Revolution Straight Jacket (Barrel Aged Institutionalized Barley Wine)

Brewed By: Revolution Brewing Company (Revolution Beer LLC) in Chicago, IL

Purchased: 22oz bottle bought at West Lakeview Liquors in Chicago, IL; 2013 (2012 Vintage)

Style/ABV: American Barleywine/Winter Warmer, 13.0%

Reported IBUs: 55

Just a review? We do those too. About Revolution:

Revolution Brewing is a brewery and brewpub based in Chicago. Revolution's roots are tied to founder Josh Deth, a homebrewer who began working at Golden Prairie Brewing. A few years later, while working at Goose Island, Josh dreamt up the idea for Revolution Brewing. In 2003, Josh and his wife opened Handlebar, while Josh worked as an Executive Director of Logan Square Chamber of Commerce. While working for the Chamber of Commerce, Josh found an old building on Milwaukee Avenue, and the wheels began to spin to open up a brewery. After three years of raising funds, Revolution Brewing opened its doors on February 2010. In July of 2011, Revolution added a 2nd floor Brewers' Lounge. And in 2012, the company opened a new production brewery and tap room. The brewpub is located in Logan Squre on 2323 N. Milwaukee Ave; the brewery is located on Kedzie Avenue at 3340 N. Kedzie Ave. For more information on Revolution, check out their history page here! 

The Straight Jacket comes in a nice, fancy box, ala Firestone. The back of the box says: "We brewed our Institutionalized barley wine in the spring and socked it away in whiskey barrels to age throughout the summer and fall. Now that winter is upon us, we bring forth Straight Jacket, a humongous malt-forward ale that even an accomplished escape artist cannot resist. Aromas of dark stone fruits, bourbon, molasses, toasted coconut and vanilla come in waves as you swirl this beer in the snifter." Punching in at 55 IBUs and 13%, this should be a malt-forward beer. I'm excited. 

Revolution Straight Jacket 2012

In lower light, the beer pours a dark brown/purple color, with some hints of orange. The beer is kind of murky and hazy, and there was a pinky's worth of drowning caramel head that didn't last for long. In bright light, the beer is a murky/swampy orange, with some peppery carbonation. There's a ring of carbonation on the edges of the glass, and big glossy legs and sticky lacing. 

There's big bourbon/whiskey, and tons of barrel character on the nose. I'm also getting molasses, complex dark sugars, burnt sugars, raisins, some resinous hop stuff (pine; sap; marmalade), and some Quad-like fruits. The fruits range from berries to boozy, overripe, whiskey/rum-soaked stone fruits. The Bourbon does impart some vanilla to the nose, but I'm not getting a ton of coconut at this moment.

Oh man...I don't know if I'm just in the mood for a bourbon-barrel aged Barleywine...but this is delicious. At the moment, this is drinking like the best barrel-aged beer from Revolution. This is better than the Very Mad Cow, and better than the 3rd Year Beer. 

I mean, just wow. There's a ton of complex barrel character here, with assertive whiskey/bourbon, acidic wood tannin, and lots of vanilla/bourbon/coconut. There's plenty of toffee, caramel, molasses, burnt sugars, and even some hints at chocolate. I'm also getting lots of berries, hints of pine/maple sap, rum-soaked raisins, boozy stone fruits, and some nice hop kick on the back. The finish is boozy, with a vanilla/coconut/bourbon splash, and then some drying and lingering wood tannin. I should say drying for a malty, 13% beer, as the finish is inherently sticky and full-bodied.

Good lord...this is some special stuff. I lucked into this one, as this is the last of the barrel-aged Revolution beers from my cellar that I'm drinking. I wouldn't hesitate to pick this up again...but I'm getting ahead of myself. Obviously "Winter Warmer" is the name of this game. At 13%, this beer is designed for long, dark, cold Winter nights. Drinkability is actually really good for the style and ABV, but you still want to sip on this. Palate depth and complexity are both outstanding, with layers of barrel character, malts, hops, fruits, and more barrel...each sip lasts for 20+ seconds on your palate. At 55 IBUs, this almost seems like a toned down American Barleywine, and it's all the more better for it. There are rich and decadent flavors in this beer. Up front is big wood, bourbon, and whiskey with some sweet dark/stone fruits, and a blast of chocolate malt; that rolls into more acidic wood tannin, berries, rum/whiskey-soaked raisins, complex sugars, hop bitterness; the back end is lingering booze, coconut/vanilla/bourbon, some resin/sap/hops...the finish is boozy and sticky...and this beer changes as it warms and has a lot of variability with each sip.

Rating: Divine Brew (4.5/5.0 Untappd)

I gotta go with a Decent Divine Brew on this. This is, by a wide margin, the best barrel-aged beer I've had from Revolution. This is sooo good...it really does put the Very Mad Cow and 3rd Year Beer to shame, and those aren't bad beers by any means. At 13%, this is what you want in a Winter Warmer. If you're in the mood for bourbon and a Barleywine, you can't go wrong here. Me personally, I'm not a huge fan of American Barleywines...I find them to often be quite cloying and intense, and I have to be in the mood. But this beer right here has some really nice balance as the hops take a back seat. Honestly, I wouldn't pair this beer with anything. This is the type of beer I want to put in my snifter and enjoy over an hour or two. You know, over a football game or movie. If I HAD to recommend food pairings, I would pair this with some pecan pie or a really rich turkey sandwich with gravy. I don't remember how much this cost, but if they brew this again I will try to pick up the 2013 bottle. Damn.

