St. Bernardus is a very good Xmas beer….had it last year, I think. Maybe the year before.
Quick day trip in and out of Denver yesterday……had an Incredible Pedal IPA from Denver Beer Co. Not bad, but nothing that jumped out, either. Pretty standard hazy IPA.
Visiting the brother and family. Started early, crushed the can, then remembered I’d like to post a photo. Happy Thanksgiving to the US folks, happy Thursday to the rest.
Is that who makes TJ’s holday ale? I have to say, Fin Du Monde is one of my faves…even though it’s Canadian Brewery, it’s just so Belgian, even though it’s probably more French…but still a damn fine beer. In fact, I wanted to break my sober streak with a Fin Du Monde on draft but flubbed it with a taster. I’ll have to pick up a TJ’s bottle or two along with a FDM for the rest of the holidays.
Alpine is a stellar brewery from East San Diego County. They were acquired by a larger brewery a few years ago, Green Flash I think, and only then did they start to have any distribution. Back before the acquisition, a buddy and I used to trade off going out there to get a couple growlers of their Pure Hoppiness DIPA.
First is a double boch lager that Inpicked up from TJ’s and it was perfect- malty, smooth, with a strong but balanced alcohol flavor. Really nice for the season.
Second was a double belgian ale from Fieldwork - my version of a cafe ride but at night and just a quick spin away from my parents house.
Last is a Michael Plank Dunkler Weizenboch - a dark strong wheat ale. Similar to the double boch but a bit smoother and less alcohol flavor upfront. This was a flat 22 minute ride away at a place called Gourmet Haus Staudt in Redwood City. Love this place for all the German beers they have on draft.
They did an Advent Calendar of Illinois Breweries……I just got home today from Taiwan, so I am a day behind, but try and catch up at some point…shouldn’t be too much of a challenge.
Day 1 : obscurity Brewing Shoot Your Eye Out Nitro ESB. Pretty low ABV (4.5%) but great malty flavor. However, I did screw up the Nitro pour. I’m blaming the jet lag.
Skipped over Day 2 of the Advent Calendar so I could get in synch with the days…will double back eventually to that one (but it doesn’t really sound very good).
Day 3 was Headless Horseman Imperial Pumpkin Stout from DG Brewing. A boozer at 10%ABV. Despite the appearance, it didn’t have much pumpkin flavor, but a fair amount of other spices. Not bad overall.
Today was Little Christmas from Triptytch Brewing….West Coast Pale Ale with Spruce. Had high hopes for this one but it tasted like drinking the water from the Xmas tree stand. WAY too piney.
