12 Beers of Christmas 2013 Edition! (Need Brewers!)

Received the Gruit today. All bottles intact.

 

Okay I heard from our Crabapple Lambicky brewer today. Here's what he said:

So looks like they will be late, but they will be sent.

 

Oh that's good!

 

Tasting the abbey weizen now and loving it. This is simply an excellently crafted beer.

 

Getting around to trying some of these brews. Drinking an Abbey Weizen now.

Appearance: An appealing golden color with a bit of haze. Thick white head that sticks around

Aroma: Definitely catch a fruity aroma (cherries?) with a bit of yeasty breadiness. Some citrus. No hops.

Flavor: I can just barely pick up on the fruit flavors. The citrus is there. My newbie palate didn't catch any spices. There is some tart. I don't pick up on much wheat flavor. A slightly bitter finish. No hop flavor. Was this filtered?

Mouthfeel: Crisp and refreshing with a dry finish. A very drinkable brew.

Overall: I enjoyed this one. It's well balanced and has enough flavor to keep me interested. I was expecting a bit more body; it's quite light. The fruit and citrus notes are a nice addition and not overwhelming. I'd give this one a 8/10.

 

Not filtered. I did cold crash for a couple days to try and cut down on the amount of sediment since I would be shipping them.

The grain bill is pretty simple,

7lbs white wheat
4lbs pils
.8 ounces rice hulls

There is the zest from 2 cutie oranges in there along with the zest from 2 limes. The only spices added were Chamomile (tea bags from wallyworld).

It came in just a hair over 12 IBU.

I wondered about the lack of body it turned out with, I mashed at 153 for about 1:15 min. Maybe a few ounces of carapils or maltodextrin are in order next time?

 

Should we leave itrader feedback for this?

 

Got back from holiday out of state fun. Received Spiced Cherry Dubbel, Christmas Gruit, Gingerbread Ale, and Saffron Tripel. All in seemingly perfect condition! Will sample later this week. Only missing the Crabapple Lambicky Ale.

 

Did you ever get any? If not, let me know and I'll send out a package this week!

 

No, never did get any. All the others (except Lambicky) arrived in great shape.

 

Indeed! I think so anyway. I will wait a little longer to see if the lambicky gets delivered, as it sounds like he has intentions to ship.

 

Tried the Christmas Gruit today and thought it was excellent. I gulped it down before taking any tasting notes, but I promise to get you some when I open the next one. Well done!

 

Drinking a Honey Ginger IPA right now. I'm in the midsts of a BJCP course with my local club so I've gone all out on these for tasting practice. Here are my tasting notes:

Aroma: Low malt aroma, it's sweet, some caramel. Low hop aroma, hint of pine. Medium level of ginger aroma. It's pleasant and not overwhelming. The malt and hop aromas are side shows to the ginger.

Appearance: Pours a hazy golden color with a coarse, thin white head. No lacing and just a touch of head retention around the rims.

Flavor: There is a touch of sweet maltiness, again the caramel flavor. A medium level of hop flavor, mostly pine but maybe a little grassy too. The ginger is front and center and again is pleasantly presented alongside the malt and hops. I found it fantastically balanced. There is a nice dry, hoppy, bitter finish that is medium in intensity. Very refreshing. I want to stop typing and take another drink. There is a touch of sweetness in the after taste. It lasts a medium amount of time.

Mouthfeel: There is a medium or maybe slightly above medium body to this beer. I'm guessing the honey plays a part here. Carbonation is a lower than expected, a touch flat. There is a low level of warmness from the ABV.

Overall: Great beer. The flavors are expertly balanced. The ginger is prominently displayed without over powering the drinker or the other flavors. I'm sad that I only have 2 more of these. I have really enjoyed it. It's slightly under carbonated. A touch more carbonation could help the head after pouring and the retention. The beer could be more clear perhaps with irish moss or filtering. Those were the only flaws I found.

42/50 (48/50 with a touch more carbonation and clarity)

 

Glad you liked it! It was definitely a different beer for me... I've done saisons, and straight Brett beers before, but never used a lot of those spices in a beer so I wasn't sure how it would turn out. Thanks!

 

Tasting notes on the Saffron Tripel. Note that I am not an expert by any means, but I know what I like, I think I know good beer, and I've been brewing since 2008. So take it for what's it worth...

Aroma: Crisp with hints of white fruit like pear perhaps even a bit of baked apple. Refreshing with a touch of citrus. I detect slight alcohol in the nose.

Appearance: Dark gold to light amber. Slight haze. Virtually no head, although a tiny bit of foam stuck to the edges of the glass until I was about halfway done with the beer.