Random Thought: I love it when I open a beer and I'm just surprised at how great it is. Maybe that's a sign of a good week to come.

Revolution 3rd Year Beer

Brewed By: Revolution Brewing Company (Revolution Beer LLC) in Chicago, IL

Purchased: 22oz bottle bought at West Lakeview Liquors in Chicago, IL; 2013 

Style/ABV: Barleywine/Wheatwine, 11.2%

Reported IBUs: ?

Tomorrow night I'll be busy and won't have the opportunity to punish my liver or enjoy tasty, rare beer. So I figured I'd put a dent in my cellar and crack this one open. I've been camping on this for a while, but I want to drink this sooner than later. I love rum and I'd hate to see the rum fade out of this. About Revolution:

Revolution Brewing is a brewery and brewpub based in Chicago. Revolution's roots are tied to founder Josh Deth, a homebrewer who began working at Golden Prairie Brewing. A few years later, while working at Goose Island, Josh dreamt up the idea for Revolution Brewing. In 2003, Josh and his wife opened Handlebar, while Josh worked as an Executive Director of Logan Square Chamber of Commerce. While working for the Chamber of Commerce, Josh found an old building on Milwaukee Avenue, and the wheels began to spin to open up a brewery. After three years of raising funds, Revolution Brewing opened its doors on February 2010. In July of 2011, Revolution added a 2nd floor Brewers' Lounge. And in 2012, the company opened a new production brewery and tap room. The brewpub is located in Logan Squre on 2323 N. Milwaukee Ave; the brewery is located on Kedzie Avenue at 3340 N. Kedzie Ave. For more information on Revolution, check out their history page here!  

The 3rd Year Beer comes in a fancy box ala Firestone, and gives a bold impression. The back of the box states: "In celebration of our Third Anniversary we brewed this hearty wheat barley wine with piloncillo. This unrefined Mexican cane sugar can be found at your local bodega, often in the shape of small truncated cones. The rich ale matures for 4 months in Jamaican rum barrels, resulting in a sweet, delicious, malt-forward winter warmer." 

I don't think there's much to add...you can read more about Panela/Piloncillo if you're inclined. And let's be honest, rum is one of the best things ever. It's nice to see more beers moving in different directions than Whiskey, so let's crack this open and see what we have.

Revolution 3rd Year Beer

In low light, the beer pours into a rich, burnt orange/brown/auburn color, and kicks up a finger or two of wheat-fueled, caramel/khaki-tinted head. When held to a bright light, the beer takes on a hazy amber-orange color, and the head picks up some bright amber/orange tones. There's moderate carbonation streaming upwards in this. The head is impressively persistent, but big, glossy alcohol legs betray this beer.

Straight legit, you get huge rum on the nose of this beer, with dark rum spiciness and that caramel/fruit rum character. There's noticeable wood and barrel character on the nose as well, along with raisins, figs, cinnamon, cane sugar, caramel/toffee, and some light nuttiness. There are elusive fruits too, hinting at a Quad or Wheat Beer, but not really there.

Yum...this tastes really fantastic. I immediately prefer this over the Very Mad Cow. There's a ton of rum in this, along with raisins, cinnamon, wood/barrel, seductive booziness, and that caramel/spice/earthy fruit kick you associate with rum. There's even a bit of that "rum burn," with some tannin assertiveness. The wheat pops up, along with low to mid-level bitterness, but none of the wheat/hop character is overly assertive. There's definitely big oak character in this, which leads me to believe this was aged in a rum-soaked oak barrel. What an invention. /dr. nick

"What a country!"

Like the Very Mad Cow, this beer is punishingly sweet. You can feel the sugar grinding your teeth, and each sip is like one year off your life. This beer was made for diabetic alcoholics and pirates, I'll let you sort out the overlap. What should be full-bodied with Sam Adams Imperial White levels of non-drinkability is actually kind of quaffable, thanks to lively carbonation and a nice drying finish. There's also some nice booze/burn on the back end, which is certainly welcomed with this type of thing. It's aged in rum barrels for 4 months, you pussy. What were you expecting? Don't even think about prolonged aging. While palate depth is outstanding for a winter warmer, complexity seems a bit "rum-dimensional." Don't worry, we'll be firing the intern. You get caramel, sugar, and fruits on the molasses wave-length up front; then the rum, cinnamon, and huge barrel/oak show up; the back end is lingering barrel/oak, rum spice, and some nice tannin assertiveness and alcohol burn. It's dry and sticky, but that's nothing compared to the scurvy.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this. I would say this is a notch above the Very Mad Cow, with the two big faults being the over-the-top sweetness and the middling complexity. Then again, when you consider the 11.2%...this beer is a sipping beer. For sure. This is a beer that you could mull over for an hour or two on a cold winter night, and in that regard, it almost seems perfect. Unfortunately, today is one of the hottest and most humid days in Chicago. I would pair this beer with ribs, sweet barbecue, pulled pork, spiced poultry, grilled meats, tropical salsa, and maybe even some fish. This is good stuff but I'd drink it fresh to get the most out of the rum character. Also, this was a bit pricey if I recall. 

