Tröegs The Mad Elf Holiday Ale 2014

Brewed By: Tröegs Brewing Company in Hershey, Pennsylvania  

Purchased: Single 12oz bottle bought at And Beer in Athens, Ohio; 2014 

Style/ABV: American Strong Ale/Christmas/Winter Spiced Beer, .%

Reported IBUs: ?

Blarrgghhhh. Christmas is way over but I need to review this beer. This was an impulse buy when I was in Ohio and to be honest, I have no idea what to except. And then there is Tröegs, which is just a pain with that freaking o. Anyway, about Tröegs:

Tröegs Brewing Company is a brewery based out of Hershey, Pennsylvania. The brewery was founded by John and Chris Trogner in 1996. The brewery/company was established in 1997, and is known for its use of English brewing techniques fused with American styles of beer. For more info, check out the brewery's Facebook page or their website.

Tröegs The Mad Elf Holiday Ale 2014

The Mad Elf is a seasonal beer released between October and December. It is an American Strong Ale brewed with cherries, honey, and chocolate malts. The beer pours into a red body, kicking up a centimeter of amber-tinged head. It's a hazy beer, but it also has been sitting in my fridge on its side for a few months. There is good head retention, and glossy alcohol legs to boot. 

The aroma on this is Belgian inspired, and reminds me of a hearty Belgian Dubbel or even a spicier, yeast-forward Dark Strong. I'm getting a lot of candi sugar, cherries, cherry cola, Quad-like sweetness, Quad-like cherries, sweet white sugar, lightly caramelized sugars, and tons of yeast esters. Again, the yeast esters smack of Belgian beer, with lots of clove and banana. It smells really inviting, and if you like Belgian beer you will have high hopes that it tastes as good as it smells. 

This is a blissful package of Belgian-inspired strong beer. It's in the same realm as cherry-infused Quads and strong Dubbels, and would be right at home next to a lineup of strong Belgian Ales. You get tons of cherries, along with bold yeast esters that range from perfumes to clove to cherries to overripe fruits. The fruits include bananas, overripe stone fruits, and some shades of darker fruits like plums. There's a lot of spice in this beer, with cloves and sugary spices that you would find in a holiday cake, and I'm getting a lot of sugar in the mix. There's candi sugar, caramelized sugars, and big confectioner sweetness.

I'm basically calling this a Belgian Ale...it's good. At 11%, this is both boozy and seductive, but the high carbonation and intense sweetness helps cancel out the alcohol. The palate depth is good, and the beer is complex. It's medium to full-bodied with lots of cherries, bananas, and yeast esters up front; that rolls into big spice, clove, dark fruits, and pastry notes in the mids; the back end trails with lingering spice, some hops, complex malts, and lots of candi sugar sweetness. It's a big warming beer, and certainly lives up to its name and intention.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd) 

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this. I would not only recommend this beer, but I would seek it out if it was distributed in the Chicagoland area. I guess I can make my peace since you can find similarly flavored beers in my distribution area, but having said that, I do think this is a fantastic beer. I don't know if I would pair it with any foods in particular...but I'd love to sip on this on a cold Winter night. Tonight happens to be a cold Winter night, but those are fleeting. 

Random Thought: I am glad that I am cracking this beer now. I would guess this ages well.

Revolver Brewing Blood & Honey American Ale

Brewed By: Revolver Brewing, LLC in Granbury, TX  

Purchased: 12oz bottle generously gifted to me; 2015 

Style/ABV: American Wheat Ale/Fruit Beer, 7.0%

Reported IBUs: ?

Tonight's beer was generously gifted to me, and I am excited to try it. This is a strong wheat beer described as an "ale brewed with blood orange peel, honey & spices. The bottle reads: "An unfiltered, deep-golden ale brewed with malted two-row barley and wheat. Finished with blood orange peel, Texas hone, and a blend of spices." 

The Revolver Brewing Company is a brewery based out of Granbury, TX. The brewery was founded by father and son, Ron and Rhett Keisler, with master brewer and cicerone, Grant Wood. The brewery uses in-house water from their own well, and incorporates seasonal ingredients into their beers. For more info, check out the brewery's website or Facebook page. 

As noted above, the Blood & Honey is an American Wheat Ale, brewed with malted two row barley and wheat. The beer is finished with Blood Orange zest, local Fall Creek Farms Honey, and other spices.

Revolver Brewing Blood & Honey American Ale

This pours into a juicy, unfiltered, orange-yellow body. It's murky and there is yeast sediment; it looks like orange juice and for all intents and purposes it might as well be. There's a firm white head that sticks around and will continue to stick around, as you'd expect with a wheat beer. It's purdy and if you like murky ass Saisons and rustic Wheat beers this is going to be right up your alley.

The aroma on this beer is overwhelmingly spice, with pretty pungent allspice, a little lavender, and maybe something in the realm of cardamom. Beneath the waves of spice is a nice dose of orange peel, which does come through on the aroma. The faint hint of malt on the nose suggests wheat beer, but it is blunted. 

