Ho ho ho, now I have a table full of beers... Wanna get into my Discord server with other likeminded folks? Access at $5: bit.ly/H2DPatreon Prefer cocktails and spirits for your holidaty? Curiada has you covered: bit.ly/notbeerbutjustasgood Twitch: bit.ly/2VsOi3d H2D2: bit.ly/YTH2D2 twitter: bit.ly/H2DTwit instagram: bit.ly/H2dIG Blog: bit.ly/H2DBlog Patreon: bit.ly/H2DPatreon Gear: amzn.to/2LeQCbW Are Premade Cocktails Any Good: ruclips.net/video/SsXM4oiXIEU/видео.htmlsi=IbVjhwfNx82ZcwVK Can hard lemonade be good actually: ruclips.net/video/4iPoucCMi60/видео.htmlsi=26KlWNyDGswwjiPD I have found the worst way to drink: ruclips.net/video/tOkdCpsZoR8/видео.htmlsi=2lfTlHH0xflonW2M
I'm glad you liked the Einstok, there are a few other brews they sell. One of which is like drinking a pine tree, the spruce tip flavor is strong and I love it.
So, if you're not big on beer, you make like the fact that they're doing a lot of weird, weird interpretations of beer. A lot of them include things like, just adding enough fruit puree to a beer post-fermentation to turn it into an alcoholic smoothie. Anything you can find that is some kind of weird combination of words that shouldn't go together like "Pastry Stout" or "Smoothie Sour" will be unlike any beer you've ever had before. You might enjoy giving those a try and possibly making content out of it. (Fair warning, they are fairly high calorie.)
Is it scummy probably … but I wanna see my creation come to life. Angels Tit into Demons Tit. 3/4 ounce of a blueberry or blackberry liqueur. 3/4 ounce of chocolate milk. 1 bar-spoon of bitters. 1 bar-spoon of absinthe or malört or kaoliang wine. Blueberries or blackberries for garnish. Served in the same glass just not layered. Hope you enjoy ^w^ feel free to change whatever you want to make it easier to make.
May I say one thing, RIP to Anchor Brewing, a West Coast brewery that was 127 years old with a killer Holiday beer that got shut down because a major conglomerate bought it out and stupidly mismanaged it.
i used to buy at least one magnum every year, sometimes opening several years at once for my beer nerd friends at xmas parties. end of an era and im still hot about it
It happens all the time, Red Hook in Seattle is the same. They say that they will let the brewery do its thing, but very soon after, you get a bean counter telling you "well, instead of those hops from that farm in Yakima you have been using for decades, we prefer you use these hop pellets from China, its a lot more "cost effective".
My wife and I did a pumpkin-beer tasting with friends for years and even did a rating system. Consistently in the top 3: 1. Southern Tier Imperial Pumpking 2. Saucany Creek Maple Mistress 3. Schlafly Pumkin Ale 4th spot moved between many contenders over the years, but DuClaw 31 Pumpkin Lager and Heavy Seas Greater Pumpkin were often there.
Greag's wife is an MVP. "Honey, why don't you buy and then drink a whole bunch of beers." "Yes dear." I wonder how long he had to ponder that response.
I'm huge into Troeg's. They're the brewery that single-handedly got me to appreciate really hoppy beers. Blizzard Hops is good and it's their seasonal winter beer, but I wouldn't call it a Christmas beer exactly. Mad Elf is definitely their true Christmas beer.
Even though it isn't a seasonal beer, Troegenator is my go-to for the holidays/winter. Just a nice heavy glass of liquid bread to fill your belly and your soul.
Blizzard of Hops is part of their rotational IPA line call the Hop Cycle along with Hop Horizon, Field Study and Hopora. So definitely not a winter beer.
