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

[jgourd]

I mailed out the Fruitcake Old Ale to everyone yesterday. Those farthest away from me should get them in 5 days or so. UPS was cheapest to everyone but the brewer in Kentucky (I take it it's a rural area so FedEx was cheapest there). I shipped three bottles per brewer (10 brewers total now).

Yes, they are in clear bottles. It helps me to see what's inside and the clarity. Plus, I keep mine in the dark anyways, so no problems. I wrapped each bottle in bubble wrap and stuffed them in a zip-loc bag (one bottle went in one bag, the other two bottles in another). Those went in a 12"x6"x6" box which was stuffed with newspaper for padding, and a neat little label (uhmmm, just the name of the beer) was put on top before being closed and taped shut. I wrote "UP" on several sides of the box (with arrows) and on top. If you open it the right way, the label is on top.

Can't wait to get and try your beers! My goal is to sample the first one on December 14, the second on the 15th, and so on so that the last one is sampled on the 24th.

 

[NuclearRich]

Getting everything prepped for shipping tonight! Cant wait to start getting my christmas presents from y'all (almost moreso than the ones from my family lol, especially the socks from mom)

 

[bobdozer]

Just got home and received the fruitcake old ale today already. That was some quick shipping! Ill finish packaging tomorrow evening and ship out Saturday or Monday morning.

 

[stblindtiger]

It's been crazy around here, and I wanted to give it more time on the Brett B, so I'm kegging today and will bottle in a week then ship them all out on Monday the 16th. I'm hoping it will make it out to everyone by Christmas.

Just curious.... About how much has shipping been costing everyone?

Can't wait to try everyone else's beers! The final sampling from the Christmas Gruit was definitely pretty cool! Finished out nice and dry at 1.004. I like it! Hope you do too!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

 

[FermentedTed]

Honey Ginger IPA is all bottled and I plan to label and pack the boxes tonight. I'm not convinced by the carb level, but at this point I just had to roll with it. Hoping to have them in the mail by Tuesday or Wednesday this week. The SWMBO was nice enough to handle the capping, so between her and the beer gun we cranked through them pretty quick. I'll send an update once they are on their way.

 

[jgourd]

One of the brewers received my Fruitcake Old Ale package in a different package than I shipped it in. And a bottle was missing. I can only presume that the package was damaged in transit and UPS repackaged it. I'd like to hear that the rest of my packages made it safe, so if the rest of you can comment to let me know when your package arrived, that would be awesome. Thanks!

I said package a lot there...

 

[NuclearRich]

One of the brewers received my Fruitcake Old Ale package in a different package than I shipped it in. And a bottle was missing. I can only presume that the package was damaged in transit and UPS repackaged it. I'd like to hear that the rest of my packages made it safe, so if the rest of you can comment to let me know when your package arrived, that would be awesome. Thanks!

I said package a lot there...

I received it last night! It looked a little shaken up, but all contents arrived safely. One is in the fridge now

It took me a lot longer than I thought it would to package, but I'll be printing the labels today and dropping to fedex tonight.

 

[FermentedTed]

One of the brewers received my Fruitcake Old Ale package in a different package than I shipped it in. And a bottle was missing. I can only presume that the package was damaged in transit and UPS repackaged it. I'd like to hear that the rest of my packages made it safe, so if the rest of you can comment to let me know when your package arrived, that would be awesome. Thanks!

I said package a lot there...

Received mine yesterday... all bottles were present, but one appeared to have leaked at the cap. Lost 6 oz or so. Didn't stop me from chilling down the remainder and drinking it! Tasted great, even flat! I'll save my more detailed review for when I drink one of the ones that remained sealed.

 

[FermentedTed]

10 boxes of Honey Ginger IPA are now on their ways to each of you... just dropped them off at the UPS Store this morning. Hopefully these sub-zero temps won't cause any issues. I tried to include each of your email addresses when I shipped so you would receive your tracking number, with the exception of Rich (sorry, I didn't notice the option until after I had printed your label. Yours is 1ZT476E10392667420). If anyone else didn't get theirs and wants it, just send me a PM and I'll send it to you.

 

[FermentedTed]

Just curious.... About how much has shipping been costing everyone?

I sent all of mine through UPS and it was between $14-$17 per box depending on the distance. More than I was expecting, but I was lazy and made no attempt to shop it to find a better price.

 

[stblindtiger]

I thought the shipping was going to run about $150 plus materials so that makes me feel a little better. Thanks for the heads up!

I received the fruitcake old ale today too, but had a little leakage with one, and they all seemed a bit shaken up.

Hopefully it starts to warm up a bit across the country, and gives us a nice window to ship them out without worrying too much about them freezing.

 

[jjefrey]

Just returned from working out of town. Will get everything packed and shipped this weekend.

 

[danbrewtan]

Same for me. Shipping this weekend! Haven't received any beers yet, but may tonight.