Random Thought: July is apparently eternal Florida. It's hot and the humidity is at very uncomfortable levels. It's ridiculous weather, bring on some low-80s and a nice breeze.

Anchor Brewing Our Special Ale 2012 (Anchor Christmas Ale)

Brewed By: Anchor Brewing Company in San Francisco, California  

Purchased: Single 12oz bottle bought at Evolution Wine & Spirits in Chicago, Illinois; 2012

Style/ABV: Christmas/Winter Spiced Beer, 5.5%

Reported IBUs: ?

Anchor Brewing Company is "America's first craft brewery." The brewery can be traced back to the 1849 California gold rush, where German brewer Gottlieb Brekle arrived in San Francisco with his family. In 1871 Gottlieb purchased a beer-and-billiards saloon, and turned it into a brewery. In 1896, Ernst F. Baruth and his son-in-law, Otto Schinkel Jr. bought the brewery and named it Anchor. In 1906, Baruth passed away, and a fire and earthquake destroyed the brewery. In 1907, Otto Schinkel Jr. was run over by a car. The brewery was maintained by Joseph Kraus, August Meyer, and Henry Tietjen. During the 1950s and 1960s, the brewery went through hard economic times, and Anchor was shut down twice. In 1965, Fritz Maytag purchased Anchor saving it from bankruptcy. In 1971, Fritz began bottling Anchor Steam beer; and by 1975, Anchor had four beers, their Porter, Liberty Ale, Old Foghorn, and Barleywine Ale, and their annual Christmas Ale. In 1979, Anchor moved to its current location, on Mariposa Street, where the brewery currently resides today. Since then, Anchor continues to brew beer (and distill spirits), and remains one of America's most traditional breweries. Definitely check out the company's history page, HERE.

Like Anchor Brewing, tonight's beer is quite the historic brew. Every year since 1975, Anchor Brewing releases a unique Christmas Ale (available from November to January), that features a different recipe with each year. Along with the unique recipe, each year's bottle is branded with unique bottle art. This year's bottle features the Norfolk Island Pine (a tropical-looking tree that thrives in sandy soil and coastal climates). This year's beer clocks in at 5.5% ABV, and features "top secret" malts and hops. One last thing to note is that Anchor's Christmas Ales can be aged, and should age nicely (if stored properly). With that said, let's glass this up.

Anchor Christmas Ale

The pour yields a dark brown/purple/cola black colored beer, with 3-fingers of coffee/tan/cola head. In low light, this beer is surprisingly dark. When held to a bright light, you can see through the beer, and the beer is clearly a red/ruby red color. There is a lot of carbonation in the form of mid-sized bubbles in this. As the head pulls away, there is nice lacing, and a creamy covering of head remains. 

The aroma on this is huge nutmeg and clove. I'm also getting some ginger cookies, like the Toruń gingerbread cookies I always ate as a kid (yes, I'm Polish). There's a HINT of pine in the back.

Up front is a fruity kick (plums, raisins), along with big clove and nutmeg; I'm getting a lot of nutmeg and clove in the middle; and on the back end I'm getting hints of smoke, light campfire, light charcoal, light roast, and strong anise/licorice. The sweetness up front seems to be accentuated by some smoke/roast/barley, and big anise on the back end. There's some artificial candy sweetness throughout. 

This is an interesting beer...as a seasoned beer drinker, I'm not finding this terribly difficult to drink. However, the strong anise/licorice presence, coupled with the smoke and the big nutmeg flavors, give this beer a pretty unique profile. That said, this is medium-full, especially for 5.5%, with slight stickiness. This has nice density, with subtle carbonation; good palate depth, good complexity, and a smokey/licorice finish. Again: up front is fruit and nutmeg; middle is lingering fruit, maybe a flash of hops, and big spices; the back end morphs into barley roast-smoke-anise-licorice, in that order.

Rating: Average

I'm feeling a Strong Average on this. I feel about the same way I felt about Southern Tier's 2XMAS. This is a good, Christmas-y beer, but the anise/licorice and nutmeg are a touch overwhelming down the stretch. I would stop at two of these, and I'm glad I opted for the single bottle rather than the six pack. Also, this has a pretty prominent licorice/anise/smoke flavor on the finish, which may not work for everyone. I think it compliments the nutmeg, and tastes pretty dang Christmas-y. But I'm weird. I would pair this beer with a gingerbread cookie, or some roasted duck, roasted turkey, or smoked ham. I kind of regret not grabbing a second bottle to throw into the cellar for a few years...but whateva. At 5.5% ABV, this just heavy enough, but you might want to dial the ABV up when it really gets cold. 

Random Thought: So far, the Christmas beers aren't doing as well as the Pumpkin beers. Well...that's not true. When I think Christmas, I think about big Belgian Ales and beers that are going to warm me up. In Anchor's defense, they've brewed this Christmas beer 38 times. That's a lot of different recipes. 

Southern Tier 2XMAS

Brewed By: Southern Tier Brewing Company in Lakewood, New York
Purchased: Single 12oz bottle bought at Evolution Wine & Spirits in Chicago, Illinois; 2012

Style/ABV: Christmas/Winter Spiced Beer, 8.0%

Reported IBUs: ?

From the fine folks who brought us Pumking...here comes another seasonal beer from Southern Tier.

