Beer Advent Calendar 2013 Day 15, 16 and 17- BrewDog Santa Paws and Salopian Black Ops

Good evening all. Tonight's post should be a triple bill to cover the recently lapsed days, but criminally I don't actually have any pics or tasting notes for the beers I consumed on Sunday (Sierra Nevada's Brux and Three Floyds/Brouwerij De Molen Zes Zes Zes) so you'll have to be content with the idea that they were very good indeed! The other two have been documented so you can enjoy my musings of BrewDog's Santa Paws and Salopian's Black Ops below. Review after the pic....

Santa Paws (4.5% ABV) pours a ruby colour with a frothy off-white head that maintains itself during drinking. Not a lot going on with the aroma, predominantly roasted malt and a hint of caramelised sweetness but these aren't as powerful as I was hoping for. The taste continues this theme with caramel, a hint of yeast extract and some light hops coming out in the finish. The mouthfeel is quite watery which adds a further downer to the drinking experience. Not their best beer and not one that I'd recommend.

Black Ops (7.4% ABV) pours a pitch-black colour with a thick off-white head that settles to a film over the surface of the beer. Fantastic aroma with grapefruit, mango, caramel, licorice and roasted malt mingling together superbly. Fortunately the taste delivers on all that the aroma promises, with tropical fruits, coffee, licorice and some resinous notes. Juicy mouthfeel and virtually no bitterness in the finish, this is a top beer that I'd happily get again.

Beer Advent Calendar 2013 Day 13 and 14- Bristol Beer Factory Whisky and Bourbon Cask Imperial Stouts

Good evening all. I'm back with another double beer review to make up for my lackadaisical blogging. Tonight's post is rather special as it's a double teaming from Bristol Beer Factory in the form of Whisky and Bourbon barrel-aged incarnations of their imperial stout, produced as part of last year's "12 Stouts of Christmas" collection. Unfortunately BBF aren't producing a similar series of stouts this year, so I thought it would be a fitting tribute to finally get round to trying these beers during this year's advent calendar. Review after the pic....

Whisky Cask (10.5% ABV) pours a jet-black colour with a short-lived caramel coloured head. Lovely rich aroma with yeast extract, licorice, coffee, dark chocolate and some whisky residing in the background. The whisky comes out a lot more during drinking, imparting some light alcohol character which mingles nicely with the oily mouthfeel. Great beer and a further reminder of how much the 12 stouts collection is missed this year.

Bourbon Cask (10.5% ABV) pours much the same but with a slightly lighter head. Vanilla bourbon and yeast extract aroma (great combination when they mix together!) and plenty of licorice. Lovely rich bourbon flavour with oak, licorice, caramelised sugar and yeast extract in the background. Similar balance of flavours to the Whisky Cask, mouthfeel has a bit more carbonation to it which is certainly complimentary. A pair of excellent beers!

Beer Advent Calendar 2013 Day 12- Anarchy Sublime Chaos

Good evening all. For the first time in a while I'm doing an advent calendar post on the corresponding day, quite the rarity indeed! Tonight's beer is Sublime Chaos, a Stout from Anarchy (Northumberland, UK) brewed with Ethiopian coffee beans and New Zealand hops. Review after the pic....

Sublime Chaos (7.0% ABV) pours a jet-black colour with a thick off-white head that maintains itself throughout drinking. Lovely piquant coffee aroma supported by yeast extract, roasted malt and a hint of sweetness. The first sip of this beer is quite tart with the coffee dominating everything, but each subsequent sip is more balanced and allows the nuances of the beer to come through nicely- coffee, toasted notes, dark chocolate, caramel, licorice, some subtle hop character and a light tartness in the finish. Wasn't expecting much with this one but it turned out to be a very good offering, highly recommended.

Beer Advent Calendar 2013 Day 10 and 11- Van Eecke Poperings Hommelbier and Mikkeller Weizenbock

Good evening all. The work Christmas party derailed my advent calendar plans last night, so here's another double post. Tonight we've got Poperings Hommelbier from Van Eecke (Poperinge-Watou, Belgium) and Weizenbock from Mikkeller (Copenhagen, Denmark), respectively a Belgian Ale and (unsurprisingly) Weizen Bock. Review after the pic....

Poperings Hommelbier (7.5% ABV) pours a golden colour with a short-lived white head. Very heavy malt aroma accompanied by bittering hops, candy sugar, Belgian yeast and a hint of funk. Marzipan, esters, honey and a light alcohol burn during drinking, with a splash of hop-derived grapefruit coming out in the finish. Solid beer, wish I hadn't waited this long to try it!

