As this is my first post as a correspondent with Belching Monkey, I think I should introduce myself;  I am pretty much a guy liking food, drink and more or less everything that makes life interesting. This includes beer and ales, of course, however not limited to that – much into wine, coffee (drink way to much espresso during a normal working day!), sometimes a whiskey or two goes down, not to mention calvados. what I like about beer is the great variety there is, and during recent years we have seen a number of small breweries popping up all over the country (i.e. Sweden).

The beer, ale, I am about to share my impressions of is almost out of season now. Yes, I know I’m a bit late, but the brewery – Jämtlands Bryggeri – has produced this beer in time for Christmas every  winter now for a number of years.

Opening the bottle and pouring it renders a nice thick foam on the top. The boquet indicates alot of hops and some lemon. The colour is dark brown, slightly reddish when the glass s held up against a light.

How does it taste? Well, a first mouthful has a big, wide or full some say, taste of fruitiness and a distinct bitterness, there is apparently large quantites of hops here. the aftertaste is long, very long, with a slight twang of the bitterness at the end. It holds a range of Christmas tastes. It definetely goes well with the traditional seasonal food and perfectly on its own as well. This beer can be served before any meal and in time for the eating to start, open another bottle!

Summary: this is a fantastic Christmas brew. One of the best, it places itself among the best seasonal brews from e.g. Belgium, and it actually beats some of the, like Corsendonk Christmas.

The sights and smells of Christmas: cinnamon and holly, nutmeg, pine and gingerbread. The brewmasters of Harpoon Brewery clearly love this time of year and want their customers to experience a taste of pure Christmas bacchanalia in every single sip of Harpoon Winter Warmer.  Harpoon, it is totally obvious that this is not your mainstream winter ale. It could have easily been called Harpoon Christmas-in-a-Bottle Ale.

Where many brewers kick up the hops to the extreme and give you a mere hint of spice, Harpoon seemingly believes that every sip should be an intense taste of the season. When you open the beer, you will immediately experience a powerful smell of cinnamon, pine and ginger. There is no mistaking this beer for another. Harpoon clearly feels that it is important to represent the winter ale category with a unique entry that will strike the imbiber with an unmistakable overall experience.  Herein (also) lies the problem with the beer. People love this beer or they do not. There is no in between.

I sternly warn those of you who do not like spices, could use a visit from three spirits or have hearts that are three sizes too small not to sample this extraordinarily delicious brew. This beer is way off balance. Spices prevail, and I like it for a winter change of pace.  I typically drink a 12 pack myself during the season.  The underlying flavor is quite delicious. It is smooth and medium bodied. I give this brew extremely high marks, but would rate it much lower if I did not appreciate the kind of ingenuity, creativity and flat out balls it took Harpoon to market this beer.  Thanks Harpoon. This beer is one of my 2 favorite winter seasonals.

This is my first post as a Belching Monkey correspondent. As such, I want to preface my review with a brief intro. I am something of a “food dude”, an espresso freak and a beer imbiber… not necessarily in that order. Now, as a morning person, I hold a special fondness for espresso. It might even be said I adore it. How the bean is chosen, picked, blended, roasted, aged after roasting, the grind, the brewing pressure/temperature/time…you get the picture, all important. Not a lot of ‘dunkin d’s for me. I also love beer! The chill, the tingle, the sound, the variety – a beer for every occasion, every mood. Nothing warms my heart like a “…cold beer on a hot Christmas morning” (Homer Simpson) So, very appropriate that my start as a BM correspondent is a review of a local brew here in Calgary, the Big Rock Espresso Stout. Beer and espresso – what could be better?

Upon opening, the initial waft of smell was amazingly underwhelming. I expected a stronger, heavy malt smell. What I got was a sweet, toasted barley odor, but very subtle. The pour was very reminiscent of a perfect espresso pull – dark, almost black with a thick, dense, crema like head. 

