick Riffs: More Winter/Holiday Seasonals

My original intent in creating the “quick riff” posting was to add content to my beer diary without an undue amount of blathering, editorializing or navel gazing. My initial attempts at quick riffs have not really been successful in this regard and, given the length of this introduction, I’m worried that this installment of quick riffs is also going to be a failure. Something to work on in the New Year.

Anyway, with the Christmas and New Year season over (but certainly not the winter season) I thought I’d give a quick run down of some more of the holiday/Christmas style beers that I’ve sampled recently.

Avery
Old Jubilation Ale
Sampled on December 11, 2008
Seems a bit hoppy in the bottle. Pours dark bronze with a robust head and tastes slightly sweet with hints of citrus. Definitely has a warming quality and a slight alcohol bite. There is no alcohol percentage listed on the label, but seems to be fairly strong. Gets better as it warms in the glass, but only to a point, so don’t dilly-dally, scooter.

Abita
Christmas Ale
Sampled December 8, 2008
Smells malty in the bottle and of sweet malt in the glass. Bronze in color with medium lacing and a grainy corn taste. Probably not worth mentioning in your Christmas or New Years cards, but certainly worth a try each year when it rolls around. I've learned that they also make root beer. Hmm.

Anchor
Merry Christmas…
Sampled December 4, 2008
Gives off a sour spice smell in the bottle; maybe licorice. Poured a light coffee color that bordered on red. Thin head with light lacing. There is definitely a taste of licorice and a hint of something roasted there as well. This one gives a definite warming effect and a very slight alcohol bite. Finishes with a hint of almonds or some other nut . This beer seems worthy of a try every year simply because it's become something of a tradition, I think

Breckenridge
Christmas Ale
Sampled on December 7, 2008 (Day of Infamy)
Grassy smelling in the bottle but more malty smelling in the glass. Pours a dark tea color with a nice tan head. The taste is sweet with a medium mouth feel. I'm frequently underwhelmed by this brewer and I only recall being bowled over by their Small Batch IPA.

Lost Coast
Winterbraun
Sampled on December 7, 2008 (Day of Infamy)
This one smells sweet in the glass and pours a dark brown – but not opaque. Flavor hints at fruit an licorice with a thick mouth feel. Like many of the late year seasonals, this one has a slight alcohol bite, too. Again, I'm hard pressed to remember a beer from this brewer that really knocked my socks off, but the fun is in the trying, right?

I’m still waiting to sample (again) Hibernation Ale and New Belgium’s 2 Below. (Both of which I've enjoyed in past years.) Meanwhile, I’m finagling a beer trade with a fellow beer nut in Arkansas, nosing into the rumor of a small brewery scheduled to open less than a mile from Beer Rant HQ and giving some thought to all the folks who I have crossed paths with this year in connection with my new found appreciation of beer and things beer-related.
Happy New Year!

Beer Moment: Christmas Eve 2008

I’ve been told that the reason we put up with raising our children is so that we might enjoy the thrill that comes with having grandchildren. I believe that is true and I often question whether I actually deserve the joy that has come from having grandchildren. In any event, I try to stop and notice the special times.

This Christmas Eve I had a special grandparents moment that coincided nicely with a beer experience and thus the whole tableau melded briefly into what I’ve been referring to as a “beer moment.”

Several weeks back I purchased a bottle of Sam Adams Chocolate Bock and have been storing it away all this time, waiting for Christmas Eve. I had to work Christmas Eve, but all day long the thought of enjoying that Chocolate Bock brought a smile to my face and within about 30 minutes of arriving home, I’d poured the bock and jotted down some notes, ready to sample the rare brew on the back patio.

Well, I cannot set foot out on our patio without our oldest grandchild inviting herself out as well and I’m always happy to consent to the good company she provides; she’ll busy herself with her outside toys while I sit comfortably in a chair. This Christmas Eve was no exception and, as I sat sipping the Sam Adams Chocolate Bock I made a point to consider my great fortune not simply in being able to afford a single bottle of beer priced at over $15 when so many of my fellowmen have nearly nothing but also my luck to be there at that place at that moment with a child of just two years and eleven months who, for whatever reason, right or wrong, thinks the sun rises and sets in me (as I do her).

