Samichlaus Classic 2009 Vintage

Beer Log: Right now

State: Chilling out with the Misses watching The Soup

Got this one a couple years ago and aged it ever since. Been looking forward to this one for quite some time.

Samichlaus Classic 2009 vintage

Ruby color and I can smell the malt and alcohol from here. Nose has lots of caramel, cherries. Oh that's a like the sweetest beer ever. Lots of brown sugar, some cherries, bourbon. I'm thinking purple grapes. Kind of reminds me of those sweet liquors you get the club. It goes down pretty easily as well. This is like the ultra doppelbock. I get some of the peppery alcohol as well on your breath. Dammit I need to get a house with a back porch so I can get some cigars with this puppy. 4 stars. Not bad for the boys from Schloss Eggenberg. Looking forward to trying some more of their beer in the future.

Let's get some Draak

Beer Log: Right now

State: Just finished eating, had a Shiner Holiday Cheer as a warmup

Gulden Draak Vintage Ale 2010 by Br. Van Steenberge

Got this one some time last year. Looking forward to this one. Mmm, pours syrup sweet. Kinda like maple syrup, but the cheap stuff that just has "Syrup" on it. The beer seems to have a lot of carbonation coming out of this dark ruby colored beer. Oh but the taste. It starts out with a brown sugar and candy apple. Don't get used to the flavor when it is on your tongue, as it goes away fast. From there I'm left with something like chalk on my tongue and a slight dark cherry. The beer finishes very dry and leaves you wanted more.

Low hops (dare I say no hops?) or bitterness. Body is a little thin for my taste otherwise, not to mention that I get something like a vegetal sense (maybe they mixed in some pilsner malt). The finish is good at first but degrades and leaves you feeling a little off for drinking it. It's kind of like dating the hot young girl. It's fun at first but you know she leaving you in like 6 weeks and you'll have a hefty credit card bill waiting on you. Low 3 stars.

Dammit that IS a dragon with a Santa hat. I didn't know what that was at first, but it looks pretty badass now.

Texans Win with Leinart... Bitch Please

Beer Log: Right now

State: Eating baked salmon seasoned with Rock Salt, Rice and Broccoli. Watching Hell on Wheels.

Brewdog Bitch Please

The dawgs are at it again. And here we go... Deep brown color with a thin tan head in my Old New Orleans rum snifter. Nose has a huge caramel malt, pepper, alcohol, and something like sherry and smoke. Taste is heavily weight toward burnt wood or likely oak. I get some malt and alcohol in there but this is a wow beer on the flavor, typical of the Brewdogs. The more I sip it the more I get that charred oak with maybe something like whiskey. Either way there is plenty of strong sherry and sweet caramel. High octane beer all around, but a great sipping beer. If I could smoke indoors, I'd a cigar with it. Low 4 stars.

Oh, and you had to know this was coming...

It's the Most Wonderful time of the Beer

Sitting here today just incredibly butthurt over the last two weekend's sporting events. FAMU lost to Bethune Cookman with my BCU alum Mother-in-Law talking big ish the entire time while we were at the game in Orlando. Ga Tech just bent over and took it against U(sic)GA today. And Norfolk State just laid down in the playoffs representing our conference, pushing our MEAC conference even further to the back of the bus. Help us Matt Leinart, you're our only hope. Let's get some beer.

Gnommegang

A collaboration beer with Ommegang and La Chouffe. I love both of these breweries' beers, so I'm looking forward to this one. Nose has a light banana and sour candy scent to it. Tinged straw color and a pinch cloudy. Taste, oh lord yes. Big banana, green apple jolly rancher, and a pinch of peppery alcohol. Maybe it's b/c I'm upset about the foolishness of the football games, but this is fricken awesome. Upon more tasting I get a pinch more alcohol, but it works well. A great belgian blonde ale that if they told me was a trippel I would believe it. A little more complex with maybe something like reminds me of churros (of all things). I'm giving this one the big 5 Stars. All the way to the core, this beer hits the mark. If it weren't for the fact that there was a baby in this house, I'm talking about drinking this one by the case.