I am instantly reminded of two beers: Jackie O's Paw Paw Wheat, and the Blue Moon Grand Cru. But this is better than both of those beers. For starters, it isn't a train-wreck, so it is an instant improvement upon the Blue Moon swill. Second, it is a bit lighter than the Paw Paw Wheat. I'm getting a really nice orange note, with lots of gentle spice. The spice leans towards allspice and flower/floral notes, with some cardamom in the mix. It reminds me of Blue Moon's Belgian White, and I would probably call this beer a White/Witbier if you handed it to me in a blind tasting. It's actually really nice, with orange peel and orange notes that continue to open up as you drink the beer. It's a real orange note, and I taste actual orange zest. The wheat malts ground the orange flavor, so this never drifts into a mimosa. The spice in the taste is much more mild than the spice in the aroma, which is a good thing. All things considered...I would classify this as a Witbier, and I would say it is really well executed. 

This beer is growing on me as I sip it. I'm not getting any of the mentioned 7% alcohol in the taste. This beer is medium-bodied with low carbonation that hits your tongue towards the mid palate. Palate depth is where I want it to be, and this is actually fairly complex. THIS ISN'T REFRESHING, per se. And should it be? Not at 7%...right? The carb, body weight, and heavy wheat malt finish never hint at summer beer to pound back while on the patio. I would definitely drink this in the summer, but this is truly the middle ground between something you would chug and something you would sip on. It opens up with lots of citrus peel, orange zest, and hints of grapefruit and mimosas up front; the mids roll into the spice and carbonation, dialing up some citrus zest, cardamom, tingly carbonation, champagne notes, and light allspice; the back end drops a healthy dose of wheat malts, and you get that hint of honey. The honey probably helps to weigh this beer down, and it feels like a beefed up Witbier in many respects.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd) 

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average here. Witbiers are not my style but this beer would certainly change my mind. It's really executed with finesse and has a refined quality about it that is hard to appreciate unless you have consumed a lot of different beers. It's clear that Revolver Brewing has a deft hand and they know how to infuse strong flavors like spices into their beer without turning it into a shit show. I would reach for this beer in the summer and treat it like a glass of sweetened iced tea. Something to sip on. I could also see this beer pairing well with a fruit salad, white fish, ceviche, and other summer foods.

Random Thought: I actually think this is a perfect "Texas" beer. It feels Texas to me.

Blue Moon Winter Sample Pack 2014: Blue Moon Cinnamon Horchata Ale

Brewed By: Miller Brewing Company (MillerCoors) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin   

Purchased: 12oz bottle from the Blue Moon Winter Sampler 2014 bought at Jewel-Osco in Chicago, IL; 2014 

Style/ABV: Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer, 5.5%

Reported IBUs: 10

DAE Macro sampler packs?

Over the past few years of penning horrible blog reviews, I have never actually reviewed one of America's classic beers: Blue Moon Belgian White. I did review their god-awful Grand Cru once upon a time, but how about some of their more seminal releases? I couldn't pass up on the Winter Sampler Pack for 2014. This thing cost about $15, and comes with five unique beers. Well, five really, because who hasn't had the Belgian White? About MillerCoors aka Blue Moon:

Blue Moon was first brewed in 1995 at one of MillerCoors' R&D arms; in a sandlot, in Denver, Colorado, by Keith Villa. Keith Villa is an OG player these days. He's off judging beer, and talking about his PhD in brewing from the University of Brussels. There's a PhD for everything these days. Seriously though, it's Blue Moon. Read the Wiki. 

After pretty much #reking the Farmhouse Red Ale, I'm genuinely surprised to say that the Cinnamon Horchata Ale actually smells really fucking good. If you haven't #educated yourself on Horchata, do so now. The Cinnamon Horchata Ale is brewed with 2-row pale malt, long grain rice, and Sterling hops. 

Blue Moon Cinnamon Horchata Ale

This actually pours into a really nice, hazy, golden-pineapple-yellow body, kicking up two fingers of thick white head. Head retention is actually solid on this, as is the lacing and the carbonation.

This is far and away the most aromatic and best smelling beer from this Blue Moon Winter Sampler. This has strong cinnamon on the aroma, along with apples. It smells like apples dipped in cinnamon, apple pie filling...with some peppery spice, apple cider, and some wheat malts backing the whole thing up. It's actually a really inviting nose. 

Somehow the taste isn't quite as good as the aroma, but it still delivers a solid punch of apples and cinnamon. I'm getting a lot of apple pie filling with this one, with some wheat and caramel sugars in the mix. The apple pie filling is enough to bring out the nostalgia in me and warm my heart. But this is still one-note and has too much underlying caramel sweetness. Why. 

