on the third day of christmas my true love gave to me...

Avery Old Jubilation Ale

What comes to mind when you think of holiday flavors? Cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin, etc...? A lot of winter style beers use these spices to spruce up their flavors to mimic the holiday spirit. This beer, however, does no such thing (no spices were harmed during the making of this beer). 

A beautiful mahogany color fills the glass, already warming your soul. It's all malt when it hits your nose and lips. It's amazing how much this beer tastes like spices were used, but the combination of malts really do mimic the holiday spices. This is an amazing beer fresh, and I can only imagine how aging would just enhance the malty flavors.

Up Next: Real Ale Sisyphus 2011

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no hop left behind - twisted x fuego

An Austinite's Quest to find the Best Hoppy Beer in Austin

UPDATE

Fuego

Stats:

Brewery: Twisted X Brewing

IBU: 46

ABV: 6.5%

Hops: Perle (bittering), Vanguard (bittering, flavor), Sterling (aroma)

Color: Clear golden straw

Appearance - 8

Well, it's definitely a pretty beer to look at. Beautiful golden straw color with a fizzy white head, slight depth to the appearance as well. It's supposed to be a pilsner and guess what, it looks like a pilsner!

Aroma - 6

I'm not going to lie here, I got a little confused on the aromas. It's described as an 'extra hoppy pilsner,' but I didn't get much 'hops' in the aroma. It's also supposed to be a jalepeno pilsner, but I didn't get much chili aroma either. What I did get was a lot of honey sweetness. While I still enjoyed the aroma, I definitely wanted some more hops to come out and play.

Hop Usage - 7

Jim Sampson, one of the owners of Twisted X, was kind enough to comment on this post to let me know what hops were used in this beer. I'm happy to see Perle was used, as it seems to be an underutilized hop. I still would've loved to see something like Amarillo or Cascade used at the end for some of that citrus/floral aroma. I think that citrus would go great with the chili (a classic tex-mex combo).

Overall Flavor - 16

While the above listings may seem like I didn't enjoy the beer, I really did. I'm a little more keen to enjoy sweeter wines, sweeter beers, etc..., and this one was a little on the sweet side with its honey-esque qualities. And while I didn't get much jalepeno on the nose, it definitely came out in the flavor. The high carbonation and slight bitterness really brought out a kick of jalepeno at the end. Your mouth won't burn after drinking this, but your taste buds will be dancing like a Tex-Mex jumping bean.

Total - 37

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on the second day of christmas my true love gave to me...

Delirium Noel

It's going to be hard to beat this one folks. This is an absolutely delicious Belgian strong ale by the delirious folks over at Delirium. I don't know what else to say about this beer except that it's absolutely delicious with its beautiful deep plum color and sweet malty goodness. My only complaint is the lack of head, but that's pretty minor when the flavors are this good.

If you want a taste of the holidays, drink this beer and you'll see festive dancing elephants in no time!

10 days beers to go!

Up Next: TBD

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on the first day of christmas my true love gave to me...

Saint Arnold Sailing Santa

If you recall, I started last year's 12 Beers of Christmas off with Saint Arnold's Christmas Ale, so it only seemed appropriate to start off with their new Christmas beer called Sailing Santa. It's described as:

'A perfect blend of our Elissa IPA and Christmas Ale.'

Well let me start off by saying I love their Elissa IPA, but I'm not a big fan of their Christmas Ale. The Elissa IPA is a perfect example of a delicious IPA, while their Christmas Ale is a bit on the bland side. So what happens when the two are combined?

Surprisingly, it's pretty tasty. It's a beautiful beer to look at as you can see, with its deep golden amber hue and fluffy white head. The aromas are a little off-putting though as I can smell the Christmas Ale and I can smell the Elissa IPA, but both combined creates a confusing array of smells. Flavor-wise, it tastes a lot like the IPA with its bitter qualities.

Overall, it's an easy drinking and beautiful looking winter-style IPA. If you can get past the confusing aromas, it's a pretty good beer.

11 days beers to go!

Up next: Delirium Noel

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no hop left behind - jester king wytchmaker rye ipa

An Austinite's Quest to Find the Best Hoppy Beer in Austin

Wytchmaker Rye IPA (Bottle)

Stats:

Brewery: Jester King Brewery

IBU: 96

ABV: 6.8%

Hops: Warrior, Cascade, Centennial, Falconer's Flight

Color: Dark hazy orange

Appearance - 9

Holy crap does this thing produce some lovely head. Even 30 mintues after pouring, the thick and marshmallow cream looking head was still there (reminded me of some Belgian ales). The hazy orange color to the beer is magnificent to look at, minus the sediment from the bottle, which kept this one from getting a 10. I know sediment is expected, but it still ain't pretty to look at.

Aroma - 9

I could smell this beer all damn day. Tons of citrus (think pineapple and some orange) and pine aromas dominate the nose.

Hop Usage - 9

Whatever they're doing is working, and to get 96 IBU without it being overly bitter is an accomplishment in and of itself.

Overall Flavor - 18

I might be a bit hesitant to try this beer if that witch were serving it to me, but after tasting this beer I'd let even a Norwegian troll serve it to me. This is easily one of my favorite Rye IPAs out there with its creamy texture, dry finish with a lot of citrus notes, and its drinkability on account of it not being overly bitter. Well done Jester King, well done.

Total - 45

Coming Soon: Draft version

Also Coming Soon: Farmhouse Wytchmaker Rye IPA

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