Southern Tier Brewing Company is based out of Lakewood, New York. The brewery was founded in 2002 by Phineas DeMink and Allen "Skip" Yahn. Using equipment purchased from the old Saddleback Brewing Co., the company began production with the vision of reviving traditional small batch brewing to the region. By 2003, the brewery was distributing their small batch ales, and by 2005 their sales covered New York and Pennsylvania. Before the brewery had any seasonal beers, it produced a Pilsner, Mild Ale, and IPA. Due to popularity, in 2009 a 20,000 square foot facility was built to allow for the brewing of large-scale beers. Since then, Southern Tier has continued to expand, and continued to invest in better equipment to keep up with the increasing demand for their beer. You can read more about Southern Tier's history on their history page.

Tonight's beer is a winter seasonal, and if you roll over to the 2XMAS page you can get the scoop on this beer. The website says that this is a ”double spiced ale brewed in the tradition of Swedish Glögg.” Swedish Glögg (or Mulled wine) is a beverage made with red wine, along with a bunch of spices and raisins. The beverage is served warm, and is typically consumed during winter. The 2XMAS ale is brewed with figs, orange peels, cardamom, cinnamon, clove, and ginger root. This beer also utilizes two varieties of hops, and four varieties of malts. The nose is supposed to feature aromas of spice cake, dried fruit, and mulled wine; the flavor is supposed to be spicy, malty-sweet, with slight hop bitterness. Suggested food pairings are: sausages, korv, fish, pickled herring (yum), rich cheeses, and holiday cookies & cake. Let's glass this up, and see how it stacks up.

This is a fairly dark beer...pouring a dark, crimson red color in low light, with one finger of bready, red/amber-colored head. When held to bright light, the beer is a reddish/orange color, appears to be filtered/transparent, and has a ton of carbonation in the form of mid-sized bubbles. Head retention is nice, and I get some lacing and legs when I swirl the beer around. Considering how spiced up this beer is, I'm impressed with the head retention.

Speaking of spices, this shit is SPICED UP. I'm getting giant blasts of cinnamon, allspice, gingerbread, and ginger. I'm getting some earthy mint (the cardamom?), and some earthy tannins. There's a tannic thing going on in here. There's some fruitcake-raisin malt sweetness as well.

This is thicker in the body/mouth than the aroma leads on, with a pretty hefty raisin-fruitcake-gingerbread thickness. The spices -- or something -- give this beer a tannic edge. It does taste a bit like a red wine that has had cinnamon sticks and orange peel sitting in it. I'm getting a lot of orange peel and cinnamon in the taste, along with hints of ginger, and brief mint/herbal spice. It's quite lively on the tongue, and there's a boozy thing throughout. Overall though; spice tannins, orange peel, cinnamon/nutmeg, and a sticky fruitcake/gingerbread base. 

This is fairly drinkable at 8.0% ABV; but works as a sipping beer. This is slightly sticky, and has a medium-full mouthfeel that goes down fairly smooth thanks to the lively spices and zesty carbonation. Palate depth is okay, and complexity is moderate to high. Like Glögg, I almost think the spices in this are a touch overpowering in the long haul, and you will probably only want one or two of these. Up front is some sweet malts and big spice; this rolls into spices, oranges, tannins; the back end is lingering tannins, malts, and sticky. The finish is sticky and not very dry. Booze is well-masked, but still shows itself.

Rating: Average

I'm feeling a Strong Average on this. This works well for what it is, which is a beer interpretation of Glögg. The spices are nice, but I don't know if I would want more than one or two of these. Having said that...this is SUPER Christmas-y. If you want to find Christmas in a bottle, look no further. I could see myself splitting a 6-pack of this among family and friends. I could also see myself just making some actual Glögg...nevertheless, this is a respectable Christmas beer. I would pair this with pickled herring, Christmas lunch (typically bagels and lox in my family), lobster and steak (traditional New Year's meal in my family), any Christmas dinner dish (ham, stuffing, duck), or Christmas cookies and dessert. This is definitely a festive beer with that big orange peel and cinnamon/ginger profile. And the 8.0% doesn't hurt...

Random Thought: ...unless you are driving. I find that I enjoy having a designated driver when I go to family events. This way I can drown out awkwardness and boring stories with alcohol. Oh, cynic that I am. Unfortunately, no one drinks craft beer in my family, so I'm stuck drinking boring shit like Sam Adams, or if I'm lucky, Goose Island. Oh well...

Great Lakes Christmas Ale

Brewed By: Great Lakes Brewing Company in Cleveland, Ohio 
Purchased: Single 12oz bottle bought at Evolution Wine & Spirits in Chicago, Illinois; 2012

Style/ABV: Christmas/Winter Spiced Beer, 7.5%

Reported IBUs: 30

I love great Great Lakes Brewing, and I probably should drink more of their beer. I have yet to be let down by a Great Lakes beer, and I'm pretty excited to sit here and dissect their coveted Christmas Ale. About Great Lakes Brewing:

Great Lakes Brewing Company was founded on September 6th, 1988, brothers Patrick Daniel and Conway Daniel. It became the first microbrewery in the state of Ohio. The brewery expanded both in 1992 and 1998, and in 2010 and 2011 the brewery spent over 7 million dollars to improve their brewery and brewery equipment. The brewery produces over 100,000 barrels annuals, and serves 13 states and Washington D.C.. According to the Brewers Association "top 50 breweries list" from 2010, Great Lakes Brewing Company is ranked #22 for beer sales as a craft brewer, and #31 for beer sales in general (in America). You can take a stroll to the Great Lakes Brewing history page to get the full story about the brewery.