The first sip was a fantastic surprise – almost carbonated on the tongue, a bit of gingerbread, lightly sweet yet very flavorful, a strong roasted barley flavor without a hint of bitterness. On the tail end of the swallow, there it was – the espresso. Not the bitterness normally attributed to espresso, but the sweet, almost oily slide of a perfect crema on a perfect espresso shot. As a way of explanation, only a very few espresso shots achieve the venerable “sweet” nomer. A perfect pull will extract only the most complete flavour attributes leaving all bitterness behind. The resulting taste, rather than being the normal “kick in the head” bitterness we are all accustomed to, is actually sweet and very thick and syrupy in consistency. What Big Rock has done, amazingly, is achieve that with their blend here.  And no aftertaste, no bitterness whatsoever. 

Interestingly enough, as the stout increased in temperature, the complexity of flavour increased as well. There was more caramel and chocolate coming across. So much so that since I was baking chocolate cupcakes for my daughter’s birthday while tasting, I decided to sample one at the tail end of my glass. Fantastic! Truly one of the only beers I have ever known that not only holds up against something as sweet as a cupcake, but actually added to the experience. The cupcake, bitten after the stout, achieved an almost smoky chocolate taste. And the espresso of the stout deepened and became even bolder, yet still without a hint of bitter.

Summary? A very sessionable stout that goes extremely well on its own but could shine as a dessert beer too. I will be keeping a case of this in my fridge to drink responsibly all through this holiday season.

Ipswich Winter Ale: Rating: B+
Samuel Smith’s Winter Welcome: Rating: B+
Harpoon Winter Warmer: Rating: A- BUT BEWARE!! UBER SPICE ALERT!!!

Samuel Smith’s beers hold a special place in my heart. Not because they are the only remaining independant brewery in Yorkshire, but because of the way that I discovered them with Dave and Brian in the mid 1990s.  We would sit at the kitchen table or around the fire place and crack one open and savor the smell, the flavor and the color of these extraordinary beers.  The craft beer boom brought me closer to a lot of people and opened me up to a whole world of drinking beer because I enjoyed drinking beer, not because I wanted to get loaded. In college I used to think that Miller Genuine Draft was the nectar of the gods.  Foolish mortal. Limited resources and limited choices severely limited our selection and the day in 1992 that I tried Budweiser Reserve was the day that I swore that I would be more discerning with my beer drinking. Tolerance be damned! Liver be saved!

When you take off the cap of a Samuel Smith’s Winter Welcome you will be treated to a berry scent. It might be boysenberries. I’ve had boysenberry jam before, but I would have to google boysenberry to remember what one looks like.  This beer is light for a winter ale. It is NOT a light beer, but the color is lighter, orange.  There is a certain field smell and a smell that I cannot pick up. I feel like a noob.  There is a nice balance of hops and malt and the head is fairly thick and substantial.

That kicker is that this is not one of the better beers to come out of Samuel Smith’s brewery.  If nearly any other brewery were to put this beer out, you would say it was one of their top!  Samuel Smith’s has raised the bar with its Nut Brown Ale, it’s India Pale Ale and, perhaps one of the greatest beers of all time, Samuel Smith’s Oatmeal Stout. If you are looking for spices, you will not find them, but you will enjoy the beer regardless.

Samuel Adams delivers a consistant, high quality drinking experience. You know that, but that’s not why you come to this site. You want to hear something a little different.  This year’s Winter Lager seems to be a little bit different than previous.  I mean, the stuff is delicious. If you compare it to their other seasonal offerings, it does not hold a candle to the uniqueness of their Summer Ale or even the Old Fezziwig, but it is hearty and delicious.