Flavor: The first sip was surprising. It was cloyingly sweet for a second, then became quite complex with a variety of flavors, then a bitterness took over. It was quite enjoyable. Anyways, there's an initial sweetness with a hint of alcohol. I get light white fruits like pear and apple again that quickly fade to darker fruits like date and raisins. At the end (after a few sips), there's a bitterness there that lingers and takes away the sweetness. The finish is dry. I didn't taste the saffron, but I'm no saffron expert. Plus I suppose that saffron has a delicate taste?

Mouthfeel: Initially sweet but dries out well. Low carbonation but OK. Thick initially, but once the bitterness kicks in, it feels dry.

Overall: A good beer. It seems to have been fermented on the cold side? I think this muted the typical tripel flavors and brought the white fruits to the front. For my taste, if I were to rate it out of 10 (10 being orgasmic and 1 being puke inducing), I'd go with 7.5 for this one.

 

Tasting notes on the Spiced Cherry Dubbel. Note that I am not an expert by any means, but I know what I like, I think I know good beer, and I've been brewing since 2008. So take it for what's it worth...

Aroma: Delicious! Tiny sour note with fresh cherries. A bit of malt in the back with raisin wafting now and again. Did I say this smells delicious?!

Appearance: Beautiful brown color, with a bit of haze. Slight foam around the edge of the glass that persisted until I finished the beer (which didn't take too long!). Crap, I just have to taste it. Enough with the damn appearance!

Flavor: Oh my God. Delicious! This reminds me of a really great grand cru from Belgium where they blend 70% brown ale with 30% sour ale. It forms a perfect balance between the malt and the sour note that somehow manages to bring through the cherry and a bit of caramel. Nice bitterness rounds it out in the aftertaste which lingers to a delicious wood note for some reason.

Mouthfeel: Quite dry. Low carbonation (I'd have preferred it with about one more volume of CO2).

Overall: A superbly crafted beer that is abso-frikkin-lutely delicious! Was the sour note intentional or an accident as a result of the cherries sitting? For my taste, if I were to rate it out of 10 (10 being orgasmic and 1 being puke inducing), I'd go with 9.99 for this one.

 

Tasting notes on the Gingerbread Ale. Note that I am not an expert by any means, but I know what I like, I think I know good beer, and I've been brewing since 2008. So take it for what's it worth...

Aroma: Like a gingerbread cookie. Seriously. Not lying. But the thin ones that taste better and place emphasis on the ginger and leave your tongue slightly numb... Ginger aroma prevails for me, but there is a bit of malt under that spice. Makes my mouth water.

Appearance: Dark brown with a slight haze. Light head that sticks to the sides of the glass pretty well.

Flavor: I'm first hit with chocolate and a hint of roast. Then the spices come through nicely. Mostly ginger for me, but there's something else under there that I can't quite make out. There's a hint of residual sweetness that hits you for a second and goes away as the aftertaste kicks in, which is roast and ginger.

Mouthfeel: Decent body, although perhaps a bit dry for my taste. Leaves me wanting another sip. Light carbonation (I'd prefer a bit more), but it's OK for the style.

Overall: Tasty. This is a nice beer to drink when it's cold outside and you have a fire going inside. It's a tad warmer here today (high of 62F), but I plan on building a bonfire in a few minutes, and this beer would be perfect for drinking around it. For my taste, if I were to rate it out of 10 (10 being orgasmic and 1 being puke inducing), I'd go with 8.5 for this one.

 

Popped open a 2012 caramel quad while enjoying some football. I'm practicing for my BJCP course, so I'm making myself be more critical than usual. Here are my tasting notes:

Aroma: High fruit aroma. Pear, raspberries, black currant. A medium amount of spice aroma, allspice and cinnamon, perhaps nutmeg. There is a low amount of malt aroma, mostly sweet caramel (surprise!). The aroma is very pleasant.

Appearance: Pours a hazy light brown with golden highlights. The beer foamed quite a bit after opening so there was a large amount of head. It's slightly creamy with an off-white color. I can see particles dancing around in the beer. The foam hangs around as a thin layer over the whole surface and a low amount of lacing.

Flavor: Medium level of sweet maltiness. A low level of raspberry tart. There is no hop flavor. There is a strong, dry, bitter finish. A bit too dry and throws the balance off a bit. The after taste is bitter and lingers a medium amount of time.

Mouthfeel: The carbonation is too high and gives it a crisp, stringent mouthfeel. This could be accentuating the dryness/bitterness. There is a medium-high comforting warmness.

