Do you want to brew one of the 12 beers of Christmas?

Had a cherry dubbell this evening. It is exactly what you expect. True Belgian flavor with a hint of cherry. Just as advertised. At Costco today, I saw fresh sweet cherries that made me think of this beer thus choosing it tonight. Was wondering how sweet cherries would compare to the bing that I assumed was used for this. Thanks for a great beer!

 

Glad to hear you enjoyed it! I used 5lbs of black cherries and 5lbs of tart cherries, and let them sit in secondary for 10 weeks. I'll definitely be trying this recipe again, and want to try juicing the cherries for one of the batches.

 

Wow! 10lbs of cherries! Was this a 5 gallon batch?

 

As the full moon finally wanes, and there is a brief pause in the craziness at our house I race to the beer fridge in hopes that I will have time to pour one of these gems. Where to start? The top of the list I guess?

Usfmikeb's Spiced Cherry Dubble

The body pours a hazy mahogany that is nice and dense with a beige thick creamy head that has a slight peach hue from the fruit. It last for a good bit and there is a gentle carbonation of microbubbles gliding up the sides of the glass. The aroma is that classic Abbey yeast esters with nice dark tart cherry notes and I swear I can smell the cherry pits. The taste has a fresh dark but bright cherry flavor with a good tartness, The Dubble character are full but a bit softer than the fruit. The yeasty abbey esters blend with a woody malt and dark fruit esters to round out the beer. The cherry note comes back in the aftertaste that adds just a touch of sweetness. There is a slight jammy quality that comes through as the beer warms but it is not sweet. The mouthfeel is medium-light with a clean finish and the alcohol is well hidden until the last few sips and then it is a welcome alcohol warmth. There is a tight fizz in the finish that compliments the cherries in the finish. This is a delicious beer. It is a great blend of fruit and Dubble flavors that all blend making it very hard to put into works just want you are tasting. The alcohol is catches up to me but is only present in the last few sips.

 

I've been following the thread for a while. Jeez! It's like I just read paragraph from a Pulitzer novelist or something. What a critique! It's like I'm there sharing the glass with you! Nicely done....both of you.

 

That'll be a tough act to follow lol.

 

Wow, great review, glad you enjoyed it. I'm thinking maybe I should submit it for this year's AHA...

 

Sheesh rhoadsrage, you made my review seem like it was written by a 5-year-old...

LOL!

 

So I had a Cherry Dubbel tonight. Hello cherries! Rhoadsrage hit the nail on the head so I'm not going to repeat what he already wrote. Thanks usfmikeb!

 

Usfmikeb.. I would enter this in AHA. I would put it in the 30s but I would enter it as 20. fruit beer and not mention the spice.

Xcorpia... I should have warned you I have to write/doodle while I drink, it quiets all the voices in my head.

 

Last night was the Fruitcake Old Ale from spyder2723 and it did not disappoint. For a brief moment I was in a British Pub described in a Dickens book while my kids were busy hitting ornaments of the Christmas tree and the wife was speaking a foreign language about camera lenses and warranties?

The nice psst while prying the cap of the bottle lead to a pour of dense woody brown beer that glowed a walnut color at the base and a thick film of bubbly tan head that fades to a sticky ring and clings to the glass in little dollops with each sip. There was a gentle carbonation of microbubbles that would trail up the side of the glass. Even during the pour the full aroma had a well blended slightly musty tartness that was soon overtaken by walnuts and paper straws with some vinous notes and a nice dry treacle note in the finish. As the beer opened quite a bit there was a hint of diacetyl butter character that I love in british beers and lends itself to a toffee quality and a faint spice warming comes through aswell. The initial taste has that cherry stone tartness that I love in Flanders reds and really adds depth to Old Ales. That flavor fades and the softer dark fruit notes and gentle molasses, brown malt and nutty qualities all come together, There is some toffee character that comes through aswell but the beer remains just on this side of dry in the finish. There is a wet wood and faint fruity tartness that come out after each sip and linger for a moment. The medium-full mouthfeel has a bit slippery with a gentle alcohol warmth on the back of the throat. Micheal Jackson would be proud of this beer. If you told me this had some age on it I would believe you. The alcohol is gentle but warming and all the depth of yeasty esters and malt flavors blend into a great old ale with some Port characters. This beer needs a fireplace and leather chair.

 

Xcorpia... I should have warned you I have to write/doodle while I drink,[/QUOTE]

That explains alot. Was going to say, based on your time stamp you sure start early. Lol.

Christmas Gruit last night. Not going to try to compete with roadsrage. But trust me, you're going to want to get to this one...soon. Very unique flavor. I'm interested in learning more about this.

On another note, sent a PM to Willum a few days ago and never heard back. He may have a bunch of free beer. Anyone get anything from the other two folks yet?