When I cracked it open,  I smelled banana nut bread and that was a scent I have not picked up in another beer. It was as unexpected as it was comforting and welcome.  The focus of Samuel Adams Winter Lager is the malt and less on the hops.  I did not find it as sticky as the Magic Hat Roxy Rolles.  The color was a beautiful reddish amber.  As I recall, this is a bock beer, which is a German beer, traditionally brewed for special occasions.  High-gravity Bock beers are higher in nutrients than lighter beers and were brewed by monks who drank them during periods of fasting.  This explains the banana nut bread smell.  The spices in the finish are sure not to offend anyone.  I suspect that Samuel Adams Winter Lager and Old Fezziwig were concocted in tandem and that because the Winter Lager was less spicy and more mainstream, it became the standard for Sam’s winter offering.  Hey, they’re both winners in my book.

Roxy Rolles: Rating: B
Wychwood Bah Humbug: Rating: C+
St Peter’s Winter Ale: Rating: C

I was so excited to try this that I cracked a warm one open last night. Do not do that. Magic Hat beers are not known to be conventional. Their ale wizards boil their brews in cauldrons with mystical ingredients like gillyweed, blast-ended-skroot ass and peaches. If you fail to follow the simple, unwritten chill-and-enjoy instructions, you’re strapping on your silly. I was pretty sure that I drank concentrated benzocaine because of the comfortable numbness and awkward cherry-acid flavor.

Reboot!

Pours a burnt orange color under my skewed pinkish overhead lighting. I smell Hot Tamales and HOLY HOPS Batman. Also, grapefruit. Taste- felt like I’d been ROUND-HOPPED in the jaw. WOW. Delicious! The spices are so subtle you might call this a Pale Ale or an IPA if you taste it blind, but if you wait for it after the hops hops-a-long, you get a cinnamon leave behind which leaves a dainty burn that I like. I would even welcome it a little stronger. I’m considering drinking this while eating red-hots just to see if I can look into the future. The grapefruit flavor is not there, but the citrus bitterness is real and IT IS SPECTACULAR.

This will have a higher “mass appeal” than the Harpoon Winter Warmer just because of the subtlety of the spices. The problem is that this could easily be a year-round offering. It’s not special enough for me to be a seasonal. I think the balance tips toward the ordinary. Anyone who calls the spices too strong has uber sensitive taste buds and should consider a career in tasting.

Note: I have revised the rating after having more. This beer is fabulous.

Winter means fresh tracks at Sugarbush, those friggin brilliantly delicious waffles they have, my good friend Grateful Pete saying things like “that was a real thigh burner” after every single trail and of course the winter seasonal brews.

Caution: If you’re a Bud-slugger, a Blatzman, a pisswater guzzler, or a Schlitz Sessioner the seasonals are not for you. You will be bowled over by their intensity their is more than a fair chance that you will reguritate on first sip.  Even Raveen, who has cultured pallette and (I assume) an advanced degree in  lagerology and  is not a fan of this particular product.

Harpoon Winter Warmer is the season in a glass. When you crack open the bottle, there is an intense smell of nutmeg, holly, cloves and pine. It pours a beautiful, burnt orange. The flavor is a little intense. You can taste the cinnamon and nutmeg. The bite comes from the spices moreso than the moderate hops. These fade a little as the beer warms.

Put the disclaimer on this beer if you bring it to a party.  If you’re like me, it pains you to see someone drink one who does not appreciate its intensity. Sessionable? Not for everyone. Compare it to Great Lakes Christmas Ale if you can get your hands on some.

I braved the frigid 70 degree Austin weather to procure this seasonal brew. The long and arduous walk to the store took an entire five minutes. For the record: To avoid hyperbole, it was only uphill one way. Guess “they” fixed that since my Grandfather was around.

The pour into the pilsner was nice and even. This particular ale had a caramel brown tint to it, which was pleasant to the eye. I took a big whiff to discover a sweet yet earthy smell. The first taste of this holiday treat assaulted my tongue with a dash of spice. It has undertones of earth and the finish is bitter that lasts a medium length of time.

This is a decent winter ale, but has about as much Christmas as Walmart did in 2005. I rate it an 81.