The Finer Things In Life

[G&T]

I'm going to a Beersmas celebration in a couple weeks where we share bottled beer as presents and drink all day. Do any of you have a recommendation for a specific beer good for this season or brewery in general?

 

There are actually plenty of brewers that do christmas ales. What's fun is that there is no defined style, so it's up to the brewery to come up with something special.

 

A personal Belgian favorite of mine is Corsendonk Christmas Ale. However, it's a bit sweet for many palates so you might want to try it first. It's actually a great beer to share because it's very drinkable, but it gets very sugary over a full 750ml bottle.

Of course, Anchor has a Christmas beer release every year. Tastes a bit like christmas trees.

Goose Island has one as well, but I don't think I've had it.

 

Of course you can also go with an Imperial Stout. Stone makes a good one which is drinkable fresh, and it's moderately priced. Others are better, but, for example Peche Mortel from Dieu de Ciel is $6 a 12 oz bottle. Bells has their Expedition stout, and Goose Island has Bourbon County Stout. Those 2 though are fairly alcoholic when fresh, so they can be a tough drink.

 

 

[3E8]

Thanks for the input G&T. I hope my store carries the Corsendonk Christmas Ale. I like a sweet ale and it's one of the highest rated beers on beeradvocate.com

[FlaSoxxJim]

Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale + Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate = Brilliant!

[G&T]

Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale + Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate = Brilliant!

 

Sounds like something that should be poured over some ice cream. And yes, beer on ice cream is a very good idea (I think we've had this conversation before).

[FlaSoxxJim]

Sounds like something that should be poured over some ice cream. And yes, beer on ice cream is a very good idea (I think we've had this conversation before).

 

Young's Double Chocolate Stout would probably go well on ice cream.

[FlaSoxxJim]

Whooosh!!

 

Just discovered, mixed up, and fell in love with an outstanding dark rum/high-octane daiquiri-style cocktail called the Ranglum invented by former head bartender at Le Lion in Hamburg Gonçalo De Sousa Monteiro. The recipe can be found here, at a totally awesome cocktail site called OH GOSH! from the far-flung island of St. Helena of all places!

 

I'm so taken with this site (I stumbled upon it while Googling J Wray overproof cocktail recipes), that I'm about to mix up the most insane drink I've ever encountered, using a full 1 ounce of Angostura Bitters instead of the customary dash or two. And this in the midst of a global Angostura shortage since the company has been out of operation for nearly a year over in Trinidad (then again, maybe I'm the only one here who has noticed the price of bitters climbing the last few months).

 

At any rate, I'm a little scared by this drink. . . so here goes nothing.

[FlaSoxxJim]

Yowza!!

 

This is definitely unlike anything I've ever tasted before. Only 1/2 oz of booze in this, fighting its way up through an ocean of Angostura. Honestly, this is an historic throwback to the original intended use of Angostura bitters — as one of those bygone "healthful tonics" that quack doctors and pharmacists concocted in their bathtubs to sell alongside the snake oil.

 

That said, this is a totally interesting and pleasant drink. Bracing, to be sure, and not something you're likely to mix up on a steady basis. But certainly a conversation starter amongst fellow mixologists.

 

Sadly, I now want to try this crazy-ass Stormy Mai Tai, that calls for an even crazier 1.5 oz of bitters (offset by a mere 1/2-oz of light rum!), but I can't do it because I don't think I have enough bitters on hand to do it.

 

[FlaSoxxJim]

This Ranglum cocktail is crazy good! The Gonçalo Monteiro version called for Goslings and J Wray, but the only Goslings I have at the moment is 151. So yesterday, I subbed Myers (with a splash of the 151), and tonight I'm using Coruba. I've done the drink with both 0.5-oz and 1-oz of J Wray, and they are both very good. My tweak of the hamburg recipe is:

 

2 oz Coruba

0.5-1.oz J Wray

0.75 oz fresh lime juice

0.5 oz homemade falernum

0.25 oz simple syrup

 

According to an online video, Monteiro shakes this on ice and strains over ice. I'll usually go lowbrow and shake and pour without straining (as is proper for most of the drinks I favor), but I'm just straining this one into a cocktail glass like an old school daiquiri. The flavors are complex enough to open up nicely as the drink warms, but it's a good enough drink that it's not sitting around long enough to get too warm.

[hogan873]

Young's Double Chocolate Stout would probably go well on ice cream.

 

Finnegan's in Plainfield has a dessert which is a Guiness Float. I haven't tried it, but I just might have to.

[FlaSoxxJim]

Guinness is already a perfect dessert on its own. Also a perfect dinner, lunch, breakfast, or mid-day snack.

 

[hogan873]

I'm a fan of a tall frothy Black and Blue. The Guinness and Blue Moon work well together.

[G&T]

I'm a fan of a tall frothy Black and Blue. The Guinness and Blue Moon work well together.

 

I guess I should reserve judgment but I can't imagine that working.

[FlaSoxxJim]

I guess I should reserve judgment but I can't imagine that working.

 

Just seems like a waste of glass space that could be better filled sith more Guinness.

 

[FlaSoxxJim]

Anybody who owns an iPhone and is even remotely inerested in dipping his toes into the Tiki cocktail world, the deal of the century is yours for the taking.

 

Over the last decade, the Insane, God-Like Tiki Revivalist Jeff "Beachbum" Berry has published the three most important books of "lost" recipes ever. Two of these (Grog Log and Intoxica) were spiral bound home-published volumes (due to be updated, expanded and re-released next month!) that are long out of print, and the third one (Sipin' Safari) was released a couple of years back. None of them were particularly expensive, but you are stil talking about $40 total cost plus the difficulty of searching out the early books.