Personally I think Troeg's is overrated and Mad Elf is NOT a Belgian style beer. For one, it doesn't have the characteristic Belgian yeast flavor. For another it is nowhere near what it used to be before the art style changed. Once Troeg's moved out of Harrisburg and over to Hershey, their quality tanked. What used to be "Mad Elf" now is Mad Elf Grand Cru because they use real cherries. Mad Elf now uses a syrup.
Pumpkin is a hard sell for me, at least in beer. Ciders are another story. I’ve had one pumpkin ale, Elysian I think🤔, that left me wanting a few more sips. The rest were a hard “Pass”! Octoberfests would be compelling, but their in my style preference to begin with, with all that malty goodness! Yum
I love New Belgium's Atomic Pumpkin, though I understand that's not for everyone. Oktoberfest beers are generally 2 styles: Marzens or Altbiers (rarely Dunkels, which are delicious). It would be fun to track the styles too, though I have a few beer channels I follow for that expertise.
As a Clevelander, Great Lakes Christmas Ale is my go-to. And I hate beer. As a whiskey drinker they started releasing a Barrel Aged Christmas ale each year, and highly recommend you pick that up if you can. It might only be available here, but the barrel aged stuff is the only beer I can say I enjoy rather than just drink
Ex-Clevelander here, and yeah - not a beer person but the Great Lakes Christmas Ale, especially back in the 00s, was absolutely amazing. Luckily I can still find it where I live now.
@@cameronjohnson8842 I've had it. Not the biggest fan. From what I understand is that the great lakes recipe changes every year, and I think that's part of the charm. And as I said, I drink the normal great lakes from time to time, but the only beer I've ever really Enjoyed was their barrel aged christmas ale.
My guess is that the carpet note is oxidation. Common problem for home brewers (but it does happen commercially) that adds what is often described as “wet cardboard” note to beer.
Nah, the "carpet store" note he's talking about are phenolic compounds that resemble the scent of "band-aids" or "adhesive" or "disinfectant" Those are pretty close to the smell that hits you when you walk into a carpeting store (the smell of new polymer carpets off gassing somewhat similar molecules)
A Traditional German Christmas beverage is hot, mulled wine. In recent years some small breweries have tired (and even succeeded in some cases) in creating a kind of beer that is spiced and can be served hot! BLEW my mind the first time I tasted it, but it is now something I very much look forward to, considering they only serve it for around Three weeks a year!
There is this drink me and my friends have been doing every holiday season for the past few years, and one of them suggested posting it. It's simply a White Russian, but instead of milk/cream you use eggnog. Any eggnog works, but we've found it's best using Southern Comfort eggnog. We've been calling it a "Soviet Christmas".
episode idea: make a cocktail for every country, it can be a national drink or a drink inspired by the country's culture. You can also talk a little bit about each one, like Miller does in Tasting history.
If you like un-hoppy beer, there's a medieval herb blend called 'gruut', used to flavour beers before the widespread use of hops, and there's a few breweries who are reviving it. You might be able to get your hands on a Ghent Gruut, but there's a few American beers as well who use similar blends
Your wife is looking out for you Greg. You're a east Coast guy. Do what west coast guys can't get. Treehouse brewing! Anyway I've make my own beer 20 years now and Christmas beers take planning. But they can be the most rewarding style. Great episode!
I'm a big fan of Christmas ales, and I've started playing with them by making what I guess are fancy boilermakers, with Angostura bitters, Laird's Bonded Applejack, and a Christmas ale.
I was hoping for Winter Character cocktails, though I do love the review. I can't help but imagine a Jack Frost Julep, or a Santa's hot eggnog punch bowl, and maybe a peated whiskey cocktail for Cailleach.
I always appreciate how you're able to dissect the flavor profile of all these drinks. I'd love to see some tips and tricks for honing your own palette to be able to identify the different flavor notes. I'm sure just exposing yourself to different drinks is a good way to start, but to a certain extent, nothing is refined (to a single flavor) enough to truly isolate individual flavors, so I'm not sure where to start with that.
