What's your favorite BEER?

[Seasoned Oak]

Heres one id love to find. A rare German DoppleBock 14% ABV . Its on my Xmas list . Anyone know where this is hiding?

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

View attachment 234952Heres one id love to find. A rare German DoppleBock 14% ABV . Its on my Xmas list . Anyone know where this is hiding?

249 Kaiser Allee Neukirchen-Vluyn Nort Rhein Westfalen, Deutschland.
They are closed now. Open tomorrow at 10 AM local time.

 

[Ashful]

Had an old favorite on tap today, it has been a year or two since I had it last, and forgot just how much I enjoyed this one. From your favorite brewery, @Seasoned Oak, Founder's Bourbon barrel-aged Curmudgeon:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1199/210659/

Definitely the best brew I've had from Founders, in the few years I've been sampling them.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Definitely the best brew I've had from Founders, in the few years I've been sampling them.

Is it better than Backwoods Bastard? I remember you really liking that one. That and CBS are my 2 top brews from Founders. I haven't tried this Curmudgeon yet, but ill put it on my Xmas list.

 

[Ashful]

Is it better than Backwoods Bastard? I remember you really liking that one. That and CBS are my 2 top brews from Founders. I haven't tried this Curmudgeon ye, but ill put it on my Xmas list.

Oh yes, I enjoy this is much better than Backwoods, by a long shot. Curmudgeon is one I used to get quite frequently, but it fell of my radar in the last two years. The Backwoods Bastard is one I can enjoy occasionally, but it’s not right in my wheelhouse.

Corsendonk Christmas ale is now on tap in my neighborhood. That’s a nice one, if you have the chance to try it.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Founders is just starting to show up around here. I have a case of Backwoods Bastard on backorder at my local outlet. Ill ask about the Curmudgeon as well. They have a huge variety of styles ,its hard to keep track of them.

 

[Ashful]

To be specific, this was “Bourbon Barrel-aged Curmudgeon.” I’m not sure if it’s available in bottles, I’ve always had it on tap, but it might be.

The Backwoods Bastard is more hoppy than I normally like, but they do such a good job with it, it’s hard not to like it. I usually lean more boozy and malty, though.

 

[Ashful]

Just put some Kwak and Mad Elf in the fridge. Here’s the current stock, in the garage beer fridge.



... and up top:



Basement stock includes a few others, which will be rotated in after the Christmas stuff is played out.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Thats my kind of Fridge. That Weyerbacher Pumpkin ale looks interesting. I should be able to find that locally.

 

[Ashful]

That Weyerbacher Pumpkin ale looks interesting. I should be able to find that locally.

It’s more spice and less sweet than most pumpkin beers. I don’t like most pumpkin ales, but I can tolerate this one.

 

[begreen]

Goose Island Bourbon County Stout
Aged in 4+ year old Heaven Hill Bourbon barrels. I don't know if I would call this a favorite, but it is unique. It is thick when pouring and not much head. With forward tastes of ale, malt and bourbon, it's silky almost syrupy smooth and finishes more like a port. Low on bitters and a bit of a sweetey. This is our Christmas Eve ale this year. Glad I am not going anywhere, a pint of this at 15.7% abv packs a punch. Now my wife wants to switch to prosecco.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

A New Belgium Trippel 8.5% ABV .Not bad, but not the best Trippel out there for sure.

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

Goose Island Bourbon County Stout
Aged in 4+ year old Heaven Hill Bourbon barrels. I don't know if I would call this a favorite, but it is unique. It is thick when pouring and not much head. With forward tastes of ale, malt and bourbon, it's silky almost syrupy smooth and finishes more like a port. Low on bitters and a bit of a sweetey. This is our Christmas Eve ale this year. Glad I am not going anywhere, a pint of this packs a punch. Now my wife wants to switch to prosecco.

View attachment 236555 View attachment 236556

I like your Mrs. already.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

The holiday line up. One tonight and one for Xmas day.

 

[begreen]

Very appropriate.

 

[AlbergSteve]

Goose Island Bourbon County Stout
Aged in 4+ year old Heaven Hill Bourbon barrels. I don't know if I would call this a favorite, but it is unique. It is thick when pouring and not much head. With forward tastes of ale, malt and bourbon, it's silky almost syrupy smooth and finishes more like a port. Low on bitters and a bit of a sweetey. This is our Christmas Eve ale this year. Glad I am not going anywhere, a pint of this at 15.7% abv packs a punch. Now my wife wants to switch to prosecco.