While enjoying a lovely Friday out, I had the opportunity to try the Great Lakes Christmas Ale on tap. It was served a bit too cold, and I was really hungry; so I wasn't as on my game as I should have been. But the beer was still delicious. If you check out the Christmas Ale page on Great Lakes' website, you can get all the information you need about this beer. This is a winter seasonal (November through December) that is brewed with honey, and then spiced with fresh ginger and cinnamon. Great Lakes always gives a .PDF worth of info for their beer, and you should definitely check it out. I love their little history blurbs! They state that holiday brews have origins in the Middle Ages, when spices were used instead of hops to flavor the beer. Spiced beers re-emerged in the early 1900s in Western Europe when brewers began making holiday beer for their patrons. Today's beer is brewed with Harrington 2-Row, Crystal, Wheat, Special Roast, and Roasted Barley malts; it uses Hallertau and Cascade hops. Clocking in at 7.5% ABV, and packing 30 IBUs, this is a big beer...but not quite the "tour de alcohol" as something like a heavy Stout or Belgian Ale. Let's glass this up and see what's up.

Great Lakes Christmas Ale

I remember toy trains, and I have great memories of putting up ornaments with my family. This beer's artwork really gets me in my feels. The nostalgia...it's so hard. The beer pours a clear, clean, orange/amber color that is on the darker side of orange and the brighter side of amber in low light. The pour yielded one to two fingers of amber-tinted head. When held to a bright light, this beer is still amber/orange, transparent, and very filtered. I wonder how aging this would go. There's a lot of visible carbonation in this, with medium bubbles rising up. As a result, there's nice head retention; there's some lacing; and the head is whiter in bright light. YOOOO.

As far as the aroma goes, lots of honey, sweet malts, a hint of pleasant/mild hops, maybe a dash of lemon, and just a hint of ginger spice (but more fresh ginger, not the spice).

This is quite carbonated, and lively on your tongue. I'm getting a lot of honey, ginger, gingerbread (lots of gingerbread), hints of orange, pleasant/mild orange peel, mild "Noble" hop characters, and bread. Maybe some fruitcake? NO! No maybe...there's definitely a fruitcake thing going on with this beer. There's also a pleasant "kick" to this...it has a nice bitter balance, and it's quite complex and full, with elusive booze that never manifests as alcohol. 

This is surprisingly complex, and like most of Great Lakes' beers: very balanced. You can tell that they didn't just brew this beer, they obviously put a lot of thought into it. This is also a beer that completely masks its alcohol. This beer has "DANGER! HANGOVER!" written all over it. At 7.5%, two or three of these will get you tipsy. But this is incredibly drinkable, and goes down with ease (that's what she said). Palate depth is great, complexity is high, and this has a full-bodied mouthfeel. This beer has everything! It's creamy, smooth, carbonated, spicy, malty, hoppy, and it finishes pleasant but dry. Up front you get honey, ginger, gingerbread, cinnamon; this rolls into ginger, mild hops, some bitterness; the finish dries out, and then you get lingering malt. There's some bready, fruitcake throughout...very nice.

Rating: Above-Average

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this beer. It's complex, balanced, and bold. The spices (ginger, gingerbread, maybe some cinnamon) might get taxing on your palate after a while, but one or two glasses of this would be great. There's depth to this beer, and the boozy backdrop makes this a great candidate to warm you up on a cold night. Food pairings: fruit cake! You could also eat this with ham, turkey, stuffing, potatoes, duck -- any holiday fixings, really. This beer has great honey and gingerbread characters, so get creative with those meals! I do recommend this.

Random Thought: One of my best memories was getting the Christmas decorations out, and helping put up the tree and the lights. This meant that winter break was coming, and Christmas. I remember pulling the boxes out of storage, getting the lights out, unpacking all the decorations...that's why we have traditions.

St. Bernardus Christmas Ale

Brewed By: St. Bernard Brouwerij in Watou, Belgium  

Purchased: Jolly 750ml bottle bought at Evolution Wine & Spirits in Chicago, Illinois; 2012

Style/ABV: Quadrupel/Winter Warmer, 10.0%

Reported IBUs: ?

After yesterday's disappointing winter seasonal from Rogue, I feel obligated to dial things up to "11" and drink some kick-ass winter beer. I haven't actually had today's beer before, but I love me some St. Bernardus 12, and I love giant Quadrupels. About St. Bernardus: 

St. Bernadus is a brewery based out of Watou, Belgium. The brewery has a rich history that began at the Catsberg Abbey. The Catsberg Abbey moved from Northern France to Watou, Belgium due to anti-clericism in France at the time. Once in Belgium, the Catsberg Abbey became known as the "Refuge Notre Dame de St. Bernard." The Abbey funded itself by producing and selling cheese. In 1934, France dropped its anti-clerical policies, and the Abbey community moved back to France, leaving behind an empty factory. Evarist Deconinck took over the factory, and commercialized and developed his own cheese. He built a new factory for the cheese at the Trappistenweg in Watou, and the original building was transformed into a private facility. 

