This past Thursday found Jeff and me at the monthly beer tasting at the Arbor Brewing Company. One of the great things about these beer tasting are the detailed little pamphlets that you get when you walk in the door. These little guys explain where to get the particular beer (along the wall, in the beer cellar, wherever) and what you will be drinking when you get there. I got a good taste of most of the beers and managed to even squeeze some notes into my pamphlet.
Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale: Like many SN that I have had, this one had a lovely hit of hops to it. I love hops, so that was fine with me. It had a nice, floral nose to it with hints of orange.
Summit Winter Ale: My pal Mike was pouring this one, so I made an early stop at his table. The color of the beer was kind of a mahogany and quite attractive. It had a nice woody roasted malt and coffee taste, with a chocolate finish. I'm normally not a huge fan of chocolate, but I loved the finish in this beer.
Bell's Winter White: I am not usually a fan of whites (Blue Moon excepted), and so I can't say that I loved this one. It had the usual Belgian taste to it, and Jeff said it was really good for a white.
Bell's Christmas Ale: One of my favorites. My pal Brent was at this table, and I made several stops back to say hello and get more tastes of the beer. Nice, earthy tastes and nicely hopped. Slightly bitter finish. And to paraphrase an old commercial, if it's from Bell's, it has to be good.
Samuel Smiths Winter Warmer: Another pal, Angela, was pouring this beer. It had a lovely appley nose with a hint of toffee. It had kind of a brown sugar and caramel taste. I couldn't drink a lot of it, but a taste or two was nice.
Heavy Seas Below Deck Barleywine. Another one of the drinking group, Pete, was at this station. The pamphlet promised spicy hops, but I didn't get that from my taste. I would have liked some more hoppiness to this beer. OTOH, maybe I would have been happier if I hadn't expected the hops? We'll never know....
Heavy Seas Winter Storm: Happily, I enjoyed this beer much more than the first HS. I never would have guessed it was 7.7%abv. The beer has a lovely sweet scent, starts with a caramel/toffee flavor and finishes with a fruity taste. As the pamphlet said, this beer hides it alcohol well. I could have drank lots more of this and then would have wondered why I couldn't stand up!
Avery Old Jubilation: My friend Cindy was pouring here, so it was one of the first tables that I hit. This beer was a lovely mahogany shade. The taste was of hazelnuts, mocha and toffee. It was warm, soothing and good.
Lurgashall Christmas Mead: The first table that Jeff and I visited was our friend, Spencer's table. He was pouring this mead and it was heated up in a crock pot. It was very honeyey (I am sure that is not a word, even though spell check seems to be allowing it!). I couldn't drink more than a sip, as the honey just hit my stomach with a thump.
Unibroue Quatre-Centieme: The name of this brewery always makes me think fondly of the unibrow baby on the Simpsons. And their beer is usually good--this one certainly was! It had a nice blend of hops, coriander, fruit and pepper. It was smooth and light. I could have easily drank more.
Rogue Santa's Private Reserve: OK, this pourer had the best.nametag.ever, calling himself merely Kwanzaa Klaus. That just made me giggle. His beer was awesome, too! This beer was a dark red and had lots of hops. Lots of hops! Whee!
Founders Old Curmudgeon: I've had this beer before, and it was as wonderful as I remembered it. It has toffee, caramel and nutty flavors in it.
Petrus Winter Ale: As I've mentioned, I'm not a huge fan of Belgian beers. However, I love brown ales. This was a holiday issue of the "Old Brown", and the "brown" taste overcame the "Belgian" taste, if that makes any sense.
Jolly Pumpkin's Calabaza Noel: Jeff assures me that this is a good beer...figgy, raisiny, nutty taste with nice hops and that signature JP "taste".
Huyghe Delirium Noel: This is the brewery with the pink elephant mascot. For this year, the elephants were dressed like reindeer. Awesome! Oh yeah, the beer was good, too! :) Malty with tastes of spcies and fruits. I didn't realize until I was reading the description just now that this was 10% abv. Holy cow! No wonder they use pink elephants!
Lagunitas Brown Shugga: This beer had me at the nose...citrus, hops and brown sugary sweetness. Mmmm. Lovely citrus and sweet taste. Another one that is 10% abv! No wonder it made my belly so warm!
Samichlaus: This was a bit strong for me, so I only had a sip. Jeff loved it though! It has a creamy taste with a strong, warm finish. It comes in at 14% abv, so it wasn't something he could drink all night, but great for a taste or three.
I should also mention that lovely spread that accompanies the beer tastings. This time, we had pierogies, hot pretzels, chicken wings, pork and veggies (which Jeff said were awesome), fresh veggies and dip and the most excellent meatballs.
Thanks ABC, for another great tasting!
Ah, tis the season for 