Looking forward to picking up some St. Bernardus Christmas ale and some Delirium Noel this year. Sierra Nevada's Celebration ale and Einstok's toasted porter are also on the cards, but if I can find Einstok's winter ale, I'll definitely give it a shot.
Also have some St. Bernardus Christmas ale stashed up for the holidays. I also really enjoy St.Feuillien Cuvee de Noel, but it was not available in my neck woods this year.
@@DaronMGL All of the ones listed here in the video (except Einstok) aren't available here in Ireland. The only other ones that I've heard of besides the Einstok are Shiner Holiday, Great Lakes Christmas ale and Bell's Christmas ale, but you can't get any here, which is a shame.
New Belgium's Holiday Ale is the best beer I've had this year. "Flavors of cranberry and spice, and everything nice." As it says on the can. Maybe the best beer of the past few years of all seasons.
Once upon a time a distillery sent used bourbon barrels to a sugar house to age maple syrup with a bourbon flavor, then the sugar house sent the maple bourbon barrels to a brewery where they brewed a stout and aged it in the maple bourbon barrels. Once in a lifetime beer. Had all the deep maple Carmel flavors added to the beer with a hint of bourbon... so good
Where I’m from in Southern California we have Stone Brewing and I got to try their new Christmas beer which was a peppermint chocolate stout and I swear it tastes like an iced peppermint mocha and more of the chocolate comes through the more room temperature it gets.
This was a super fun change-up to your normal content. Super big beer nerdy fan guy here, so it spoke to me. I loved your no nonsense approach to your reviews. It speaks to you or it doesn’t. Christmas ale flights could certainly be fun, but in like 5 or 6 4 oz pours. Kudos to you. Someone else mentioned pumpkin ale or octoberfest in the future, I definitely think that would be worth seeing you do. Once a quarter just an unhinged beer seasonal review.
Up here in New England, Sam Adams sells a variety pack of 3 flavors for winter/christmas and they are quite nice. They also have a VERY limited 1 or 2 christmas beers but they are hard to get ahold of.
Honestly, one of my favorite beers is just Modelo Especial plus a few dashes of Angostura bitters. I find that the extra spiciness is very much welcome.
I live in Colorado and my go-to Christmas beer is Oakspire from New Belgium Brewing. It's an amber ale aged in Four Roses Bourbon Barrels and it is DELIGHTFULLY STRONG!
Great Lakes brewing out of Cleveland makes probably the best xmas ale I've tried, not that I'm a big beer guy. Will check out the Southern Tier, mostly because I like visiting the brewery.
100% LET THE HEAD FROTH OUT! Glad Troegs nearly won you round, one of the best breweries in the States. Mad Elf is their main festive beer though, heavily cherry - more your kinda thing. Love your work as always!x
@@howtodrink I think it's more that bartenders and the process of pouring from keg tends to knock a lot of head out. But it will depend on the beer, of course.
if you ever do holiday ciders, I highly recommend Artifact Cider Brewery's cranberry cider. Very festive and very tart- and I am usually a dry ciders lass.
The first hoppy beer I had that I liked was Rogue Dead Guy Ale. Definitely worth a try 👍 Edit: in addition, the tasting notes on the side are always great, but these were fabulous; extra christmas goodness for sure.
I didn't know this until recently, but Dead guy is a line of beers, so they make an IPA under it too. I think i've read Dead guy original is a maibock and they also do a bourbon barrel aged one.
I have a brewery down the street that makes an Imperial Stout and it's fantastic. It's also exactly what I want for a winter/Christmas beer. Nothing crazy over the top, an elf didn't vomit into the keg, it's just a solid, 9% stout that does what it should.
Greg, you need to try more Christmas ales from Michigan!! (Like the Bell’s Christmas ale) we have the best Christmas ales. Also the octoberfest from Bell’s is amazing as well
Part of the trouble with beer is how regional it usually is, so I'm over here skimming three different stores and I don't think I have a single one of these available in my area at this point.