So there, in our tiny Christmas Eve mutual admiration society, we sat as the western sun hung low in the sky, fading from a Christmas Eve to a Christmas morn full of the promise of doll houses and toy guitars and I couldn’t help but think that no one could possibly be luckier than I. She’s too young and will likely not remember this Christmas Eve. I’m old enough to hope I never forget.

I’m finding that as Christmas approaches, my preferences seem to have ebbed and flowed and it’s been difficult to conclusively choose a favorite – some of this speaks to the whole setting and circumstance thing that I’ve mentioned a time or two since starting this beer diary. Frankly, I’ve been sampling a lot of beer in the past month or so – perhaps too much – which seems to have led to a dumbing down of my palate. Beers that I’d initially enjoyed are not as enjoyable the second time around and beers that I’d normally consider not good based on style (hopped beers for example) are turning out to be surprisingly tasty.

For the purposes of crowning some favorites for the season, I’ve tried to stick with initial impressions and thus, have settled upon Shiner Holiday Cheer, Gordon Biersch Winter Bock and Pyramid Snow Cap as my Christmas and Winter Seasonal favorites.

Merry Christmas, From Texas!
I’ve gone on at length about the Shiner Holiday Cheer. It’s a dunkelweizen, which is a style I tend to like. It pours and presents well. It’s packaged in an old school label, which I tend to like. It’s priced competitively, which I really like. I’ll just point you over to what some others have had to say.

Despite widely mixed reviews, Holiday Cheer scored pretty high over at Beer Advocate.

At least one Unrepentant Beer Snob seems to love Holiday Cheer as well.

The single caution that I might raise regarding Holiday Cheer is that it is not a beer for getting drunk on. As is common with many more flavorful but low alcohol content beers, the intriguing flavor that draws you in is also the element that makes you feel bad if you drink too many. Consider yourself warned, friends.

Down at the Brewpub and In Your Refrigerator!
I think I first got wind of Gordon Biersch’s Winter Bock via an email from their membership services department. I made a point of swinging by their Glendale, Arizona location on December 1st for lunch and a sample. Offered on draft, Winter Bock gives off a pleasant malty smell and had a roasted nut taste with a rather thin mouth feel (despite a robust head on a dark tea colored pour). Mildly bitter with a coffee finish. Winter Bock has a surprisingly strong alcohol by volume percentage that isn’t initially noticeable, so watch yourself.

I enjoyed the Winter Bock enough to buy a growler for the road, which I polished off within the suggested 48 hours. Once it was gone, I’d figured I might be out of luck finding Winter Bock on store shelves – I rarely see GB seasonals offered hereabouts. So, I made a point of dropping in a second time after work for another sample of Winter Bock. Imagine my glee when I stumbled across six-packs of Winter Bock for sale at a nearby BevMo. Well, I don’t always like the selection at BevMo and their prices are not especially competitive, but this time they had a seasonal that I wasn’t likely to find elsewhere so I bought a six-pack to enjoy Christmas Eve! (I should point out that they did not have six-packs of Holiday Cheer, though there was an empty space on the shelf where the Holiday Cheer had once been.)

So far, the worst rating for this beer over at Beer Advocate is a C+. That may not be enough in itself to make honor roll, but when averaged out over several reviews, Winter Bock makes the list. I like Gordon Biersch, not simply for their beer but for their customer service, which I'll delve into after the new year, perhaps.

From the Land of the Snowcapped Pyramids.
This one gives off a quick, hoppy smell in the glass and pours a light coffee color, sporting a cream colored head. The taste hints at licorice with a quick alcohol bite that’s a bit wine like. Mouth feel is medium thick and it finishes with a flavor of coffee and more hints of licorice.

Check out the blurb at Real Beer.

What the hell is Randys.org? Beats me, but they’ve posted a short review of Pyramid Snow Cap.

I often steer away from Pyramid products, suspecting they’re too fruity or too something. I took the jump for this one because it’s listed in Don Russell’s Merry Christmas Beer book. I’m glad I bought his book and I’m glad I bought this beer. We’ll have a six-pack of this at the Beer Rant Headquarters on Christmas Eve.

What others picked…
I was worried that perhaps I’d chosen some favorites too quickly but it seems others have as well.

