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.