View attachment 236555 View attachment 236556

Dear God, that's more like barley wine...

 

[AlbergSteve]

This started out as beer, my Christmas eve tipple...


And the Christmas lineup...


Have a great holiday everyone!

Steve

 

[Zkx14]

To be specific, this was “Bourbon Barrel-aged Curmudgeon.” I’m not sure if it’s available in bottles, I’ve always had it on tap, but it might be.

The Backwoods Bastard is more hoppy than I normally like, but they do such a good job with it, it’s hard not to like it. I usually lean more boozy and malty, though.

Found a 4 pack of Backwoods Bastard the other day and just poured one to have with my Christmas dinner. Excellent! (still sipping as I write this..).
I have had the regular Curmudgeon. But after recently having Dirty Bastard and seeing the difference to the 'Backwoods' variety I really want to try the Barrel Aged Curmudgeon.

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

From The Daily Beast; Holiday Season Beers

It’s now become a favorite tradition in the U.S, too. Some brewers make the same beer every year, some make something different. Here are 20 to look out for this holiday season.

Anchor Christmas Ale In 1975, Anchor brewed the first winter beer in America, since Prohibition. This year’s edition of Christmas Ale is its 44th. As always, the recipe is a tightly held secret, and the label features a different tree—2018 is the Korean Pine.

Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale My wife’s favorite winter beer; more than 30 years old and still a classic. It has a big malt body, rambunctious pine and citrus hops: an IPA muscle car, revving and roaring, the way we used to drink them.

Deschutes Jubelale Local artists create a new label every year for the Deschutes Jubelale, and there’s a work of art inside the bottle as well. Took me a while to understand this malty masterpiece, but once I dug the earthy English hops, I was a solid fan.

Full Sail Wassail This is a big amber beer with plenty of caramel malt and gobs of Pacific Northwest hops that warms you right through. Full Sail may not be the landmark brewery it once was, but this beer rocks.

Samuel Smith’s Winter Welcome This Yorkshire brewery’s beautifully packaged winter warmer bulges with biscuity malts and classic English yeast aromas. “Blessings of your heart; you brew good ale,” quoth Shakespeare on the label. Forsooth!

Harpoon Winter Warmer One of the few spiced ales I do like is the Harpoon Winter Warmer. It drops the pumpkin pie spices in a different direction, and you wind up with a glass of gingerbread. I love it—it’s so homey.

Great Lakes Christmas Ale The other spiced ale I like is Great Lakes Christmas Ale! Its brewers keep it simple: a big sweet beer brewed with local honey, and spiced with ginger and cinnamon. Just the thing to drink while watching other people shovel snow.

Dupont Avec Les Bons Voeux The Belgian Dupont Avec definitely comes “with our good wishes.” This super-saison is spicy, full-bodied, touched with citrus, and never even hints at its 9.5-percent ABV. Simply marvelous.

Scaldis Noel A magisterial beer, which is a full 12-percent ABV, Scaldis Noel is richly layered with baking spices, dried and fully ripe fruit, and a wink of freshness that’s amazing to find in a beer this size. A snifter of it is just the thing to drink before retiring on Christmas Eve.

De Dolle Stille Nacht The character of De Dolle is truly unique: sweet as sunshine, like an aged dandelion wine, but crisp around the edges with a hint of acidic Forelle pear. Drinking it lights me up like star shine.

Samuel Adams Old Fezziwig Be warned: You have to buy the Samuel Adams Winter Variety Pack to get a bottle of its Old Fezziwig filled with orange-gingerbread goodness but it’s totally worth it. And the tasty Holiday Porter is an added bonus.

Penn St. Nikolaus Bock An old favorite from an early Pittsburgh brand: Penn begins releasing this rich, malty beauty at its brewery on December 6 A.K.A St. Nikolaus’s Day. I made it once, and wound up singing Christmas carols on the 14th Street bridge.

Samichlaus The Schloss Eggenberg brewery in Austria brews this immense lager once a year, on St. Nikolaus’s Day, and ages it up to 10 months. That aging smooths and rounds it, but at 14-percent ABV, it’s a smooth, rounded battering ram.

He’Brew Chanukah Hanukkah, Pass The Beer Yes, Hanukkah is over, but you can still buy this tasty beer: it’s a miracle! The rich dark ale is brewed with chocolate, and, naturally, eight malts and eight hops. Such symbolism!

