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New Beer Blog Br. De Ranke Pere Noel

In this winter beer blog, we are going to sample out a Christmas Ale from Belgium. De Ranke was founded in 1994 by Nino Bacelle. They brew several different Belgian Beer Styles all year-long. There is not too much information on this brewery on the web. Let us get into the beer.

It has a hazel golden color with a big white head on this Belgian ale. The smell is a heavy spices. The taste is sweet carbonation spices. The aftertaste has a hint of caramel. It is a kind of drinkable beer. There is a ton going on in the beer.

Here is a description from their website (www.deranke.be):

Père Noel

Père Noël is a Christmas ale, though very different from any other Christmas ales you might know. While most Christmas ales are rich & sweet, this one is amber-coloured, 7% vol. Alc. strong and tastes quite bitter. The complex taste is completed with the addition of liquorice. In the recipe we can also find pale malt, Munich malt, Caramel malt, Brewers Gold hops and Hallertau hops.

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website: www.deranke.be

Twitter: No Twitter address

In closing, this beer is just like all the rest of the Belgian Strong Ales on the market. I am not saying it is a bad beer. I rather spend my money on Duvel and get more liquid. It will give the beer drinker more of a value. I did enjoy this beer and it was great on New Year’s Eve. I am glad I try it once. I recommend you trying it and maybe you will find something in that I did not find in it. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email: djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter: @djweiser

New Beer Blog Goose Island Christmas Ale 2012

In this winter beer blog, we are going to sample out this years Christmas Ale from Goose Island Brewery. If you read my earlier blog on one their beers, you know the history of this brewery. If you have not, please, read the first part of that beer blog. Let us get into the beer.

Goose Island Christmas Ale has a nice amber color without a head on it. The smell is a caramel to malty to it. The taste of this ale is a hazel to almond with a slight dash of caramel for the aftertaste. It is not that drinkable but the beer drinker could have a few of these beers.

Here is a description from their website (www.gooseisland.com):

Brewer’s Notes:Every year to celebrate the holiday season, we brew up our Christmas Ale, and with each year we change the recipe slightly so that you have something special to look forward to.

Recipe Information:

Style: Brown Ale

Alcohol by Volume: 7.3

International Bitterness Units: Change year to year

Color: Chocolate

Hops: Change year to year

Malt: Pale, Munich, Caramel

Serving Suggestions:

Preferred Glass: Nonic

Food Pairings: Ham, Turkey, Lamb

Cheese Pairings: Aged Gouda, Dry Jack

Cellaring Notes: 180 days

Availability:

Seasonal (November – December)

Bottles: 6, 12 & 24pks

Draft: 1/6 & 1/2bbl

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website: www.gooseisland.com

Twitter: @gooseisland

Closing, this is the first of Goose Island Christmas Ale where the beer will not change over the years or can not be aged like Christmas Ales from the past. It is pretty disappointing because a ton of us craft beer drinkers love to age beer to see what is like next year. I was pretty disappointing with this beer. It is kind of drinkable beer. I just feel this beer is missing something like other years. I do not know what it is and I am not a brewer to make to explain my thought pattern. I can see most people liking this beer and I want you to try it. This beer does pair really well with food. I just do not like this year’s Christmas Ale from Goose Island and that does not mean you will not like this beer. Let me hear your thoughts. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email: djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter: @djweiser

New Beer Blog Goose Island Christmas Ale 2011

In this winter beer, we are going to take a look at a beer from my vintage beer closet and the beer is from Goose Island. It is their Christmas Ale 2011. If you read my earlier blog on one of their beers, you know the history of this brewery. If you live in Chicago or the Midwest, you know this brewery and some of their beers. If you do not, please, read the first part of that beer post. Let us get into the beer.

This Christmas beer has a light brown with a semi head on the beer. The smell has a strong caramel with a fade hazel nut to it. The taste has a little caramel with a sweeten carbonation malty to the beer. The aftertaste is a slight malty to it but it is very fade. It is pretty drinkable beer and it aged very well.

Here is a description from their website (www.gooseisland.com):

Brewer’s Notes:Every year to celebrate the holiday season, we brew up our Christmas Ale, and with each year we change the recipe slightly so that you have something special to look forward to.