After the end of World War II, the Trappist Monastery St. Sixtus stopped commercializing their beer; they decided to only brew their beer for their own consumption, for sales at the gates of the Monastary, and for a handful of taverns associated with the monastery. However, they agreed to lease out their beers for 30 years to Evarist Deconick who could commercialize and sell the beer. A new brewery was thrown up next to the cheese factory, and Deconinck began brewing Sixtus beers with the help of the Masterbrewer of Westvleteren. 

In 1992 the 30-year agreement between St. Sixtus and Deconinck came to an end. Due to changes in the law, Deconinck would be unable to continue brewing beer branded Sixtus. However, he could continue to use the same recipe and brew the beer under a different name. Hence, the beers brewed at Trappistenweg in Watou are now branded "St. Bernardus," because authentic Trappist beers MUST be brewed inside the walls of a Trappist Monastery. And that is that folks. For more history, roll over to the history page HERE. 

Tonight's beer is a BIG Belgian Ale that is brewed as a winter seasonal. If you check out the St. Bernardus Christmas Ale page, you can get some info about this beer. This beer uses the St. Bernardus house yeast strain (which has been fermenting beer since 1946), and is comparable to the St. Bernardus Abt 12. This beer is described as spicy, with hints of mint, warming alcohol, molasses, apricots, licorice, and marzipan. Let's glass this up and see what's up.

St. Bernardus Christmas Ale

I'm very happy to report that this beer did not gush. I was greeted with a lot of smoke upon popping off the cork, however. This beer poured all foam, and that's probably my fault; I stirred up the yeast inside the bottle about an hour earlier. The beer pours with 3 fingers of dense, foamy, tan/sandy head. In low light the beer has a dark brown/purple color. When held to bright light, this beer is MURKY AS HIZZY. This is some swampy stuff, and has an orange-brown color. There's a lot of active, visible, streaming carbonation; this is an effervescent beer (as per the style). Head retention is great, with a thumb's worth hanging out. I'm sure there will be some lacing.

The aroma on this reminds me of the Trader Joe's Anniversary Ale. Which is a good thing, because Unibroue has that sexy yeast strain. I'm getting a lot of clove, nutmeg, spruce, white sugar, sugar/candy perfume, slight fruity banana, Juicy Fruit (the gum), spicy yeast phenols, and just hints of fruit (cherry?). Overall, pretty spicy and yeasty, with a big hint of spruce. 

Unlike the Trader Joe's Anniversary Ale, this tastes like you are being punched in the mouth by a Belgian Monk wearing a Santa's hat. Holy shit, this is huge on the palate (much like the Abt 12). I'm getting big clove, yeast spice, candied sugars, dark fruits (plums, cherries, figs, apricots), a hint of dusty/oxidized dark fruits, and just a HUGE backing booze character that fills out this beer. Each sip expands on your palate, and you get impressive alcohol warming on the back end without any abrasive alcohol. There's a hint of bitterness in the taste, with some pine and spruce. Overall though, lots of big yeast spices, and tons of sugary fruits. 

Ladies and gentleman, this right here is a proper winter warmer. At 10.0% ABV, this drinks a bit too smooth. But make no mistake, this beer is warming on the back end, and will quickly get you drunk. This beer is smooth, creamy, carbonated, and just a touch dusty; but it has a medium-full to full-bodied mouthfeel. Really nice stuff here, especially in terms of the style. Palate depth is off the charts, and complexity is moderate for the style. Up front is big spice, clove, sugar; this rolls into fruits, spruce, more spice; the back end is creamy, with lingering spice and spruce. The finish is dry, but creamy, and you get impressive warming on the back.

Rating: Above-Average

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this beer. This reminds me of the Abt 12, with a little spruce and bitterness thrown into the mix. This is really nice stuff, and this has phenomenal palate depth and mouthfeel. I don't know if it's quite as complex as you can get, but this is an easy recommendation for a winter warmer. Yeah...this beer is a bit pricey at $10-15 dollars per bomber, but it's a big beer that can easily do you in for the night. Food pairings: pizza, meat and cheese plate, any winter stew, a hearty creamy soup, honey ham, duck, turkey, and many desserts...a 10oz pour of this with some bread pudding? Oh lawdy! 

Random Thought: It's supposed to warm up to 60 and rain this weekend. I'm not complaining! I swear! I enjoy the warm weather, especially in late November and early December. But I'm also okay with snow...especially if I'm not driving anywhere, and I have a few bombers in my fridge.

Lagunitas Brown Shugga'

Brewed By: Lagunitas Brewing Company in Petaluma, California

Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 6-pack bought at Evolution Wine & Spirits in Chicago, Illinois; 20122

Style/ABV: Strong Ale/Barleywine/Christmas Ale, 9.9%
Reported IBUs: 51.1

Do you know what brightens up the holidays and makes Santa happy? Some Brown Shugga' awwww yeeahhhh. The masters of subtlety are at it again. In case you don't know who Lagunitas are (Pronounced: "LAH-goo-KNEE-tuss"):

Lagunitas is a brewery I dabbled with when I hit up their controversially named "Kronik" (Lagunitas Censored) back in November 2010. The Lagunitas website has some cool info on the brewery and the beer, and can be found here. The brewery was founded in 1993 out in Lagunitas, California, and has since moved to Petaluma in California. It seems like Lagunitas is run by a bunch of deviant madmen geniuses, and the brewery appears to be a true grassroots movement, if you catch my drift.