As you drink this, the rice starts to show up more in the taste, which is a nice wrinkle of complexity depending on how generous you want to be. This is not bad, maybe the best variant in the 2014 Winter Sampler. This is light-bodied, but still on the sweeter side of things, and has okay palate depth. The complexity leaves a lot to be desired, but this is an effective apple pie filling delivery system. I'm sure some people dream about that shit, and Keith Villa made that happen. The progression of this beer is pretty much apples and cinnamon up front; some wheat and more apples and cinnamon in the mids; and big pie filling, caramel sweetness, and faint bread on the back end. This really plays up the pie thing, and begs to be paired with some apple pie with American cheese on top (because MillerCoors). 

Rating: Average (3.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Average on this. This is basically liquid apple pie filling, and that's high praise for something brewed at some Canadian sandlot in the armpit of MillerCoors' super corporation. Again, I'm gonna second the apple pie pairing. With American cheese. 

Random Thought: For $15 you can buy a 750ml bottle of really good beer...or a 6-pack of really good beer...or a 12-pack of mostly average to mediocre beer. I guess this Blue Moon Winter Sample Pack would be serviceable for a party or something, but I wouldn't pick this up if you are looking to drink good winter beer. Just buy a couple of bottles of Trader Joe's Vintage Ale, or some Abt 12. 

New Glarus Thumbprint Series Spiced Ale

Brewed By: New Glarus Brewing Company in New Glarus, Wisconsin

Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 4-pack bought at Woodman's in Kenosha, WI; 2014 

Style/ABV: Spice/Herb Beer, ??.??% 

Reported IBUs: ?

Continuing with the New Glarus stuff....about New Glarus:

New Glarus is the rare, gorgeous "Midwest" brewery, founded in 1993 by Deborah Carey, the first woman to found and operate a brewery in the United States. She raised the capital for the start-up as a gift to her husband, Dan Carey, who is New Glarus' brewmaster and co-owner. Dan Carey has a long history working in the brewing industry, including an apprenticeship at a brewery near Munich, Germany and a job as the Production Supervisor for Anheuser-Busch. The brewery began as an abandoned warehouse using old brewpub equipment. In 1997, Dan Carey purchased coper kettles from a brewery in Germany. In May 2006, New Glarus opened their new (current) facility on a hilltop in the village of New Glarus. The facility looks like a Bavarian village, and is gorgeous. The expansion has allowed the brewery to continue to increase their production, and expand their operations. For more information, check out their brewery page or Wikipedia. 

The Thumbprint Spiced Ale is part of New Glarus' Thumbprint Series, and is brewed using "lavish" English and Wisconsins malts. This beer is aged on Oak in the open top cellar, and features Cassia Cinnamon, Ginger and Allspice spices. This one sounds a lot like an American Wild Ale brewed with spices, but let's see what we got.

New Glarus Thumbprint Series Spiced Ale

This one pours into an orange, clear body, kicking up three fingers of really nice, fluffy, soapy head. The head drops some nice lacing as it falls off, and the head is tinged with gold and orange tones. There is quite a bit of peppery carbonation rising up on this. 

On the aroma: bananas. Wow. This smells like a Hefeweizen-Gose-Berliner. I'm getting bananas, clove, watermelon, wheat, rye, ginger, cardamon, and big allspice. There's some nice bready notes on the aroma, with hints of toffee and bread. There is a slightly salty aspect to the aroma as well. Nice.

The taste is surprisingly spicy and boozy, with big ginger and allspice, nutmeg, cardamon, clove, and bready rye spice. There's some wheat, banana, and bubblegum in here as well, with light salt, and some hints of lemony funk, watermelon, and some bitter hops towards the back. The bitter hops are earthy, and hint towards green and cucumber. What a weird...interesting beer.

This beer could easily go off the rails into the land of undrinkable messes, but there's a slightly tart, salty aspect that ties everything together and brings the beer home. Like I said earlier, this beer has qualities that are almost Gose-like. And there are also some hints at the Berliner style, though I'm not getting any lactic tartness or Brett funk in this beer. It's a beautiful Winter/Spring beer...I don't know what the ABV is, but there is a nice mix of booze and spice. This drinks easily, and it has good duration, palate depth, and complexity. Up front: a wash of creamy wheat, spices, bubblegum, some watermelon, fruitiness; the mids dial up big spice, more bubble gum, allspice, ginger, nutmeg, slightly salty, more bubblegum; the back end brings on some tartness, lemon, lingering spice. There's a malty backbone, with rye and bread. The finish is spicy and clean. It's a spiced beer, but it's refreshing and good.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this. I really like this. This is a good beer, and if spiced beers are your bag, check this out. This should be in the wheelhouse for anyone that likes a nice Gose or Berliner. There's big spice here, fruity goodness, funk, and tons of bready notes. And this one has a nice balance and interplay between the booze and spice. This one is experimental and weird, but it's good stuff. Food pairings here include hearty stews, peppery chicken or turkey, warm apple or pumpkin pie, and anything in your Thanksgiving or Christmas season dinner lineup. 

Random Thought: It's only April so I'm not feeling nostalgic for Winter and won't be for a long time, but I feel like this beer would be right at home during the Winter months.