Here’s a Top 10 list from the folks at Chow.com. I’m pleased and proud to say that I’ve sampled 6 of their top ten so far. I think that’s a good thing. Maybe I drink too much?

Here’s a nifty posting of holiday beers ranked by William Brand on his blog What's On Tap. I’ve sampled about half of the beers appearing on this list, as well. I suspect I’ll not get around to some of the imports; I’ll have my hands full just finding all the local, American made beers.

Still More Work to Do.
I’m still waiting to try the Sam Adams Chocolate Bock and I want to pick up some Hibernation Ale. (Earlier this year I tried a bottle of Hibernation Ale from 2007 and it was terrific!) I’ve also got two big bottles of Trader Joe’s 2006 Vintage Ale that I picked up cheap a couple months ago.

I suppose one of my New Year's resolutions will be to post shorter entries. Merry Christmas!

Quick Riffs: Winter and Holiday Seasonals

Driven largely by the season and influenced by Don “Joe Sixpack” Russell’s nifty book Wishing You a Merry Christmas Beer, I’ve clung closely to the holiday seasonal beers these past few weeks. I’m still confident in my choice of Shiner Holiday Cheer as the season’s best so far and my choice seems to be born out by the fact that you can’t find a six-pack of Holiday Cheer in this town to save your life! I’ve squirreled away a single six-pack, which I intend to enjoy on Christmas Eve but that may be it for the season.

Meanwhile, there are hosts of holiday also-rans taking up the rear of the pack and in order to cover as many of them as possible, I’ll offer here a holiday edition of Quick Riffs. All of these appear in Don Russell’s book but I won’t be divulging where in his ranking they reside – you’ll just have to obtain your own copy of the book from Santa, won’t you?

Michelob Winter’s Bourbon Cask Ale
Sampled November 21, 2008
Perhaps not surprisingly, this one gives off a vague liquor smell and no taste initially but builds to a noticeable vanilla taste that warms you somewhat. There is a bit of liquor in the taste but not in an unpleasant way. Really not too bad for a mass produced beer from a major player in the industry. Would be worth a second try if the field wasn’t already overcrowded with holiday beers vying for attention. This one will likely be one to look for after the New Year when all the seasonal craft beers have begun to disappear from shelves.

Boston Beer Company Sam Adams Winter Lager
Sampled November 22, 2008
Smell hints at citrus and malt both in the bottle and in the glass. Poured a bronze-tea color with a weak head. The flavor is malty with no noticeable evidence of orange and not a good deal of spice but this beer does have a warming quality as it goes down. You’ll find this one in Don Russell’s Merry Christmas Beer book.

Bridgeport Brewing Ebenezer Ale
Sampled on November 23, 2008
This one is featured in Don Russell’s Merry Christmas Beer book. I found it had a slight but balanced hop/malt smell in the bottle. My pour was perhaps too aggressive and the head overtopped the glass. The color is dark brown with a robust head. The taste was soda pop sweet, slightly oaky with perhaps a hint of fruit and slightly warming. I’d have old Ebenezer back at my house again, he’s agreeable enough.

My plan is to crown a Christmas Triumvirate later this month – you’ll just have to tune in to see which beers make my personal top three list. (Like you really care.) In the meantime, go out and buy Don Russell’s Merry Christmas Beer for yourself or as a gift for that special beer lover in your life. Here’s the link to his website, too: Joe Sixpack.

Session. Session? What Session?

Great Divide Hibernation Ale

Never one to keep up with what’s trendy, I’ve managed to miss posting a topic-related post for every installment of The Session since I began my beer blog earlier this year. I always have the best of intentions, but then things come up or I begin to feel that my contribution to the discussion will be trifling and not especially useful, and I fail to post a session-related entry month after month.

The most recent installment of “The Session” dealt with drinking beers out of season. More to the point, I suspect the beer masses mean drinking heavier beers during the summer. I missed posting on the appointed day. That’s no excuse to flop down and wail like a wee baby. I’m a dark beer kind of fellow and I like it even in hot weather and even a belated excuse to sample dark, strong beer is reason enough to do so.

With temperatures pushing over the 110-degree mark here, I moved a bottle of Great Divide Brewing’s Hibernation Ale from the bullpen to the refrigerator and come 3 or 4 in the afternoon, with the day’s temperature pushing its maximum, I popped the top and poured it out.