I love Christmas beers, and I love Lagunitas...and I concede it's weird to drink a Christmas beer in early November, especially when I still have pumpkin beers laying around. But you know what? Fuck you. Plus, I want a taste of dat Brown Shugga'. I'm going to stop, because this is a family-friendly blog, not a hate crime.

If you check out the Brown Shugga' page, you can get the breakdown on this beer. This beer is brewed with "boatloads of pure brown sugar in each batch." This beer was originally brewed back in 1997, when Lagunitas was trying to make their Olde GnarlyWine Ale. They added a bunch of Brown Sugar to the boil in an attempt to "rescue the batch." The result was this lovely beer, which is described as "Irresponsible." Santa likes. Let's get this into a glass...and see if this is the best Christmas beer south of December.

Lagunitas Brown Shugga'

The beer pours an orange/brown/amber color, with 3-fingers worth of sticky, thick, foamy, copper-tinted head. The head has nice duration, and is leaving a ton of sticky, IPA-like lacing on the side of the glass as it falls down. In bright light, the beer is orange-amber, and the head takes on some of that orange color. This beer is transparent, and -- MIGHT -- be filtered, and has some nice carbonation in the form of tiny bubbles. At 9.9%, there are some legs.

This is, as you might imagine for a Barleywine-style beer, quite floral and hoppy on the aroma. I've heard that this beer is suposed to be malty...and maybe it gets to be that way with some time; but, this beer is pushing 50 IBUs. On the nose I get citrus, pine, hops, resin, grass, caramel and sugar, candied fruits, and some slight spice that could certainly be brown sugar. You get that "sticky" smell on the nose, with big hop presence.

Holy shit....this is nice. I've heard a lot of people complaining that this beer is too hoppy. This is a hopped up beer. But it's not too hoppy, no sir. This beer hits your palate with malt sweetness, BIG malt sweetness. Then the hops kick in to clean things up, and drop some pine, grass, citrus, and all that goodness. And then you get blasted with a huge, dense, sticky blast of malt and brown sugar. You get spice on the back end, brown sugar, gingerbread...fucking Noel in a glass. I'm getting big sweet citrus; it's a character Lagunitas works into a lot of their hoppy beers. You get caramel-candy-oranges and citrus, pine, grass. It's nice.

This drinks ridiculously smooth and easy for 9.9% ABV. 9.9% ABV...really? REALLY? This shit screams "HANGOVER." This drinks like a smooth IPA, but has a big full-bodied mouthfeel. This is quite sticky, sugary, and hoppy, but the carbonation, hop bitterness, and spice help aide drinkability. Really, I could put down a 6-pack of this in a night, but I wouldn't, unless I did. Maybe for Christmas. Anyway, this is moderately complex, but palate depth is great. Up front is a blast of sweetness, and then hops; the middle rolls into HUGE sweetness, hops, and brown sugar; the back end is big caramel, brown sugar, and hop dryness into a drying finish.

Rating: Divine Brew

I'm feeling a Light Divine Brew rating on this beer. This is not only a great Christmas Ale, it's a great Barleywine-style, IPA-thing. You know, a Lagunitas beer. I confess, I'm biased as shit when it comes to Lagunitas. I love their beer. But this is just delicious, and makes me want to hang out around the Christmas tree, eat some gingerbread cookies, and watch football by the fireplace. Win, win, win. Food pairings for this include anything from spicy chicken or turkey, duck, ham, sweet potatoes and candied yams, and assorted Christmas desserts. 

Random Thought: I buy a Santa's Private Reserve glass, and drink Lagunita's Christmas Ale, and all of a sudden I'm in the Christmas mood. FUCK! I still have pumpkin beer to drink. 

Widmer Brothers Reserve Barrel Aged Brrrbon 2011

Brewed By: Widmer Brothers Brewing Company in Portland, Oregon

Purchased: Frosty 22oz Bomber purchased at Jewel in Chicago, IL; 2011

Style/ABV: American Strong Ale, 9.40%

 

In the spirit of summer, I'm saying fuck the status quo and drinking a Winter Warmer! Tonight's beer is a huge ass, barrel-aged, winter seasonal, Strong Ale. Clocking in at 40 IBUs and 9.4% ABV, I'm expecting something to make my palate happy. Summer? What's that. The "Barrel Aged BRRRBON '11" is brewed by the fine folks at the Widmer Brothers Brewing Company. I'm not a literary genius, but what's up with the name? "BRRRBON?" I'm guessing you are supposed to say it out loud, with a phonetic emphasis. So it sounds like, "BRRR-Bon," or "Brr-rrr-rrr, I'm cold, bon." They should call it "Shit will get you drunk-bon." I think it's more catchy.