 

Unfortunately, no. Headed south in a couple days...

 

I hope you're wrong. Tricking a group of home-brewers who want to do something special for the holidays just for some free beer is a very childish thing to do. And the scary thing is that there are 3, not just 1.

 

Sometimes people get busy, and other priorities take precedence. I know it took me longer to get my packages out than I'd intended, so hopefully that's the case here.

 

I have done a bit of beer trading and yeast trading and I always thing of it as a gift. You give in good faith and if you get something in return, great, if not...it wasn't meant to be. I have been in both scenarios. Willum logged in yesterday so he is aware of the situation. He will'um to do what he can.

 

Thanks for the review rhoadsrage, I am glad the beer was able to help brighten your evening. And you certainly do have a way with words.

I will be breaking into my stash Christmas day I can not wait based on the reviews I have read so far.

 

I think that's a fair assessment, as I don't taste the cinnamon at all either.

 

Last night was fruitcake old ale. Out of principle, I followed roahdrages advice and sat in my leather chair with the fire going to enjoy it. Even if it was 65 degrees here in Atlanta. Practically shorts and tshirts weather! Another great beer with a unique flavor. Both this and the Gruit had a very unique and welcomed flavor profile. I really enjoyed it.

Tonight I enjoyed the raspberry lambicky ver 2.0. I would like to reiterate xcorpia's advice about opening it into a tall glass. In fact, I would suggest opening over a big bowl. This thing exploded and there was no time to put the bottle opener down and pick up the glass. I weap at how much of this delicious beverage ended up on the counter and floor. Seriously, over a bowl.

 

Sorry about that. So embarrasing...

 

We all know there is an inappropriate joke in there somewhere. Didnt mean it as a knock. It was a great beer. Just frothy. Nothing wrong with that.

 

I'm throwing 1 of each in the fridge today. I haven't thrown them in yet just to make sure they were well carbed. I guess I'll be wrong with one of them lol. I'm excited to try them. Btw everyone should be getting theres very soon, they are already sent out.

 

I included a little taste of san diego with the package.

 

This thread makes me incredibly jealous.

 

There is always next year.

 

Yay! I'm REALLY looking forward to your IPA. Mmmm...IPA. *drool*

 

I've only had it straight from the fermentor, and I thought it was delicious. Could of drank the whole thing right then and there. The devil on my shoulder said "keg it, keg it now!" Hope it's good. I might have only one bottle and save the rest for competition.

 

When did you ship? I leave for Florida today, and am concerned about them sitting on my porch and freezing.

 

Yours was the only one I didn't ship because my e-mail said december was blanked out, when do you want it there, I'll have it on that day

 

Awesome! Feel free to ship right after new year. Thanks!

 

Got my package Scruffy, thanks a bunch! Presentation rivals Xcorpia, just so everyone else knows what to look forward to. Also the addition was delicious thanks for that.

 

Can't decide if I should have one now, or on football sunday. They're been sitting in the fridge for a couple days.

P.S. Update on the 2 unsent beers?

 

Having my first which is the cherry dubbel. I must say bravo. I am totally getting the cherries. I'm not a great critiquer, however I know what I like and what I don't like, and this is delicious.

 

Having the juniper bock now. This is the last, first bottle, of the beers that I have received. Just wow. For a bunch of random knucklehead brewers on the Internet, this has been an incredible experience. What a collection of brews. Thanks to all of you. Happy holidays. (even the 2 alleged deadbeats).

 

I just hope mine is as good as this dubbel. If this is a sign of things to come, I'm going to have a hard time saving a bottle for next year.

 

I also just cracked open the first of these, and started at the top of the list, the Spiced Cherry Dubbel. Awesome...amazing reddish chestnut color, strong cherry aroma backed by some other aromatics I can't quite place. Pleasing tartness, especially on the back of the palate, and I think marries the fruit with the base beer very successfully! This reminds me very much of Troeg's Mad Elf (but much better...got to hand it to us knuckleheads, right sfrisby!)
On a more personal note, SWMBO (who is *not* really a beer person) totally loved this brew! I almost didn't get my snifter back when I handed her to taste!

 

When I told SWMBO that I am on round two of the beers, she asked how when it's the 12 days of Christmas and I haven't been drinking for 12 days yet. After I explained the three deadbeats (although Scruffy's is rumored to be in the mail), she promptly renamed them the 8 beers of Hanukkah. (math majors need not apply)

 

They're already sent out. Spyder already got his as mentioned earlier in his thread.

 

Yep Scruffy did ship for sure. Hopefully the remaining two can also get around to shipping as well. Still can not wait to start drinking these.

 

The only thing is that I made an english ipa, never had one, I have nothing to compare it to. Going to enter it into competition to get a handle on how well I did according to style.