Recipe Information:

Style: Brown Ale

Alcohol by Volume: 7.3

International Bitterness Units: Change year to year

Color: Chocolate Hops: Change year to year

Malt: Pale, Munich, Caramel

Serving Suggestions:

Preferred Glass: Nonic

Food Pairings: Ham, Turkey, Lamb

Cheese Pairings: Aged Gouda, Dry Jack

Cellaring Notes: 5 years

Availability:

Seasonal (November – December)

Bottles: 6, 12 & 24pks

Draft: 1/6 & 1/2bbl

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website: www.goooseisland.com

Twitter: @gooseisland

In closing, the 2011 Goose Island Christmas Ale was the last to be able to age but I am not going to push it over two years. Over the years, I had to pour out a ton of Christmas Ale because they did not age good. This 2011 age very well and it is better than 2012. When this beer was young in 2011, I really did not like it so I am happy that it aged very well. It is complex with a ton of flavor. It is true that they change this American Brown Ale every year. If you see this on the shelf, I would grab and you will not be disappointed. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email: djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter: @djweiser

New Beer Blog Widmer Brothers Brewing Brrr Seasonal Ale

In this winter beer blog, we are going to sample out another beer from Widmer Brothers Brewing and the beer is their winter seasonal called Brrr Seasonal Ale. If you read my earlier beer blog on their beer, you know the history of this brewery. If you have not, please, read the first part of that beer blog. Let us get into brew.

Widmer Brothers Brrr seasonal ale has a light brown color with a semi white head on the beer. The smell is a citrus to it. The taste is a sweet carbonation little malty with a citrus touch to the beer. The aftertaste is a dry aftertaste. It is a pretty drinkable hoppy beer for the winter seasonal.

Here is a description from their website (www.widmerbrothers.com):

Warm Up with a Cold One. Or Two. Our winter red ale is the perfect treat, naughty or nice. The deep red body fills your glass and a citrusy hop aroma fills your nose. Then caramel and chocolate malts reward you with a perfectly balanced, malty sweet flavor and velvety finish.

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website: www.widmerbrothers.com

Twitter: @widmer_brothers

Closing, this is an awesome beer from the Widmer Brothers. I really like what this brewery is doing. They are going back to roots and pushing the limits of craft beer brewing. This winter seasonal gives the craft beer drinker something you do not get from the other winter seasonal and it is hops and hops and more hops. It has the malty and warming but gives it a hoppy finish. It is like malty winter seasonal India Pale Ale. Plus, it is extremely drinkable and it will get you in trouble so be careful. This is a beer is part a sampler pack with Redhook Winter Hook and Kona Pipeline Porter. It is hard to get so if you see it, you better grab it. I highly recommend this beer. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email: djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter: @djweiser

New Beer Blog Redhook Winter Hook

In this winter beer blog, we are going to sample out another beer from the Redhook Brewery and the beer is their winter seasonal called Winter Hook. If you read my earlier beer blog on one of their beers, you know the rich history of this brewery. If you have not, please, read the first part of that beer blog. Let us get into beer.

Redhook Winter Hook has a nice amber color with a semi white head on the beer. It has a sweet caramel. The taste is sweet carbonation caramel with a dry aftertaste. It is pretty drinkable winter seasonal.

Here is a description from the beer bottle:

Redhook likes a little nip in the air.

Here is a description from their website (www.redhook.com):

Winterhook is the perfect beer to keep warm during cold months after shoveling snow, shredding some powder, or playing hooky to can catch the game. Since it was first brewed, Redhook’s Winterhook has changed slightly each year to celebrate the season and keep everyone on their toes. After all, no one likes getting the same gift twice. The 28th version of Winterhook brewed for this year offers a rich caramel body that balances a big malt backbone with the aggressively dry hopped brew, making this year’s winter ale slightly naughty and very nice.

Style………………….Winter Ale

Abv…………………….6%

IBUs…………………..45 IBU

Original Gravity..15 degrees plato

Brewed Since………1985

Time Frame………..Winter Seasonal

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website: www.redhook.com

Twitter: @redhook_brewery

Closing, this is one of my favorite beers from this brewery and winter seasonals in this season. I love the malty taste this beer gives you in every sip. Redhook Winter Hook is part of that awesome sampler pack with Kona Pipeline Porter and Widmer Brrr Seasonal Ale. This gives you a nice malty and drinkable beer. This beer is perfect for the coldest winter day but yet with a mild winter we are having in the Midwest, it is still perfect. This is a great beer and I am glad to see it back in six packs in the Chicago market. I recommend you trying this beer. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email: djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter: @djweiser

New Beer Blog Revolution Brewing Mad Cow Milk Stout

In this beer blog, we are going to get into another beer from Revolution Brewing and the beer is called Mad Cow Milk Stout. If you read my earlier blog on their Anti-Hero IPA, you know the history of this brewery. If you have not, please, read the first part of that beer blog post. Let us get into the beer.

