We have reviewed several other Christmas Ales on this site.  Some of them have been spiced and others not.  Some were good, despite having cinnamon, cloves, or other flavors added.  Corsendok and Bison were examples of two good Christmas Ales. Let me start this review by saying that this Ale was not my style.  Some of you may love it...you can still tell it is well-made, but I don't like some of the flavors.  Additionally, Schlafly does make some very good Ales (like their Bourbon Barrelled beers), so don't think that I'm being militant against the company (at least there is one company in St. Louis making good beers).  The color was a good start on the beer, being that it was a lovely coppery-bronze.  It was very attractive and active in the bottle, which gave it a nice creamy head.  Cloves and orange zest were very apparent in the beer, cloves more than anything else.  There really wasn't too much going on beyond this in the beer. Alcohol warmth was obvious upon drinking the beer.  Bitter orange zest started from the first sip to the very end; orange was certainly the most prominent quality in the beer.  The cloves were also present, which is very ...

You can always count on the wisdom of Cheers to justify your beer indulgances... Says Cilff... 'Well you see, Norm, it's like this . . . A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first.. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members. In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Now, as we know, excessive intake of alcohol kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. And that, Norm, is why you always feel smarter after a few beers. ' I think we should explore the true scentificly proven health benefits of moderate beer consumption...

'Twas the night before ChristmasAnd all through the houseNot a creature was stirringBesides me, drinking a brewskiOk...not so poetic.  Anyway, the drink it with us friday beer is St.Peter's Cream Stout.  This stout hails from the other side of the pond, brewed in England's St. Peter's Brewery (obviously).I've not had this beer but am looking forward to it.  The full bodied malty-sweet brew is just what I need on a cold December night like we've been having here in Toledo, Ohio.  And for the price ($2.49) it's a steal.  Pick it up and toast with us this Friday!  Cheers!

This is our second review for "Drink with us Everyday" during our Christmas week.  I hope that you are joining with us as much as possible while we are drinking and reviewing these beers.   Looking at the color of the beer, it had a golden color with hints of Rudolph's red nose.  The beer had a much longer, taller, and stable head than Santa's Butt Winter Porter, which we reviewed last night.  There was a nice creamy looking head on it, which held in place very nicely.  In the nose of the beer there was some fruitiness, which I pinpointed as apricot.  There was also a touch of alcohol aroma that co-mingled through its overt metallic notes.  The metallic notes were also noticeable, but not overpowering, in the palate of the beer.  A medium hop level was present in the beer at a level slightly higher than the first Ridgeway beer that we tasted.  Having gotten past the wave of hops, the beer ended with a dry, grainy, and somewhat bitter finish.  There was maybe even a hint of dried nuts at the end.   Perhaps the Porter was slightly better, but I'm often biased toward darker beers, so how good it is to you is for you to discover.  I will say that I enjoyed the beer, so you might like it, too.

Santa's Butt-- what an interesting name for a beer.  This is one beer in a series of Christmas-themed beers from Ridgeway.  Let's break it down a little.  First of all, Santa's "something" is an appropriate name for this time of year.  Surely, his "Butt" is not appropriate.  Well, there's actually more than meets the eye to the name.  Double entendre anyone?  A "Butt" is actually an older term that meant barrel.  Porters, such as Entire Butt, play to this fact.  I guess the implication is that the beer came from Santa's Barrel (you can see why I didn't say that it came from Santa's Butt).  Ah! British humor.  Without futher ado, let's talk about the beer. The beer comes in at 6% ABV, which is perfectly fine for a Porter.  Of course there are stronger versions, notably Okocim's version.  Santa's Butt had very little head retention and a deep reddish-brown body.  It fit very nicely into a pint glass.  On the nose, it had a slightly metallic, winish touch, plenty of toasted & burnt grain, and touches of chocolate.  There were also hints of honey, hops, and sweet malts.  Along with the chocolate taste, the sweet malts translated into the palate.  Dry burnt grains  also gave off a very nice roastiness to the beer, as well as a imparting a slight ...

