My first Beer Blogging Friday. I just started this blog a few weeks ago, but when I learned about The Session last week I knew I had to do it. What a cool concept, and what an opportunity to throw myself out there in the mix. Thanks to fellow Texan beer blogger Ted Duchesne of Barley Vine for hosting it this month.
Enough with the niceties.
The theme, Winter seasonals. While I don’t really care for Winter, I do like seasonals. I can do this. But, what will I write about? Just get some beers and figure it out later. Another pleasant shopping experience at Spec’s later, I came home with Santa’s Private Reserve from Rogue and Lump of Coal from Ridgeway Brewing in the UK.
With the introductions out of the way, let’s check the list and see who was naughty, and who was nice…
First up, Santa’s Private Reserve. According to Rogue’s website:
“Rogue’s annual holiday offering, Santa’s Private Reserve, is a variation of the classic Saint Rogue Red, but with double the hops–including Chinook, and Centennial, and a mystery hop called Rudolph by head brewer John “more hops” Maier!”
Apparently, it also uses John’s proprietary top-fermenting Pacman yeast which was all the rage a year ago in the homebrewing community when they finally released it to the masses. I don’t know what all they did to this thing, but I loved it.
Pours a deep rust colored red, and forms a nice thick off white head. Smells sweet, like butterscotch candy and caramel. I also pick up on the floral hop aroma first, followed by the piney type… like a Christmas tree.
This beer tastes almost exactly like it smells. First sweet, I get brown sugar. Then some dried fruit, raisins and such. Then come the hops. Nice citrus and melon tastes from the hops up front, then the fresh pine needles on the finish. Upon further inspection, I think I taste some cinnamon in the background.
In the mouth, it’s crisp, but also a little thick and chewy. Carbonation was perfect. This beer is like no other Red I’ve ever had. Highly recommended, especially to the hopheads who might want to try something new this season. I think I’ll pick up a few more of these to fight off this frigid Texas winter.
That brings us to the other part of review, the Lump of Coal. Let me just say I’d be super pissed if I got this in my stocking.
It seemed gimmicky on the shelf, but I wanted something that I figured nobody else would be reviewing. I’m betting I found it. From the description on the bottle.
“Looking forward to a depressing holiday? Here is liquid consolation. This 8% bittersweet chocolate stout is the best you could hope for in these dark times. Actually, come to think of it, considering how bad you’ve been, this little coal-black gem is more than you deserve for Christmas this year.”
You better make a damn good beer if you’re gonna talk to me that way! While this wasn’t a bad beer, nothing about it, other than the higher than average ABV, said Winter seasonal to me. In fact, it was a rather average stout, in my opinion.
Dark as coal with a “blink and it’s gone” head, this one looked rather blah from the get-go. Don’t get too close when you take a whiff. You might burn your nose hairs with the boozy aroma. I smell some yeast and chocolaty malts too.
Sweet, roasted malts appear first in the taste. Then I get a traces of vanilla, molasses and toffee. It’s hard to get beyond the astringent bite of alcohol though. It’s almost like they were just trying to get this thing to 8% with no regard for how it would affect the taste. Very unbalanced in the mouth. This beer also suffers from a lack of carbonation and feels very watery going down. No need to check my list twice, this one is only getting some of itself this holiday season.
This was a fun assignment. In total, I brought five winter seasonals home to try. I wanted to see what would inspire me to write something. Now that I’ve been through it, I think I’ve developed a new appreciation for this style. Done right, they really do make you want to curl up by the fire to read a good book or reflect on the year’s events.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to grab that other bottle of Santa’s Reserve and dream of a white Christmas in Austin. Hey, a guy can dream can’t he?
