Better Drinking

The 5th and final beer tasting of this year was held at our house last Friday, December 2nd. We had a medium size crowd anxious to try the newest category, winter and seasonals. When I first put my list together, my fear was that the monotony of having 16 different spiced beers would result in boredom. But as it turns out, only about 1/3 were considered "winter warmers", a very broad style of beer according to BJCP standards, and the rest were a good mix of English and Belgian styles, and a dopplebock thrown in for good measure. With the exception of one (Ale Mary), all of these beers are only brewed during the winter months and with the 14% ABV law change only 18 months ago, most of them were not available last year. Less than half of these were known to my tastebuds before the event. A little risky, but everything turned out great.

As usual, Michelle came through in excellent form with home-made snacks and especially so as the hostess, since we're usually in someone else's home. The attendees were happy to be there, or at least pretended to be, and I certainly appreciate everyone's participation, as always. Our beer list was as follows:

Sam Adams Winter Lager
Sam Smith Winter Warmer
Anchor's Our Special Ale
Ale Mary
Sweetwater Festive Ale
Avery Old Jubilation Ale
Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale
Mendocino Winter Ale
Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout
Delirium Noel
Corsendonk Christmas Ale
Golden Carolus Noel
Great Divide Hibernation Ale
Scaldis Noel
Samichlaus

My daughters (Ashley and Mandy) took a few pictures - here they are:


Nathan enjoying even the last drop


The food table was the center of conversation


Michael enjoys his beer, while Sarina waits for a sip


Adrian, David, Blake, and Joe - future pro beer judges


The aftermath of empty bottles

Thanks again to everyone for your support; beer education is tough work but as long as folks are willing to drink and learn, we're happy to keep pouring!!