Revolution Brewing Mad Cow Milk Stout has a jet black color without a head on it. The smell is chocolate to toffee to the beer. The taste is a creamy chocolate beer without an aftertaste. It is pretty drinkable beer.

Here is a description from their website (www.revbrew.com):

Mad Cow

Smooth, charcoal black stout made with lactose for a lingering sweetness.

Milk Stout

ABV 7.7%IBU 30

Profile: Smooth, charcoal black stout made with lactose

Availability: 1/6 & 22oz

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website: www.revbrew.com

Twitter: @revbrewchicago

In closing, I really enjoyed this beer and this is my favorite brew from Revolution Brewing. I love their Anti-Hero IPA also from this brewery. It is smooth and silky beer. It is extremely drinkable and that could get some people in trouble. I highly recommend this beer, however, this is not my favorite milk stout I have ever had. Mad Cow is my top five for Milk Stout.

Here is my top five Milk Stouts:

Lancaster Brewing Milk Stout
Milwaukee Brewing Polish Moon Milk Stout
Revolution Brewing Mad Cow Milk Stout
Maui Brewing Milk Stout (Brewpub only)
Left Hand Milk Stout

These are all really good milk stouts and just because I put it third does not make it a bad beer. I really enjoyed drinking them all. Now some of these beers, I can not get in my market like Maui Brewing and Lancaster Brewing. Left Hand is a great brew. I just feel the rest of the breweries took their recipe and made it better. Left Hand Milk Stout is still the same old brew and they did not change it. I recommend you trying all these beers. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email: djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter: @djweiser

New Beer Blog Three Floyds Alpha Klaus Christmas Porter

In this winter beer blog, we are going to look at another brew from Three Floyds and it is called Klaus Christmas Porter. If you read my earlier beer post on their Robert The Bruce, you know the history of this brewery. If you have not, please read the first part of that beer post. Let us get into the beer.

It is a jet black color with a tan color head. The smell is an evergreen pine with a touch of toffee in the beer. The taste has a hint of toffee with a ton of pine with a pine cone aftertaste. It is not drinkable beer.

Here is a description from the beer bottle:

Alpha Klaus is Alpha King’s festive cousin. A big American Christmas Porter brewed with English chocolate malt Mexican sugar and of course, tons of strange American hops. Cheers!

Here is a description from their website (www.3floyds.com):

6.0% ABV 38 IBUs

Alpha Klaus is Alpha King’s festive cousin. A big American Christmas Porter brewed with English chocolate malt, Mexican sugar and of course, tons of strange American hops. Cheers! November release.

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website: www.3floyds.com

Twitter: @3floyds

Closing, I am a fan of this brewery. I was looking forward to try this beer for while. I do not know what they were trying to do with this brew. I feel they wanted to make a black IPA or black pale ale but wanted a porter. I am a huge porter and hop fan so this beer has some promise. There is not enough of the porter here just a ton of hops. It is like you are smelling a pine cone and then eat it in liquid form. I was really disappoint with the beer because I had to pour it out. I never pour out a beer but this was that bad. If you like this beer, I would like to hear your thoughts. Do not get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email: djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter: @djweiser

New Beer Blog Tallgrass IPA

In this beer blog, we are going to take a look at one of my one of my favorite brewery that is not in the Chicago market. The beer is Tallgrass India Pale Ale. If you read my earlier blog post on their 8-Bit Pale Ale, you know about this brewery. If you did not, please, read that beer post on their flagship beer. Let us get into this beer.

The color is light cooper with a hint of amber with a semi white head on the beer. The smell is earthly. The taste is earthy with a dry piney aftertaste. It is pretty drinkable beer.

Here is a description from their beer can:

Bombastically Hopped. Surprisingly Malty. Pour a Pint…..

Here is a description from their website (www.tallgrassbeer.com):

IPA (ABV 6.3%, 60 IBU)

Our third beer, Tallgrass IPA, is an India Pale Ale that is rich, complex, and flavorful. We are proud to be the first brewery here in the Great Plains to have the first brewed, cans, and draft IPA out on the market!

Tallgrass IPA originally came to life as a creation during Jeff’s early homebrewing days (batch Numero Uno), and it was consumed in short order by his friends who came over to cook out and help with the next batch. After some modifications over the years (because nobody’s rookie homebrew batch tastes all that great, but your friends will tell you it does) the recipe was dialed in to become what is now Tallgrass IPA. We love this beer and think you will too!