Tröegs & Victory are more regional to the North East. Evil Genius is even more regional than those two if I recall correctly, specifically from central PA, NJ, and maybe parts of NY and MD. It's because they're independently owned and, aside from Victory, don't send their recipes out for contract brewing so it's only the company owned breweries that are making it.
Absolute best winter ale: Deschutes Jubelale, plus it comes in barrel aged versions if you can find them. Runners up: Widmer Brrrr, Lagunitas Brown Shugga (looks like a name change this year to Unrefined Shugga), and Delirium Noel.
@howtodrink 18:18, something I tried a few years ago is to let the Mad Elf Grand Cru age! It’s bottled conditioned so it will keep doing things over time, and i found that hanging on to one for a year mellowed out the sharp (but delicious) cherry notes.
I live right by Troegs brewery and they have a bourbon barrel aged mad elf right now. It clocks in at 13 percent and packs quite the Christmasy punch. And the bourbon barrel aging definitely brings something to it as well.
I cast no aspersions on Greg's palate, but for me, Great Lakes Christmas Ale is the perfect Christmas beer. It hits all the flavor notes without veering into overtly artificial territory & is a rich ale in its own right first.
Having lived my adult life in Chicago, New York City, and Seattle... nothing beats the Jolly Roger Christmas Ale from Maritime Pacific in Seattle. You won't get it nationally, sadly (I miss it so...).
As a beer guy, I wish I could write off trying 15 beers as a business expense. When you're paying for your own drinks, and not monetizing it, it hurts to buy those $5-$15 bottles and not like what you just bought. But regarding beer, I'd love to see you try some Trappist beers, although they offer distilled versions if you're looking for a spirit.
Christmas Ale by Breckenridge is my go to December time beer. Living in Colorado, every grocery and liqour store has a ton of it each year. Cheers Greg!
Living in sucklahoma i can hardly get any of these. Now I'm planning a multi state beer run with my brothers to try them. So cheers to you pal for bringing us back together.
Being in Ohio in and growing up in Northern Ohio. Great lakes Christmas Ale is like a staple.. but I will say thirsty dogs 12 dogs of Christmas is a much better version of pretty much the same beer.. there's a whole history behind it. One of the people who worked for Great lakes had an idea of how to improve the recipe. The Great lakes company said no beer sells fine already. He ended up having to quit the job and took a job at thirsty dog and gave them a Christmas Ale that Christmas sale being the 12 dogs of Christmas
Loving the Troegs representation!! They just dropped a variety pack for the holidays called the Most wonderful Beer of the year and it has Mad elf (not grand cru), Naked elf & a Gingerbread Cookie Stout!
Would you kindly consider doing an episode on chocolate beers? The time between Thanksgiving and New Years was always filled with strong chocolate brews. May I suggest Southern Tier Nitro Hot Cocoa. If you enjoy strong smooth beer you'll enjoy this. Cheers.
Boulevard Nutcracker and Sierra Nevada Celebration are my two favorite holiday/Christmas beers. RIP Anchor, their Christmas Ale was my favorite for years.
My all time favorite Christmas beer is Samichlau. It’s a 14% ABV Bavarian Doppelbock from Brauerei Schloss Eggenberg in Austria and brewed on Saint Nicholas Day (December sixth) each year, then it undergoes a 10 month lagering before bottling.
This season I’ve really been enjoying 1554 from New Belgium. An old school gruit with no hops and lightly spiced with licorice and a few other spices. It’s warm and malty without being over spiced. I dig it.
I feel like beer companies should just go like full-on mead for the holidays. Make it absolutely decadent. It's the holidays, it's cold, bring out the honey, bougie fruits (plums, dates, juniper berries, currants, etc.), expensive nuts (hazelnuts, cashews, chestnuts, brazil nuts, pine nuts, all the nuts) and grains (especially like malt), and all that good stuff.
