12 Beers of Christmas Wrap-Up

Okay so I dropped the ball and didn't keep updating with reviews of the rest of the beers I tried over the holidays. I took notes on some of them if I was at home and bored, which I'll copy down here for the few I've missed, hopefully wrapping up the beer-themed posts.

Also, in beer news, Marge got our house a keg for Christmas! She's so thoughtful. So we now have the Berkshire Brewing Company's Coffeehouse Porter on tap. It's one of my all-time favorite beers and we had a pony keg of it last winter that went quickly. Having it on tap again is truly the gift that keeps on giving, for at least the next two weeks :D

12 Beers of Christmas

1. Thirsty Dog Brewing Company's Old Leghumper

2. Founders Breakfast Stout

3. Bell's Special Double Cream Stout

4. Columbus Brewing Company 1859 Porter

5. Moylan's Kilt Lifter Scotch Ale

6. Murphy’s Draught Style Stout

• In a can with a widget for $1.80. I don’t know the official way to pour canned stouts with widgets, but I upended the whole thing into a pint glass and lifted it slowly out. It had a thick, cream tan head that stayed until I finished the beer. It had a very strong yeasty aroma and I could really smell the alcohol. The taste was surprisingly sweet and honeyed given the smell with sort of an oily mouthfeel that kind of coated and lingered on my tongue. Not entirely pleasant. It has a smooth, yeasty/bready taste and no hint of hops. A decent enough beer but probably wouldn’t get it again.

7. Bell’s Amber Ale

• In a bottle ~$2. Poured a golden honey color with a thin head that left white lacing. It had a sweet, malty aroma with a hint of floral hops. Light mouthfeel, medium to high carbonation with a slightly bready aftertaste. It was a good, refreshing beer with a slight bitterniss of hops on the tip of the tongue balanced by an overall sweetness and lingering grainy taste. Very drinkable. I’m a definite fan of Bell’s.

8. Shiner Boch

• Ew. I tried it because my dad brought it home. He had tried it because a coworker ordered it while they were on a business trip in Texas. It wasn’t any good.

9. Great Lakes Brewing Co. Edmund Fitzgerald Porter

• I had this beer several times while I was home. My dad bought me a six pack and I had it on tap at the Vegiterranean http://www.thevegiterranean.com/, a vegan restaurant Chrissie Hynde from the Pretenders opened in Akron, Ohio. (I should update about this lunch/place sometime). I’ve had a few of the GLB Co’s beers in the past couple of years and this is by far my favorite. I never took formal tasting notes, but this beer was consistently good.

aaaand! then i never finished this post. the holidays happened and then there was some traveling, and now i'm back in northampton and have moved on to other things, namely bread. so, the beer reviews will give way to some bread reviews for a while. hopefully completed posts.