Overall: Pretty good, but there are a couple areas that could be improved. The beer was over carbonated and quite bitter and dry. The carbonation could be accentuating the bitterness, too. The dryness could be caused by the caramel or the mash temperature (or both). The bitterness could be toned back a bit. 35/50

 

Have to say that I wish everyone did tasting notes on their recipes across this forum like the notes in this thread - awesome stuff worth lurking for! And really fun (and mouth-watering) to read...

 

Tasting notes on the Christmas Gruit. Note that I am not an expert by any means, but I know what I like, I think I know good beer, and I've been brewing since 2008. So take it for what's it worth...

Aroma: Sweet, pears, floral and a bit perfumy. It's quite crisp and reminds me of times I go camping and inhale the air on a cold morning as I get out of my tent. There's also a hint of alcohol in the aroma.

Appearance: Beautiful amber color and crystal clear. Good head initially that dissipated quickly to slight foam around the edges.

Flavor: Very dry with a hint of alcohol. I found it harsh on the very first sip in that the complexity of flavors had not yet formed a balance. And there are a lot of flavors in there. This beer is quite complex. I think letting it condition longer would benefit it a lot. I get a floral quality with a backbone of something savory and a bit earthy.

Mouthfeel: Dry. Rolls of the tongue quickly to an aftertaste that reminds me of fresh, white fruit mixed with oak. There's also a fairly significant bitterness there that I think contributed to the dryness of this beer.

Overall: I enjoyed this one as I enjoyed all the other beers in this thread, but it feels a bit young for me right now. It's also not my favorite style of beer, but it was still tasty. I think I would like it a lot more in six months or even longer. It's a good thing I have more bottles! For my taste, if I were to rate it out of 10 (10 being orgasmic and 1 being puke inducing), I'd go with 7.0 for this one.

 

This is a great forum to read, well done! I'm hoping you guys get the last beer your waiting on!

 

Thanks for the feedback. Still kicking myself for bottling this when I did... one more week on the gas would have made a big difference.

 

Any others care to post comments or tasting notes?

 

Did we ever hear again from this guy?

 

Seriously... Late? its almost APRIL

 

Yeah, I hope nobody is holding their breath to get these brews. I'll post something on the front to make sure he doesn't enter any exchanges in the future...


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I left a negative feedback on his profile. He's probably not even using it anymore but what else can you do?

 

Seems like there's one every year....

 

Should probably do a 100 post minimum and be a supporting member for the next one. kinda like in the swaps and maw/emaw

 

Anyone up for running a 2014 thread? I dont know if I have that level of dedication lol, but I look forward to another round. It started last year around this time!

 

I thought last year had a pretty late start, but it worked out OK, I guess. Personally, I wouldn't be up for it this year either, but I'm thinking 2015 looks promising!

 

I am surprised that you seem to be the only person to do it more than once. I could join, but couldn't run it, (on vacation for a few weeks).

 

If this is a go, I'm in! Definitely not the one to organize it, but an earnest participator, yes!!


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Trying some of these christmas beers. Yes, I've left them in a dark closet all of this time. I grabbed a random one and ended up with the Spiced Cherry Dubbel:

AROMA - 9
Medium toasty maltiness, strong tart cherry funk, nutmeg, cinnamon, black liquorish, no hop aroma

APPEARANCE - 3
Deep ruby red, very little head, light brown ring stays around glass, brilliant clarity

FLAVOR - 13
light alcohol, upfront cherry tart, clean, light toasty malt, no hop bitterness, the cherry flavor overwhelms the typical dubbel flavors I’m searching for. Low levels of winter spices, nutmeg, cinnamon, star anise

MOUTHFEEL - 4
Hefty drying tartness, very drinkable, moderate alcoholic warmth, moderate carbonation, medium bodied

OVERALL - 8
The cherry flavor is upfront and center. The spices were evident in the aroma, and present in the flavor. The malt flavors and fruity esters of a dubbel are hard to find with the strong cherry presence. Overall, I really enjoyed it and it is clearly a well-made beer. I can tell the fermentation was at a proper temperature, the alcoholic warmth is there and is pleasant and the beer is exceptionally clean. I think the cherry flavor could be cut back a bit to allow the other flavors, notably the malts, to come through.

TOTAL: 37

 

How can we get this up and going for this year? I know it's probably too late..

 

"It's too late" came at least a month ago...
But I'm already planning on trying to get this up and running next year, unless someone else steps up before me...

 

Sounds good!

 

Count me in for next year for sure! Now if only I will be able to remember this next august

 

Yeah I tried to get this up and running this year without volunteering myself to run the show. That was a few months ago, and there were crickets. Next year for sure!

 

Thanks for the notes! I definitely overdid the cherry... I was hoping it might mellow out a bit, but it sounds like it still packs a punch.

I think I saved at least one of everyone's beers last year, so I am looking forward to seeing how they have aged over the next few months!