Weizenbock (8.5% ABV) pours a hazy amber colour with a short-lived white head. Aroma is packed with wheat, candied fruits and caramel, whilst the taste is surprisingly light with the aforementioned aromas only noticeable through retrohaling. Mouthfeel could be thicker for this style of beer, but the alcohol content isn't noticeable. Wouldn't get it again, there are definitely much better examples of this beer style!

Beer Advent Calendar 2013 Day 8 and Day 9- A Plethora of Bottles and Anchor Brewing Company Our Special Ale

Good evening all. Another lapse means another double-headed blog post; Day 8 didn't go quite as expected (see below) but Day 9 continues the tradition with Our Special Ale from Anchor Brewing Company (San Francisco, California). Tomorrow I'm fairly certain that I won't be able to do Day 10's post, so I'll see you all on Day 11 for yet another double bill! For now, review after the pic....

After a long week of lab work (following on from two weeks of fieldwork) I slammed a load of beers with a mate to celebrate, so I'm going to let the pic speak for how Day 8 went- essentially the equivalent of opening multiple advent calendar windows in one go!

Our Special Ale (5.5% ABV) pours a ruby colour with a luscious tan head that maintains itself well throughout the course of drinking. The aroma is reminiscent of a scotch ale to some extent, with caramelised sweetness, light hoppiness and some raspberry kicking around in the background. Candy canes and candied fruits also spring to mind (quite the Christmas staple in my household whilst I was growing up). Candy sugar, roasted malt, nutmeg, allspice and some toasty notes during drinking, all wrapped up in a thick, velvety mouthfeel that prevents the flavours from cloying too much. A surprisingly complex beer that I'll certainly be looking out for again next Christmas.

Beer Advent Calendar 2013 Day 6 and 7- Buxton Brewery Smokey and the Band-Aid and Siren/Mikkeller/Hill Farmstead Limoncello IPA

Good evening all. In what seems to be becoming a recurring trend I was unable to do an advent calendar post last night, so enjoy two reviews to make up for this second lapse. Tonight we've got Smokey and the Band-Aid and Limoncello IPA from Buxton Brewery (Buxton, UK) and Siren Craft Brewery (Berkshire, UK) respectively. The former is a smoked rye porter and the latter is a mental collaboration with Mikkeller and Hill Farmstead that aims to replicate the flavour of the eponymous Italian lemon liqueur, so let's get to it after the pic....

Smokey and the Band-Aid (7.0% ABV) pours a jet-black colour with a short-lived cream coloured head. The aroma is predominantly phenolic smoked malt backed up by toasty notes, caramel and soy sauce. Tasting the beer there's some light tartness on the palate accompanied by smoked malt, yeast extract and a hint of sweetness in the finish. Good mouthfeel which supports the subdued flavours well, making this a very decent offering from an excellent brewery.

Limoncello IPA (9.1% ABV) pours a hazy golden colour with a white head that maintains itself during drinking. Light aroma with biscuit malt, flowery hops and a hint of lemon in the background. During drinking is when things get interesting, as the tartness builds in intensity whilst the lemon mixes nicely with the bitterness and citrus character of the hops. Unlike yeast-derived tartness, this amplifies during each sip and has a much longer finish. Very deceptive on the alcohol as well, and despite the sourness this is a surprisingly drinkable beer so be warned! Definitely a one-of-a-kind beer, seek it out and be amazed.

Beer Advent Calendar 2013 Day 5- Brasserie de l'Abbaye des Rocs Spéciale Noël

Good evening all. Tonight's beer has been in my collection since last Christmas but I'm only just getting around to drinking it- let's hope the extra storage time has paid off in some way. It's Spéciale Noël, a Belgian Strong Dark Ale from Brasserie de l'Abbaye des Rocs (Honnelles, Belgium). This is one of the few overtly Christmas-themed beers that I'll be drinking for this year's advent calendar, so it might help me get into the festive spirit as it's been noticeably absent so far. Review after the pic....

Spéciale Noël (9.0% ABV) pours a murky copper colour with a short lived white head; unfortunately the yeast in the bottle is quite clumpy and so most of it ended up in the glass! The aroma is more subtle than I was expecting, with light esters, nuts, spice, candy sugar and some dark fruits. The nuttiness comes across significantly during drinking and in the finish, virtually obscuring any other flavours that might be on show aside from some acetone/alcoholic notes. Carbonation levels are also surprisingly low, which leads me to think that this might be a bad bottle. As a result I'm not massively impressed with this, but I might try and pick up another bottle in the future to confirm or deny my current opinion.