This beer’s very name conjures up images of dark winter. The label depicts a solitary figure in silhouette trudging through a snowy landscape. Brrrr. Certainly there are animals that hibernate in the Sonoran desert come wintertime – toads and snakes mostly, but hereabouts, the animal life really tends to lay low in the summer, trying in every way to avoid the heat of the day. It’s not so much hibernation but simple self-preservation. You cavort out in the sun and heat for too long, you’re a cooked goose. So, Hibernation Ale is appropriate to our lifestyle here in the desert if one considers staying indoors and in the air-conditioning a form of hibernation.

The Tasting
If I could use just one word, three times to describe Hibernation Ale, it would be “coffee, coffee, coffee.” It pours dark but clear with medium beading. If Starbucks made a beer, they would simply be ripping off the taste of this beer and putting it in coffee cups. And not just “coffee” but coffee with creamer and a touch of sweetener, too, along with a mild liquor bite. This one warms you slightly as you drink it and finishes quite dry.

I enjoyed this beer a lot. I suspect its warming properties will be especially nice come December when I can take a seat on the back patio as the sun sets and there contemplate what Santa might have in store for me - I shudder at the thought. In the meantime, Hibernation Ale sampled nicely in the comfy climate controlled environs of my home, with the blinding heat miasma circling about each window like a rabid wolf.

Here’s the Hibernation Ale page at the brewer’s website:
Great Divide Hibernation Ale
Gosh, a “collectible” beer. Makes me almost wish I hadn’t sampled this one quite yet. I never use or throw away anything that might be of value and to know that I popped the top on a beer that might have some value as a collector’s item, well, I’m a bit sad by that notion.

The folks at Beer Advocate chimed in with a grade of A- for Hibernation Ale. No summer school for this beer; and no hibernating either!

Okay, this installment of The (Late) Session is over.

Two Variety Pack Picks

Those 6, 8 and 10 beer variety packs have always been something of a puzzle for me. I see them at places like Cost Plus Imports and wonder if the beers in them aren’t to brewing what Lucky Strikes were to cigarettes. You know the smoker’s legend about Lucky Strikes, right?

Smokers told me that Lucky Strikes were manufactured using all the ground tobacco that fell on the factory floor in the process of making better, more expensive cigarettes. I’m sensible enough to know this is baloney. (We all know it was Kool’s that were made that way and that’s why they added the menthol taste, man!)

Anyhow, I see these variety packs of beers and wonder if their contents are somehow made up of factory rejects and product that’s past its shelf life. I don’t know that I’ve ever purchased one of these variety “theme” packs myself, but my dear bride brings them home to me from time to time and I’ve recently determined that by and large, the contents are usually of good quality and within their reasonable shelf life, based mainly on my having checked a few of the beers that actually have dates on them. With this in mind, I suppose I’ll be more apt to buy these variety packs myself from now on.

The two most recent variety packs to cross the threshold here were the ubiquitous “Beers of the World” which I’ve had numerous times (why does a bottle of Red Stripe always end up in these?) and a variety pack of American Craft beers. Here’s the skinny on a couple from the Craft Beer variety pack.

Pyramid Hefeweizen Ale smells of wheat and grain in the bottle and surprisingly of vinegar or pickles when poured. Presents a dark opaque orange color. The consistency seems a bit thick – I swirled the bottle to agitate the last bit of sediment and found that the sediment was indeed thick. (The label touts it as “refreshingly unfiltered” but the thickness seems to work against some of the beer’s refreshing qualities. Nevertheless, this one had a spicy but light taste that I preferred to the Sam Adams Hefeweizen that I tried more recently, but having said that, I'm not sure I'll seek this one out again.

Here’s the link to the Pyramid Brewing website:
http://www.pyramidbrew.com/beer/beerguide/hefeweizen.php

The posters at Beer Advocate weren’t blown away by this Hefe.:
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/403/1237

Buffalo Bill’s Pumpkin Ale smells amazingly like pumpkin pie in the bottle and of spices in the glass. Insignificant head may be the result of some shelf life issues but that’s not reflected in the taste. This one is evidently also brewed by Pyramid Breweries, too. It actually has a mild pumpkin and spice taste that rates well for novelty if nothing else; this one claims to be “America’s Original” pumpkin ale, and while it didn’t knock me for a loop, I can see myself looking for this later in the year when the shadows get long and the evenings get cooler and there’s a touch of fall in the air.