Port Brewing Santa’s Little Helper If Santa gets too much help from this 10-percent ABV imperial stout, he’ll never get back up the chimney. Huge, plum pudding-rich with a proper burnt-bitter edge; not just fun, it’s damned well-done.

Tröegs Mad Elf Honey, tart cherries, and spicy Belgian yeast character make this friendly monster a perennial favorite. There’s also a Grand Cru version (“the director’s cut”), and a big three-liter magnum package.

Hardywood Gingerbread Stout This festive stout put Richmond on the beer map. Thick, toasty, and sweet, with the tingling spice of gingerbread laced throughout. Buy a few bottles, it ages well, too.

Ninkasi Sleigh’r Heavy metal plays in nearly every craft brewhouse that I visit these days and beers, like this killer amped-up altbier are the result. More hops, more malt! But more East Coast distribution would be a great holiday gift…

That Local Beer While I love perennial holiday releases, it’s also fun to see what else is out there! Go check out the new guys in the industrial park who are making positively kick-ass beer. One of my local examples is Tomfoolery Brewing in Hammonton, New Jersey, which gets clippings from a local Christmas tree farm to make a Spruce Tip Ale. Now that’s seasonal!

Miller High Life Magnums Okay, maybe Miller High Life is not a favorite, but I’m a beer-inclusive kind of guy, and everyone should have a chance to join in the holiday fun. And if nothing else, this 750-ml bottle of High Life, complete with gold foil and a red ribbon, is certainly fun.

 

[Ashful]

From The Daily Beast; Holiday Season Beers

It’s now become a favorite tradition in the U.S, too. Some brewers make the same beer every year, some make something different. Here are 20 to look out for this holiday season.

Anchor Christmas Ale In 1975, Anchor brewed the first winter beer in America, since Prohibition. This year’s edition of Christmas Ale is its 44th. As always, the recipe is a tightly held secret, and the label features a different tree—2018 is the Korean Pine.

Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale My wife’s favorite winter beer; more than 30 years old and still a classic. It has a big malt body, rambunctious pine and citrus hops: an IPA muscle car, revving and roaring, the way we used to drink them.

Deschutes Jubelale Local artists create a new label every year for the Deschutes Jubelale, and there’s a work of art inside the bottle as well. Took me a while to understand this malty masterpiece, but once I dug the earthy English hops, I was a solid fan.

Full Sail Wassail This is a big amber beer with plenty of caramel malt and gobs of Pacific Northwest hops that warms you right through. Full Sail may not be the landmark brewery it once was, but this beer rocks.

Samuel Smith’s Winter Welcome This Yorkshire brewery’s beautifully packaged winter warmer bulges with biscuity malts and classic English yeast aromas. “Blessings of your heart; you brew good ale,” quoth Shakespeare on the label. Forsooth!

Harpoon Winter Warmer One of the few spiced ales I do like is the Harpoon Winter Warmer. It drops the pumpkin pie spices in a different direction, and you wind up with a glass of gingerbread. I love it—it’s so homey.

Great Lakes Christmas Ale The other spiced ale I like is Great Lakes Christmas Ale! Its brewers keep it simple: a big sweet beer brewed with local honey, and spiced with ginger and cinnamon. Just the thing to drink while watching other people shovel snow.

Dupont Avec Les Bons Voeux The Belgian Dupont Avec definitely comes “with our good wishes.” This super-saison is spicy, full-bodied, touched with citrus, and never even hints at its 9.5-percent ABV. Simply marvelous.

Scaldis Noel A magisterial beer, which is a full 12-percent ABV, Scaldis Noel is richly layered with baking spices, dried and fully ripe fruit, and a wink of freshness that’s amazing to find in a beer this size. A snifter of it is just the thing to drink before retiring on Christmas Eve.

De Dolle Stille Nacht The character of De Dolle is truly unique: sweet as sunshine, like an aged dandelion wine, but crisp around the edges with a hint of acidic Forelle pear. Drinking it lights me up like star shine.

Samuel Adams Old Fezziwig Be warned: You have to buy the Samuel Adams Winter Variety Pack to get a bottle of its Old Fezziwig filled with orange-gingerbread goodness but it’s totally worth it. And the tasty Holiday Porter is an added bonus.

Penn St. Nikolaus Bock An old favorite from an early Pittsburgh brand: Penn begins releasing this rich, malty beauty at its brewery on December 6 A.K.A St. Nikolaus’s Day. I made it once, and wound up singing Christmas carols on the 14th Street bridge.

