December 24 - Rivertowne Rudolph's Red

Tonight, I planned on doing a dual review of Naughty and Nice from Flying Dog Brewery, however, I ended up having these at my bottle share last night.  I usually enjoy beers made by these guys, but last night's bottom line...

Neither beer was very good, with Naughty bringing up the rear (1.5 out of 5, which I dumped).  The fact that they had to add a strip to the label about the fact it had habenero pepper in it should have been enough of a disclaimer.  It burned just too much.  I've had pepper infused beer before and am definitely a fan, but when it's not balanced with the rest of the ingredients, it just doesn't work well at all.  Nice was an 8.3% Belgian Style Golden Ale and Naughty was a 9.0% Belgian Style Dark Ale.  It was worth the try, but neither was anything to write home about.  Maybe I'll try a mixture of the two another day. Not today.

Time to call another audible.  

Actually, I guess it's plan C...

Appropriate for the day, for sure, is Rivertowne Brewing Company's Rudolph's Red, an 8.1% Imperial Red Ale that really should be dubbed a double winter warmer.  Make a new category folks!  Rivertowne makes my all-time favorite (and only one I know of) pineapple beer, Hala Kahiki.  

Sounds the same as the beer pronunciation, right?

OK...sorry, I got sidetracked a bit here...back to the beer...

The beer poured an amber color with a thin, soapy white head.  The aroma of sweet, candied ginger and spices, with a stronger hint of cinnamon.   

The first few sips were that of sweet spicy ginger and sweet malts.  However, after playing Santa tonight and taking some bites from the gingerbread men, that cookie screwed up my palate for a few minutes and really meshed well with the beer, strangely enough.  After the cookie taste wore off, the flavors were still pleasant and something that may run towards the top of my winter must have list.  It won't replace Merry Maker from Sam Adams, but it's definitely in the top 5 now.

4 out of 5 Rudolph's for this beer!  Cheers!

Merry Christmas Eve to all of you!  

I got the fat man's cookies in the background and my wife gave him MY Santa pilsner glass...plus it's only full of milk.  Sorry Santa!

December 24 - Great Lakes Christmas Ale

Great Lakes Brewing Company - Christmas Ale

Merry Christmas Eve to you and yours!  I'm getting this one done early today so that I have the rest of the day to spend with friends and family.  I'm sure you're doing the same as well, so let's keep this short!

For the final installment of 2014 Winter Warmer Wednesday, we have Great Lakes Brewing Company's Christmas Ale.  This beer is spiced with some cinnamon, ginger and is also brewed with some honey.  At 7.5% ABV, this is sure to get your party started the right way!

This beer is yet another choice this season that is suggested serving temperature is 55 degrees.  It's going to take a while to let that warm up to the proper temperature, so I'll do my best to give you notes in difference between "straight outta the fridge" and proper serving temperature.

As for the pour, that won't change with temperature.  The copper color is complimented with a thin bead of beige head. 

The aroma is very indistinct at first, but if you use your imagination, there is surely a sweet, malty nose to this beer.  The honey is also a distinct ingredient here in the aroma.

The taste, at cold temperature, lends itself a punch in the mouth of ginger at first that mellows and allows the other spices to dance on the palate.  I detect a slight tinge of clove here too, but not too overpowering.  There are cinnamon notes along with a honey sweetness that lingers for a while on the tongue. 

"You're welcome!"

As the beer warms, it allowed the other flavors to take the spotlight more so than the ginger did earlier.  The honey became more prominent for me as the beer warmed up as well.  The overall balance was much better between the flavors as well.

All in all, not a bad beer, but out of all of the other Winter Warmer Wednesday beers this year, this is my least favorite.  Nothing really jumps out at me and makes me want more of this. 

3.5 Dressed up Christmas presents out of 5

Enjoy your holiday festivities and, if you do, drink responsibly!

December 24

December 24 - Criminally Bad Elf

 

Merry Christmas Eve to all!  Tonight, I won't take too much of your time.  We have this evening, from Ridgeway Brewing (from the United Kingdom), an English Barleywine - Criminally Bad Elf.

 

Since the elves are running amuck tonight getting gifts ready for Santa's sleigh, they will probably need a stiff drink tomorrow night (or day, depending on time zone I guess...).  This is for them!  Clocking in at 10.5% ABV, this barleywine style ale is bound to relax those high-strung elves.

 

The aroma is very indistinct.  I got caramel and some toffee notes as well as slight hints of cherry.  The photo below does the pour pretty good justice.  Didn't have the right glass for the job, but it did just fine.  There was a decent amount of white head on the beer as it poured a reddish-orange color.

 

This brew was very malty along with some cherry flavor.  There was nothing distinct that I could pull from the taste other than that.  I guess I should mention that the alcohol was very well hidden for a 10+ beer!  Most barleywines are very flavorful, whereas this one was not.  Also, there wasn't much hoppiness to this beer at all. 

 

Don't confuse that with not being any good.  If you want to try a barleywine style beer without the in-your-face alcohol taste, this may be a good starting point for that.  If you're more into flavorfully explosive barleywines, you may want to pass on this one.

 

Taste is in the eye of the beer-holder here!  I'll stay neutral and give it a 3 out of 5.

 

Merry Christmas Eve!!