 

Now, however, you can download a new iPhone ap called Tiki+ That gives you all of the drinks published in all three books, plus some from a fourth food and drink book Jeff did, in an interactive and intuitive format right on your phone. 150 great cocktails at your fingertips!!

 

And the best part of all? Right now the app is only $3.99!

 

Download this app and pick out a drink or two to mix up and you'll be hooked. Trust me.

[iamshack]

I guess I should reserve judgment but I can't imagine that working.

It's actually pretty good.

The trendy name for it is an "eclipse."

 

[G&T]

It's actually pretty good.

The trendy name for it is an "eclipse."

 

Well it has to be better than mixing pilsner and coke. That's a German favorite apparently.

[hogan873]

Well it has to be better than mixing pilsner and coke. That's a German favorite apparently.

 

There's a beer from Austria, Stiegl Gaudi-Radler Zitrone, that is half beer and half lemon soda. I wasn't impressed.

[FlaSoxxJim]

There's a beer from Austria, Stiegl Gaudi-Radler Zitrone, that is half beer and half lemon soda. I wasn't impressed.

 

Yep, Radler is the German equivalent of a British shandy, where it's usually ginger ale, ginger beer, or Italian (carbonated) lemonade they mix with. If cola rather than lemonade is used, the German drink is a Diesel. Lots of other variations that mostly all seem to be a waste of perfectly good beer.

[G&T]

Yep, Radler is the German equivalent of a British shandy, where it's usually ginger ale, ginger beer, or Italian (carbonated) lemonade they mix with. If cola rather than lemonade is used, the German drink is a Diesel. Lots of other variations that mostly all seem to be a waste of perfectly good beer.

 

It's funny that places where Americans that associate with "good beer" are just as likely to drink crap as Americans.

[G&T]

I feel that I should mention that Sam Adams Cranberry Lambic this season is far better than previous years. It actually has a hint of tart to it and the cranberry is far more robust. That said, it still isn't a great example of a lambic, but I actually enjoy it. This used to be a drain pour next to the cherry wheat (I've never poured out a beer. It still has alcohol).

[FlaSoxxJim]

The first incarnations of Sam Cranberry Lambic and Cherry Wheat were honestly among the worst beers I ever tasted. I'm not sure I can bring myself to try them again.

[hogan873]

I remember years ago enjoying the Cranberry Lambic, but last year I couldn't drink it. To me there was a punch of something spoiled towards the end. Unless my taste had changed, I think it was a bad year for that brew. I'll try it again this year, as I always partake in the winter sampler (is there a mass market holiday beer better than Old Fezziwig?).

 

I've always felt that fall and winter are the best times of the year for good beer. AB even puts out some decent brews in the Michelob sampler pack. And a few years ago, Miller put out the wonderful chocolate brew.

[G&T]

I remember years ago enjoying the Cranberry Lambic, but last year I couldn't drink it. To me there was a punch of something spoiled towards the end. Unless my taste had changed, I think it was a bad year for that brew. I'll try it again this year, as I always partake in the winter sampler (is there a mass market holiday beer better than Old Fezziwig?).

 

I've always felt that fall and winter are the best times of the year for good beer. AB even puts out some decent brews in the Michelob sampler pack. And a few years ago, Miller put out the wonderful chocolate brew.

 

It's really good stuff. I wish they sold 6ers of it.

 

The Cranberry Lambic has been bad since the first time it was brewed. A complete mess. But this batch is not garbage. And in any event, there are plenty of good beers in the pack that are consistently good.

 

Speaking of macros, I noticed that Michelob has a bourbon barrel aged something or other in stores now. I have no interest in trying it, but I was surprised to see them enter that market. I can't imagine swill drinkers wanting to try that.

[FlaSoxxJim]

Old Fezziwig has been the only reason I've bought the holiday samplers for years. And friggin' Sam Adams knows that and it's why they don't sell it on its own. Jim Koch is really a jerk a lot of the time.

 

20+ years ago, you could actually get single large bottles of fezziwig (I think pints, but maybe they were bombers, I don't remember). That's when I fell in love with the stuff.

 

I made the mistake of trying a barrel-aged vanilla holiday thing from AB two years ago and it was absolutely putrid — maybe the least unbalanced beer I've ever tried. My mom thought is was wonderful (she's nuts), so at least a bottle or two was spared from the drain.

 

And unlike G&T, I will pour a totally crappy beer down the drain. I try my best to choke down almost everything on principle, but sometimes it's a losing battle.

Edited November 19, 2009 by FlaSoxxJim

[hogan873]

Old Fezziwig has been the only reason I've bought the holiday samplers for years. And friggin' Sam Adams knows that and it's why they don't sell it on its own. Jim Koch is really a jerk a lot of the time.

 

20+ years ago, you could actually get single large bottles of fezziwig (I think pints, but maybe they were bombers, I don't remember). That's when I fell in love with the stuff.

 

I made the mistake of trying a barrel-aged vanilla holiday thing from AB two years ago and it was absolutely putrid — maybe the least unbalanced beer I've ever tried. My mom thought is was wonderful (she's nuts), so at least a bottle or two was spared from the drain.

 

And unlike G&T, I will pour a totally crappy beer down the drain. I try my best to choke down almost everything on principle, but sometimes it's a losing battle.

 

I agree. I was excited to find a new beer to try, even if it was an AB product. I was highly disappointed. Unbalanced for sure. Artificial vanilla flavor and cloying alcohol taste.