The Beer Nerd - what are you drinking / brewing thread

I didn't have last year's because I failed getting some, so not sure.

But meh, this is good enough to just throw back with the fam.

 

I was looking for Christmas beers at our local grocery store, which has a pretty good selection of beers. The person working the beer section told me about this one. They hadn't had it, and I hadn't even heard of it, but I thought I'd give it a whirl. I'm really glad I did. This is a really great Christmas beer. More specifically, it's a Belgian strong ale. It's got that flavor of Belgian yeast, but that flavor is further in the background than something like Chimay. It's malty, fairly sweet, (though not as sweet as something like Sam Smith's Chocolate Stout), spicy, with a little bit of pine. Nice, creamy mouthfeel. It's 10% ABV but you sure can't tell. I'll definitely be seeking this out next holiday season.

 

Once you get through all 12, please let us know which one you liked best. Karbach (a local brewery) also did a 12 beers of Christmas kind of thing but I didn't get to try any of them.

 

Merry Christmas fellas

 

Last one...

 

Negative Space (milk stout) from 11 Below, one of the best local Houston breweries.

 

Yummy!

 

I honestly believe some brewers should be put in prison.

WTF is a Hazy West Cost Style IPA?

 

Something they made up… just like “west coast style”. I’m still waiting for southern style IPA…

 

The new Deep South Style IPA, brewed using Copenhagen instead of hops and deer blood instead of water!

 

…with essence of Sweet Tea!

 

Hard to recall a particular favorite, really. Most were Belgian quads, so all of them had a very similar flavor with subtle differences and honestly, I can't recall any one from the others. That said, I think my favorite was 8 Maids A Milking, as it was an Imperial Milk Stout and probably the furthest departure from all the Quads.

Incidentally, I was going back thru my posts from the series and it appears I never posted the pic for that one, so here it is...

 

Love me a good milk stout!

 

I want to give a Christmas shout out to Bear Republic Brewing. Since the pandemic began I have been buying cases of beer from them and Russian River Brewing. But on Friday the delivery guy had 2 cases for me? This is the note and stickers that came with the extra case. Now that's some class right there. Especially since I'm paying about $100./case. Thanks again Bear Republic!