Here’s Buffalo Bill’s website:
http://www.buffalobillsbrewery.com/default.asp

It’s a tough crowd at Beer Advocate and they don’t put too much stock in novelty or Halloween for that matter, I guess:
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/205/643/

Here’s the Roughneck’s Take on Buffalo Bill’s Pumpkin Ale (he’s more eloquent than I).: http://lagerheads.blogspot.com/2006/06/buffalo-bills-pumpkin-ale.html

Oak Creek Brewing, Sedona, Arizona

Long Day’s Journey To Cool Climes
With daytime temperatures in the Valley of the Sun threatening the 110 to 115 degree range, this past weekend seemed a wonderful time to make an all too rare jaunt up to the relatively cooler country around Flagstaff. Johnny Southside became a willing accomplice once I told him that on the return trip we could swing through Sedona for beers at Oak Creek Brewing. (Our business in Flagstaff is immaterial, except to say we were on the trail of some 75-year-old remnants of a Depression-era work program known as the Emergency Conservation Works or Civilian Conservation Corps.) I had an additional ulterior motive in that I hoped to purchase one of the nifty ceramic beer steins offered on the Oak Creek Brewing website.

We wound our way into Sedona from Flagstaff, via the back road, stopping only briefly at Mund’s Canyon for a photo and to take in the crazed raving of a hiker sitting outside the pit toilets (evidently I’m not the only one who’s gone crazy as an outhouse mouse from the heat). We barely slowed down as we passed Slide Rock State Park; marveling at the line of cars backed up at the gate waiting to pay their entry fee. Understand, that here in the desert southwest, anyplace with running water is literally a Mecca for city folk, eager to escape the heat. Perhaps a close second would be any place where the beer flows and a drinker can sit in the shade.

There are actually two locations for Oak Creek Brewing in the greater metropolis of Sedona, Arizona: one is (evidently) a brewpub and grill while the other is the brewery proper. Being your typical anti social, I steered us toward the brewery with the hope that there might be fewer folks present.

The Oak Creek Brewing website indicates that the brewery is hard to find (but worth it) and I’d tend to agree. Nevertheless, two determined travelers managed to find their way through the tourist trap of downtown Sedona and in short order we were parked in a nearly empty lot, next to a Sedona Brewing truck circa 1930.

We stepped into the brewery, glad to be out of the glaring sun, and found perhaps 3 or 4 folks sitting at the bar and at the scattered tables. The bartendress greeted us and I dumped my notebook on a table then returned to the bar to peruse the offerings. Two seasonal beers were listed: a Maerzen and a red ale, cleverly named King Crimson, along with the regular brews.

Early on, I committed the cardinal sin of loudly proclaiming my status as an “out of towner” but the folks at the brewery were kind nonetheless and for that I thank them all, including our friendly barmaid who was working her first shift as it turned out. Johnny Southside and I decided to start with a pitcher of the Maerzen seasonal. Maerzen or Marzen gets its name from the fact that it is traditionally brewed in the month of March, with characteristics that help preserve it through the summer brewing season. Dark golden in color, the Oak Creek Brewing Maerzen seasonal had hints of grass in the smell with hints of fruit in the taste. Indeed, not a bad warm weather refresher.

Not wanting to waste an opportunity to sample both Oak Creek seasonals, Johnny Southside and I snacked on popcorn and peanuts, jawboning about every topic under the sun while the pitcher gradually emptied.

The Oak Creek Brewing brewpub is clearly a working operation with vats and machinery to prove it. The whir and thump of the brew vats sounded a workingman’s symphony to accompany our conversation as an eclectic group of people moved in and out of the establishment: biker types, families with kids in tow and individual men slumped over those ceramic mugs.

I asked our first day barmaid about buying a mug and she said she didn’t think there were any to be had. While we drained that first pitcher, she made a phone call and in short order reported that indeed, there were no more of the ceramic mugs available for purchase. That’s a pity. I was disappointed, but I determined not to let it spoil the trip.