 

[Stovetop535]

I will be shipping either tomorrow evening or this weekend for sure. I received the fruitcake ale today, all made it intact.

I stopped by ups the other day to see how much it would cost for 10 boxes, the 12 x 12 x 6 were over 4 bucks a box! It was going to be almost fifty bucks just for boxes! Instead I drove across the street to Walmart and got 10 12x12x12. Little bigger than I wanted, but at 68 cents a piece I don't care. How in the world can ups justify over 4 bucks for a box? Stupid things like that make me want to ship fed ex, or bend the rules and ship with the post office.

 

[NuclearRich]

20sq ft of bubble wrap is $5-7 at Wal-Mart or target. For the hell of it I looked at FedEx when I was there. $11. Never buy packing supplies from the places you would think did have the best prices. .. since it is their market. .. crazy

 

[jjefrey]

Received the Fruitcake Ale yesterday. All bottles intact.

 

[bobdozer]

Just shipped out everyone's presents. The people in line behind me seemed angry about me shipping 13 packages any once. Oops.
Some are slated to arrive as early as Monday. Most were Wednesday or Thursday. I'll send everyone a pm with your tracking number. Just FYI for those who haven't shipped yet, I paid about $18 a box on average. About half the boxes were the Walmart 12x12x12...the other half are misc. Baby wipe and Rubbermaid boxes. Have to be resourceful.

EDIT: sent tracking numbers in email.

 

[FermentedTed]

Based on the tracking, it looks like some of my packages have landed... Let me know what condition you got them in. With the deep freeze this week, I've been worried about beercicles...

 

[stblindtiger]

Got the Caramel Quad and Honey Ginger IPA today! All made it safe and sound!

Cleaning the bottles tonight, bottling tomorrow night (off the keg) and hopefully shipping on Monday if I can get them all packed up.

 

[gavball6]

Hey all... I'll be packaging up the Cherry Dubbel tomorrow and hope to ship them out by end of the day. They are super cherry flavored and very tart... Not sure my opinion on that, but I think they will age and mellow nicely...

FYI, I received the Honey Ginger and Caramel Quad intact... Unfortunately, all three of the Fruitcake Ale also leaked for me too. Probably lost a couple of ounces from each. The bottles are fine, so it must have been an issue with the caps.

 

[NuclearRich]

Honey ginger ipa sat on my back step for hours in 23F... but no beercicle! This is so exciting!
Glad 2/10 quads are in already and safe and sound

 

[FermentedTed]

Sweet! I've been stressed all week!

 

[Stovetop535]

I received the honey ginger ipa today as well, all arrived intact. I am going to assume that is just a silver sharpie you used to write on the bottles? That's a great idea. Probably just a little scrubbing and it comes right off I bet.

All I did to the caps on mine day put an AW on the top. I hate cleaning bottles, so I refuse to label them and add an extra step.

 

[FermentedTed]

I received the honey ginger ipa today as well, all arrived intact. I am going to assume that is just a silver sharpie you used to write on the bottles? That's a great idea. Probably just a little scrubbing and it comes right off I bet. All I did to the caps on mine day put an AW on the top. I hate cleaning bottles, so I refuse to label them and add an extra step.

Yep! I was able to convince my wife to do the labeling for me because if I did it it would look like a 1st grader wrote it. I usually only bottle for competitions, so I normally just label the cap as well...

 

[bobdozer]

Just received the honey ginger IPA. One bottle leaked a little, less than an ounce. The cap was leaking CO2 when I got the box open. I missed the ups guy by about 5 seconds and he probably dropped the box on my porch. Just recapped and threw in the fridge. Can't wait to try it

 

[jgourd]

Hey all... I'll be packaging up the Cherry Dubbel tomorrow and hope to ship them out by end of the day. They are super cherry flavored and very tart... Not sure my opinion on that, but I think they will age and mellow nicely...

FYI, I received the Honey Ginger and Caramel Quad intact... Unfortunately, all three of the Fruitcake Ale also leaked for me too. Probably lost a couple of ounces from each. The bottles are fine, so it must have been an issue with the caps.

Weird that the Fruitcake Old Ale leaked. I made sure the caps were on tight, and I use a bench bottle capper. Do you know if they all lost carbonation? If so, I can send out some more.

 

[bobdozer]

Probably ups handling. I hope all mine make it to everyone safely.

 

[danbrewtan]

Shipping out these bad boys tomorrow!

 

[gavball6]

Weird that the Fruitcake Old Ale leaked. I made sure the caps were on tight, and I use a bench bottle capper. Do you know if they all lost carbonation? If so, I can send out some more.

Not sure yet... Popped one in the fridge today. I will try tomorrow and let you know. No worries!

 

[Stovetop535]

One of the fruitcakes leaked a little for me but it was still carbed.