Samichlaus The Schloss Eggenberg brewery in Austria brews this immense lager once a year, on St. Nikolaus’s Day, and ages it up to 10 months. That aging smooths and rounds it, but at 14-percent ABV, it’s a smooth, rounded battering ram.

He’Brew Chanukah Hanukkah, Pass The Beer Yes, Hanukkah is over, but you can still buy this tasty beer: it’s a miracle! The rich dark ale is brewed with chocolate, and, naturally, eight malts and eight hops. Such symbolism!

Port Brewing Santa’s Little Helper If Santa gets too much help from this 10-percent ABV imperial stout, he’ll never get back up the chimney. Huge, plum pudding-rich with a proper burnt-bitter edge; not just fun, it’s damned well-done.

Tröegs Mad Elf Honey, tart cherries, and spicy Belgian yeast character make this friendly monster a perennial favorite. There’s also a Grand Cru version (“the director’s cut”), and a big three-liter magnum package.

Hardywood Gingerbread Stout This festive stout put Richmond on the beer map. Thick, toasty, and sweet, with the tingling spice of gingerbread laced throughout. Buy a few bottles, it ages well, too.

Ninkasi Sleigh’r Heavy metal plays in nearly every craft brewhouse that I visit these days and beers, like this killer amped-up altbier are the result. More hops, more malt! But more East Coast distribution would be a great holiday gift…

That Local Beer While I love perennial holiday releases, it’s also fun to see what else is out there! Go check out the new guys in the industrial park who are making positively kick-ass beer. One of my local examples is Tomfoolery Brewing in Hammonton, New Jersey, which gets clippings from a local Christmas tree farm to make a Spruce Tip Ale. Now that’s seasonal!

Miller High Life Magnums Okay, maybe Miller High Life is not a favorite, but I’m a beer-inclusive kind of guy, and everyone should have a chance to join in the holiday fun. And if nothing else, this 750-ml bottle of High Life, complete with gold foil and a red ribbon, is certainly fun.

The Scaldis and the Samichlaus get high marks from me. The Deschutes ain’t bad, either. You can keep the rest of them.

Today’s guests at chateau Ashful were drinking Fegley’s Rude Elf, Weyerbacher’s Blithering Idiot, and St. Bernardous Watou Tripel. Troeg’s Mad Elf, St. Bernardous Christmas, and Delirium Noel were also in the fridge, but no takers. More for me, next week! I stuck with the port, today. Merry Christmas!

 

[Woody5506]

I guess I never knew this thread existed...I have some catching up to do.

I'm not huge on Christmas/winter beers however I will drink them if provided, like when my in laws fill their fridge with them. That said the two I had the other night were Fat Heads Holly Jolly Christmas ale and Brooklyn Winter Lager. Fat Head definitely took the cake on that one.

My style of choice is IPA's, particularly New England styles...I guess it's pretty hip of me but hey, there's a reason why they are so popular. There's about 5 breweries/craft beer bars within a 3 mile radius of my house. Rochester in general has blown up with breweries over the past couple years, so much so that Other Half Brewing, one of NYC's famed breweries is opening up another location about 20 mins outside of Rochester. As awesome as that is, I can't always bring myself to buy $20+ 4 packs of beer when there's plenty of local options that can be significantly cheaper and just as good in my opinion.

 

[begreen]

We finished up a couple pints of my last year's winter ale. Not meaning to brag, but I like it better than several others we've sampled this season.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

We finished up a couple pints of my last year's winter ale. Not meaning to brag, but I like it better than several others we've sampled this season.

Iv found the local craft beer made by people i know to be the best of the best. My local craft bar makes a Quad to die for. Cant seem to get enough of it, but it is 10%, so it gets enough of me fast. Nothing iv had from a bottle has yet to beat it. Ill keep tryin though!

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Fegleys Rude Elf Reserve. A belgian strong dark ale. Similar to Troegs mad elf. 10.5% ABV

 

[Ashful]

View attachment 237025Fegleys Rude Elf Reserve. A belgian strong dark ale. Similar to Troegs mad elf. 10.5% ABV

That’s a perennial here, as is mad elf, both local. Mad elf is sweet, rude elf spicy with lots of clove. It used to be called “Rudolf’s Reserve”, until they were threatened with trademark infringement a few years back, then they changed it to Rude Elf’s Reserve.