The King (Crimson) Has Left The Building
With the Maerzen gone, we then ordered a pitcher of the King Crimson Red Ale, and, to perhaps assuage my disappointment, I ordered a glass of the Red Ale in a nifty Oak Creek Brewing pint glass. Ah, life’s good.

Life’s good and so is that King Crimson, which smelled of caramel with a sweet, dry taste, hinting of coffee. I preferred it to the Maerzen but tend toward darker beers in general. I snapped some sample photos of the beers and our surroundings, then asked the bartendress to draw me a growler of the King Crimson, which she immediately proceeded to do, only to find that, evidently, the shop was on its last keg of King Crimson. Now, I don’t know if I can rightly claim to have walked out with the season’s last growler of seasonal King Crimson, but I know that the nice lady behind the bar made a note in the log book to indicate that the last keg of King Crimson had been sold and she very graciously taped a copy of the BeerRant “business card” to the page, with a note indicating “wants a ceramic mug.” (I suspect that, fermenting in one of those big vats, was more delicious King Crimson, but in years to come, I’ll tell the story my way.)

We settled the tab and ambled back out into the sunlight and heat of the parking lot, facing nothing but the drive back to the Valley – and more heat. I imagine the Oak Creek Brewery is a swell place to sit from about 7 to 11 in the evening and if I lived in or near Sedona, perhaps it’s the sort of place I’d frequent often enough to create trouble with the bride – unless of course she were to join me.

Corporate shill.
Yeah, I bought a pint glass and a swell growler, each with the Oak Creek Brewing log. Here’s the link to their website:
http://www.oakcreekbrew.com/oakcreek/home.php

Here’s a MySpace page for the Brewery (don’t ask me, I’m old and don’t know the first thing about how MySpace works):
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=328347432

Here’s a link to a list of visitor comments about the Oak Creek Brewery. I have to agree with all the positive comments I see here and echo the comments about friendly staff and clientele. This establishment is an asset to the town.
http://www.pubcrawler.com/Template/ReviewWC.cfm/flat/BrewerID=588

For what it’s worth, here’s the Rate Beer page for King Crimson:
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/oak-creek-king-crimson-imperial-red-ale/83803/


Afterword.
I couldn’t resist popping the cap on the growler of King Crimson shortly after getting home. Mmmm, delicious. I poured the remaining beer from the growler the next day (Father’s Day!) and, while it was a bit flat, I believe the flavor was even more pronounced with a strong taste of coffee. I also poured a dab or two of the leftover King Crimson onto some salmon while it grilled and the result was a nicely brown glazed piece of salmon that tasted terrific.

I'm reasonable enough to know that I can't be a regular at the Oak Creek Brewery - it's too far away - but I will continue to seek out their product in my local stores and look forward to the time when my travels take me north again. I pray it's soon - this heat is a killer!

This HoneyMoon Ain't Over....

I'm going to challenge the folks at Coors to add yet another specialty brew to their line of "moon" oriented beers...they'll call it "FullMoon" and it'll have something like a 15% abv kick and pour the color of dark mahogany...but wait, that'll probably deviate from the whole wheat beer motif, huh?

Okay. This is a nifty little beer; not well-received by some others but I like it just fine and will probably buy it again. It's not as good as the tried and true BlueMoon but it's a lot better than one of the other attempts at a seasonal wheat beer...the name of which escapes me (but I remember it had "moon" in it...duh.)

It pours with a moderately thick head - I employed the slick partial pour, bottle swirl, and finish, suggested by the folks who make Hoegaarden, to insure ample floaties in the glass. The taste is mildly of honey and citrus. I spent an afternoon doing yard work in 80 degree heat and then poured this product as a bit of a reward -ahhhhh.

Don't take my word for it.

The masses at Beer Advocate rate HoneyMoon a C+. I'm not familiar enough with the trends there to know if this is a valid rating, though I'll allow as some of the commentary is a bit harsh and sounds as if it comes from folks who've already developed a decided anti BlueMoon prejudice.
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/306/36692

For some Blue Moon and HoneyMoon related items visit the Beer Mug outlet.
http://www.beermugoutlet.com/

Yep. Summer isn't even here yet and the Summer brew is already on the shelf. It's just as well since the temperature is already hovering near 90 degrees where I'm at. I'll probably make room in the fridge for more HoneyMoon as the hot season wears on.