Widmer Brothers Brewing Company is a brewery based out of Portland, Oregon. The brewery has humble roots, going back to 1979 when brothers Kurt and Rob Widmer began to homebrew beer they liked to drink for their family and friends. In 1984, Kurt and Rob quit their jobs, and built the Widmer Brewery in what is now the Pearl District of Northwest Portland. The brewery officially opened on April 2, 1984, and the brothers started brewing their Altbier and a Weizenbier. In 1986, a pub that was serving their beer asked the brewery to make a third beer; limited to just two fermenters, they decided to leave their Weizenbier unfiltered, and created the first American-Style Hefeweizen. Later that year, the brewery introduced their Festbier (a Bavarian Style Oktoberfest), and became the first U.S. brewery to offer a four-seasonal beer lineup. Since then, the brewery has continued to expand and has only added more accomplishments to their list. In 1988, the brewery (along with Bridgeport and Portland Brewing) launched the Oregon Brewer's Festival. In 1990, the brewery moved to its current location in North Portland, and in 1996, Widmer beers became available in bottles for the first time. You can read more about the company's history HERE: Click Me!

Lastly, according to Wikipedia, in November 2007, Reddhook Ale Brewery and Widmer Brothers merged, forming the Craft Brewers Alliance. Redhook previously distributed Widmer beers on the east coast; and Anheuser-Busch already held a minority stake in both companies. The Craft Brew Alliance is a distribution agreement with Anheuser-Busch InBev. At the moment, AB InBev owns 32.2% of the Craft Brew Alliance, and the Widmer Brothers own a combined 18%.

 

The Barrel Aged BRRRBON '11 is a seasonal (winter) ale aged in bourbon barrels. Yum. This beer is described as being a "smooth winter warmer and the first release as part of the Alchemy Project." This beer was hopped during the secondary fermentation, and then put into Kentucky Bourbon Barrels and aged for four months. After barrel aging, the beer was alowed to ferment again for final conditioning before release (so this is maybe bottle-conditioned?). Brewed with Alchemy, Simcoe (bitter, aromatic, that catty note), and Cascade (citrusy, flowery, spicy, pleasant) hops; 2-Row Pale, Caramel, Carapils, and Dark Chocolate malt; this beer packs 40 Ibus and 9.4% ABV. What are Alchemy hops? Part of the "Alchemy Project." Evidently, Alchemy hops refer to a blend of hops (I've heard that the blend includes Warrior and Millenium). I'm excited, so let's crack this open and see what's up.

Barrel Aged Brrrbon 2011

The bottle art is probably love-it or hate-it. I actually am digging the bottle art, and it has some wax words like the Stone Brewing bottles. My bottle has a date on it: August 12, 11. And the bottle clearly says: "Prost! To improve with age." "Prost" literally means "cheers" in German. If this is good...I may go see if I can retrieve a few more bottles of this stuff. Anyway, the beer pours a nice dark red/copper color, with hints of orange. You can see a lot of tiny bubbles rising upwards, and even in lower light this beer is transparent. There were about two fingers of thin/sickly off-white head that pretty quickly dissolved into a nice cauldron effect. At 9.4% ABV, and being barrel-aged, it's no surprise the head peaced out so quickly. In low light the head is kind of reddish...in bright light it picks up the hints of orange from the body of the beer. This is kind of an orange/amber/copper/red beer. Big alcohol legs on this one, and some retention as the head pulls on the glass.

 

The nose is leaning towards a one-dimensional bourbon/wood flavor, but maybe not. This beer is hopped pretty intensely, and I'm getting aromas of grapefruit and citrus in the nose. I'm pulling out oak, wood, that whiskey-vanilla or oak-vanilla note, hints of sweet malt aromas, and that grapefruit/citrus note.

The taste is also leaning towards big oak/wood/vanilla notes. This is actually very woody on the finish, and the wood plays off the hops for a drying finish. I'm also feeling some warmness creeping up, just after my second sip. At 9.4%, that's not terribly unexpected. I'm pulling out some interesting hop notes in here: spice, earthiness, grapefruit, tangerine. But they run into the big oka/wood notes from barrel-aging this thing. Compared to New Holland's Dragon's Milk, this is almost a light beer. The Caramel malt this is brewed with is typical for an IPA. This also uses some Pils malt, some Pale malt, and some Dark Chocolate malt. I'm not getting a whole lot of malt in here. I am getting a little spice though: a peppery note. And there are these weird candied notes probably playing off the vanilla notes and the hops.

At 9.4% ABV, this is surprisingly drinkable. This has softer carbonation, but is moderately carbonated. The finish is oaky and dry, and reminiscent of drinking bourbon. The mouthfeel is surprisingly thin: this is medium-light. For a Winter Warmer clocking in at 9.4%, I almost expect a little more in terms of mouthfeel. Palate depth is good, and complexity is moderate. Up front you get a wave of hops and bourbon/oak/barrel; the middle rolls into more oak, with hints of some spice (I'm not getting a hint of leather); the back end is woody, slightly bitter, slightly hoppy, and dry. Initially I got some warming, but not so much now.

 

Rating: Average 

 

I'm feeling a light Average  on this. Would I pick this up again? Maybe. I don't see what makes this a winter warmer, other than the towering ABV, and the slight hint of spice. The idea of barrel-aging an American Strong Ale is interesting, and there are moments where the hops play off the oak notes in an enjoyable way. But then the thinness of the body kicks in...and you're reminded that this is not quite the sipping beer you want on that cold winter night. I don't know, maybe I'm way off base here. I'd actually rather drink this beer with a cigar while grilling some food. I bet you could pair this beer nicely with some smokey barbeque; something gamey. Chicken wings. Yum. Given how cheap a bomber of this beer is, I will say it is worth checking out if only because the risk is so low. So until next time, don't drink and calculate risk and reward ratios.