Has anyone ever wondered what an I.P.A. (India Pale Ale) is?  I'm going to talk about Pale Ales first because an India Pale Ale is an amped up version of the former.  I've actually already given some good information on Pale Ales when we had Samuel Smith's Pale Ale (here is a link to that article and review).  Even though I've covered some of the bases before, let me just briefly define a Pale Ale. A Pale Ale is not pale at all.  The utilization of lighter grains as compared to those used in English Porters and Stouts helped to give this beer its name.  Some of this had to do with technological advance.  I've written some stuff on grains already, so I'm not going to cover it much here (I'm providing multiple links in the articles to cover some other questions you might have).  In addition to being lighter than other Ales of the time, the beer was also more hopped than a Porter or Stout might typically be.  Rolling Rock is not actually a good example of a Pale Ale (check out the Samuel Smith's that we have reviewed on here for a more classic example of this beer type). Well, Pale Ales were great for the homefront.  But what about people ...

In a few days I am flying through the Denver airport.  Man, am I hoping that I'm not going to experience any delays.  I'm hoping even more that I am not going to be like that other airplane and slide off the runway.  Did you hear about the story?  Maybe that slide off drove those people to enjoying some Breckenridge beers in the airport.  Anyway, I heard about the story, but I'm still going through with taking a flight that will be at the same airport.  Why?  I guess because I still want to see some family members.  I know that flying is actually safer than driving, which we take for granted because most of us drive every day.  But many things in life are risky propositions.  If you seriously consider it, we do a lot of things in the journey of our own lives that can be downright perilious.  Don't we? Yet, many of us have some inherent fright of trying something new.  Is this how fear that we should have about dangerous things (which we actually do) expresses itself?  I don't know.  But some of us will risk our very lives in everyday life in ways that we consider mundane.  We'll risk our lives but not our palates.  Now ...

More than O.K.--that is what I have to say about this beer.  I've had Okocim's strong Porter a few times and have enjoyed it.  When I saw this beer, called a Full Pale, I thought I'd give it a whirl.  After all, there are some nice beers coming from Poland.  Upon pouring the beer, it had a little head on it, which was sandy blond and looked fairly clean in the glass.  It was pretty aromatic, as far as a Pilsner-style goes.  On Okocim's website, this is called a Polish Pils Style.  It did have a light hop aroma, which is typical of many Pilsners these days (although not historically).  I noted a slight woodiness and grainy-ness in the nose, along with sweet honey overtones.  Taste-wise, the beer had a slight alcohol taste and a nice grainy finish.  There was also a dry and slightly nutty finish to the brew.  I found the dryness particularly likable.  The honey in the nose came through in the palate of the beer, especially when it came to the yeasty aspects.  There was nothing extremely distinctive about this beer...but something inexplicable made the beer immenently drinkable.  It is a delicious beer that you don't have to overthink.

Normally, we talk about beer on this site.  I've posted once before about beer and cigars.  Of course, this article will talk about beer, too, but I'm also going to give some props to Bourbon as a drink.  If you are interested in trying the best Bourbon in the world, don't look any further than what I'm about to tell you.  George T. Stagg.  For any Bourbon lover...enough said.  This barrel proof Bourbon (i.e., it is a Bourbon that is not watered down when it comes out of the barrel), comes in at a little over 70% alcohol.  It changes slightly from year to year, but it is always strong and full-flavored.  I've enjoyed a glass of this many a day.  But this year I had a great idea.  When I got this Bourbon that comes out once a year in the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, I thought about how great it would be to put some cigars in a sealed jar with a shot of this Bourbon.  I'm in the middle of leaving them in there for about three or three and a half weeks.  When I get these out, I'm going to try them with various beers.  I think I'll ...

As the title indicates, this article will cover more ground than just a single type of beer.  However, it will deal with a singular concept, namely, the role of hops and grains in English Ales.  There will be plenty of time to cover other Ale considerations in future articles.  The particular types of top-fermented Ale covered in this article will be "Normal" English Ales, Milds, Bitters, and Extra Special Bitters (E.S.B.s).  As I mentioned above, hops are the major consideration in the variance of these types of Ales.  I'm using "Normal" to designated an English Ale that cannot be further defined by another category of Ale (i.e., it is not a Bitter, Pale Ale, Irish Ale, India Pale Ale...you get the idea).  So, in some ways it is a catch-all phrase.  I suppose these "Normal" Ales have also been called "Pub Ales" (of course, Bitters can also be called by the same name).  Hobgoblin might be a good example of "just a normal English Ale."  If you see the simple terminology of English Ale or English Style Ale, you are probably dealing with a "Normal" English Ale.  A beer that is less hopped than a "Normal" Ale is often characterized as a "Mild Ale."  ...