What is with the name “India Pale Ale”? Well, India Pale Ales have a history that reaches way back to the days of the British Empire and the need for good and proper British beer for the soldiers in India. It just so happens that hops not only taste and smell great, they also have natural preservative properties that help keep beer fresher. Obviously, there was no way to keep beer cool on the long voyage around Cape Horn from England to India, so the intellectual forebearers of modern microbiology (genius brewers of course!) figured that if some hops were good for storage then heaps of hops would be great!

With this technique, these hero brewers and their hops kept the beer good and the soldiers of the empire inebriated, even in the furthest corners of the globe. Even more, the hoppiness of the IPA preserved not only the beer itself, but the great taste it created has preserved the style as one of the most popular beer styles in the world in the 21st century. If those brewers weren’t knighted by the empire back then, they should have been!

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website: www.tallgrassbeer.com

Twitter: @tallgrassbeer

Closing out, so far all the beers that I had from this brewery. I have loved to death. I love their packaging to the liquid. This India Pale Ale is great but I do believe this beer is not an American India Pale Ale. It has more a feel of English style IPA and with the description from their website, I believe they are embracing it. Most American IPA are very hoppy and this beer is not. That is why I am basing my facts on that. I am not a brewer. If they believe it is American IPA, it is American IPA. This is my thought pattern. I highly recommend this beer and I love this beer. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email: djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter: @djweiser

New Beer Blog Flying Dog K-9 Winter Ale

In this winter beer blog, we are going to get into another brew from Flying Dog Brewing and the beer is called K-9 Winter Ale. If you read my earlier beer blog, you know the history of this brewery. If you have not, please, read the first part of that beer blog. Let us get into this great brewery.

This beer is part of the 12 beers of Christmas from Countryside Bar. It has a hazel copper color without a head on the beer. There is no smell to the beer. The taste is sweet carbonation malty without an aftertaste to it. It is very warmly so it lives up to being a winter warmer. This is a sipping beer.

Here is a descriation from their website (www.flyingdogales.com):

Alchohol By Volume: 7.4%

Availability: Winter release

Hop Bitterness: 30 IBU

Specialty Malts: Changes with each release

Hops: Changes with each release

Yeast: English Ale

If it tastes like Christmas, it probably works with K-9. Flavor notes: Sweet malt base with roasted, nutty, and spicy flavors Pairs with: Buttery cheeses; sweet breads; spice cake; squash, yams, and sweet potatoes; hearty meats and stews.

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website: www.flyingdogales.com

Twitter: @flyingdog

Closing, this beer is not a session beer but it is just a great beer. I love how complex the taste of this winter warmer. This is a sipping beer and take your time in the cold winter days. There is a ton going on in the beer. I love the warmth when this beer goes down my throat and how sweet the beer comes across. I love this beer. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email: djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter: @djweiser

New Beer Blog Sierra Nevada Celebration Fresh Hop Ale

In this winter beer blog, we are going to get into another brew from Sierra Nevada. It is their winter seasonal called Celebration Fresh Hop Ale. If you read my earlier blog on their Beer Camper, you know the history of this brewery. If you have not, please, read the first part of that beer post. Let us get into the beer.

This beer from Sierra Nevada is called Celebration Fresh Hop Ale. It has a deep hazel copper color without a head on the beer. The smell is citrus to the beer. The taste is dry carbonation citrus with a dry aftertaste.

Here is a description from their website (www.sierranevada.com):

Festive fresh hop holiday fun.

The start of Celebration season is a festive event. We can’t start brewing until the first fresh hops have arrived, but once they have the season is officially under way! First brewed in 1981, Celebration Ale is one of the earliest examples of an American-style IPA and one of the few hop-forward holiday beers. Famous for its intense citrus and pine aromas, Celebration is bold and intense, featuring Cascade, Centennial and Chinook hops—honoring everything we have at Sierra Nevada.

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website: www.sierranevada.com

Twitter: @sierranevada

Closing out, this is one of my favorite beers in the winter season and Sierra Nevada Brewery. This is everything that I want out of a winter seasonal. I love the hoppy taste and a great malty backbone. Most winter seasonals are jacked up with nutmeg or cinnamon and this brew gives you a different side of the season l. I realize that craft breweries are going back to more the traditional beer styles and getting away from the over hop beers. If you have not had this beer, I recommend you picking up a six-pack and try this great beer. Let me know what you think of this beer. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email: djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter: @djweiser

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IPA (ABV 6.3%, 60 IBU)

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