Back in Town, DVR Marathon

Just loved the trip with the family to Central Florida. Lot's of great beer in Walt Disney World Resort. A brewpub, a couple of beer bars, a good cigar bar. Not to mention I found some decent beering out on the town. Anyway, I'm back home and will probably just spend a few hours recapping all the beering and travelling I've done this year since I haven't had the chance to do more than microblog (@beerbrotha) much this year.

But I'm back here with the wife at the house and we doing a DVR marathon. While we are here, we are going to hit some good beers in the cellar.

Boulevard 21st Anniversary Fresh Hop Pale Ale

Enjoying this in my Stella Artois goblet. Yes I know Bully's anniversary is a year ago and one should probably drink a fresh hop beer as soon as you get it. Moving on. Amber color and kind of cloudy with a huge tan head. Nose has a huge flowery hop head. Just awesome. I get a pinch of chalk just before a rush a great caramel and grassy hop goodness. The beer is rather simply done with a nice caramel malt (reminds me of bread pudding or something with that caramel topping) and with another sip I get a pine cone thing going on. Must have been all the pine trees in the Magic Kingdom influencing me. The mouthfeel is still a chalky yet finishes incredibly dry, which begs you to have another. Low 4 stars. Probably would be all aces if I drank it immediately. Won't let that happen with the next round.

...and later on

Saint Somewhere Lectio Divina

Sounds divine? Smell that jolly rancher once we pop the cork. Ruby amber color with a highly effervescent rapidly dissipating head. Taste has a moderate sourness with a regular old school bubble gum taste. It has a nice moderate caramel to it. It's like someone took a red jolly rancher and cherry coke (two things I typically don't like) and made a beer out of it. Very nice. High 3 Stars.

Reader Recommendation: Strongbow

One of my readers tweeted me saying that they are having a Strongbow Cider right now and I have to try it. I happen to doing my traditional beering-while-catching-up-on-work-at-the-Saucer Friday, so let hit it right now.

Beer Log: Right now

State: Pretty hungry, at the Saucer, need to catch up on Project reports

Strongbow Cider

Clear amber/gold color, kinda like the off-spec gold Georgia Tech football wore in Paul Kelly's first year. Maybe the glassware is off, but this thing is all effervescent with bubbles all over the glass. No real head but the nose has a bitter-beer smell which too me back to my days as a kid when Dad would let us take a sip of his Keystone knowing we would hate it. Taste has a moderate apple, leaves a filmy residue on the tongue (no homo), and some sort of a grain backbone. It's actually a little confusing and I may have to look this one up before we walk away. Right now I'm still not a cider guy though I'm expanding my reach into ciders, scotch, and cigars. That's it, that smell reminds me of gasoline. Just weird all around. The taste is just fine, and I'm sure is very refreshing on a hot day on the links in the UK. Cold day in Houston when I could be drinking some Ranger Creek... 2 stars.

Nick Diaz: Sierra Nevada, Don't be scared homie

One of my many beer traditions is to drink beer from the home area of the main event fighters of the UFC. I would normally do this all the time, but how much Xingu can a brotha drink. Anyway, this time I'll review a beer from the winner of the main event of UFC 137, Nick Diaz of Stockton, CA.

Sierra Nevada Juniper Black Ale

Beer pours a very dark brown, I'm sure it's black in some lights, with a huge deep tan head. Head has a nice soft chocolate and some sweet grapes. I'm sure that is supposed to be Juniper needles or something. Beer has a nice moderate chocolate and something pretty weird going on. Let's see, it's roasty, bitter like bitter chocolate. I'm thinking they just used roasted malt and added hops early on, as the nose has no real hops going on. Leaves my mouth a little chalky (no homo). Other flavors in there include a bitter cherry (like the pit or the stem), and maybe some smoke. While I can see where they were going with this, I'm not digging it too much. Just a bit much on the hops, and that's after we aged it for months. While I rewatch this UFC b/c I don't feel like going to sleep, this beer is just about as bitter as Nick was when calling out GSP. Don't be scared homie, but I'm giving it a high 2 stars.