Greg, Anderson Valley makes a Christmas Beer. They do it in a nitro, but the only way to get it is on tap. Best Christmas beer I've ever had. You can get a non-nitro version in a can, can't vouch for it though, never had it other than the nitro version. It's called Winter Solstice.
If you ever find yourself in Dayton, OH Carillon Brewery makes beer close to how it was made in the 1850s, and one of their seasonal beers is made with spruce tips. The brewer for a day experience is a lot of fun
Great Lakes Christmas Ale used to be absolutely delicious but started going downhill a number of years ago. I believe the brewmaster left for Thirsty Dog out of Akron; 12 Dogs of Christmas is now the gold standard Christmas Ale in Northeastern Ohio. Hoppin Frog Frosted Frog is delicious, but expensive as balls.
I can't speak if it would work with fernet, but there is a pretty common drink called a NASCAR Spritz. It's usually a Miller High Life (though any similar light lager will work), with an ounce or two of Aperol or Campari and lime or lemon to taste.
Some nice selections in this video, and many are readily available. I don't have a dedicated Christmas Day beer, but I will usually drink two Mad Elf's on Christmas Eve while wrapping gifts. Great Lakes Christmas ale and Sierra Nevada's celebration are a couple I am obliged to grab every season.
One of great things about Greg is he has to have a system for everything, "I hold my beer a certain way, because it's more efficient." I think that's beautiful.
Nothing gets my fond seasonal nostalgia going like the time I had NO idea that a beer could cross 10% ABV, and found Alewerks Christmas Pancake Stout and was _falling out of my chair_ halfway through a pint. It always sold out fast, so I was usually stuck buying their Christmas Morning stout, which was more gingerbread-coffee inclined.
Carpet is typically an oxidative note. Can happen with certain types of malts ie crystal malt (used in malty beers for sweetness and caramel colour). It can also just be a sign of cold side oxidation during bottling/caning etc. It can be desired/accepted in a select few styles but generally it’s considered a fault.
Anders, I love your channel on youtube. You, Educated Barfly, and Anders Erickson have really peaked my passion for cocktails. I was wondering what you would do if you got a request for doing a winter holiday version of a Martini? Thank you so much. I realise there is little chance of this reaching you but nonetheless I hope it does. Keep up the excellent programing and I pray that you will be blessed this holiday season and experience continued success in your business endeavors.
Yeah, I'm with you. When I think 'Christmas Beer' I'm picturing a scotch or a ruby mild or something along those lines. Lots of caramel and malt forward. Also, I've lived in the UK all my life and never had figgy pudding. It has a strange place as a Christmas food that everyone knows is a thing, but no one has actually ever had it.
I grew up with the southern tier brewing headquarters roughly a 20 minute drive from where I grew up. Heavy influences in that area… many an afternoon at the golf course pounding them down.
three you should try to get a hold of: Mad Tree Thundersnow- scotch ale brewed with spices, it's got a good natural cinnamon note that avoids the air freshener taste. Columbus Brewing Citra Noel- sort of an American take on an ESB, super malty and heavily hopped, it's a very well balanced beer and a unique choice for a holiday ale. Rhinegeist Dad- similar to Citra Noel, but lower key due to the difference in hops used. it's the cozy old flannel jacket to Citra Noel's tailored peacoat with contrasting scarf.
Sigh, nothing available in my local stores except the ones you hated or were "meh" on. I still have last year's Holiday Cheer in the fridge. I see that Southern Tier also has a "Frosted Sugar Cookie" out, but that just sounds like a sugar bomb, which I hate in a beer.
GLBC used to have a truly iconic Christmas ale. Their brewer headed down to Thirsty Dog and now their 12 dogs of Christmas is the standard by which all others should be compared.
Based on what I am hearing, our beer taste is similar, Greg, so if you can get your hands on it, try the Steam-Brew Red Ale. It is a german red ale, 7.9%. Smooth as butter and kicks like a mule. It is soooo approachable, outright dangerous.
Midwesterner here. Great Lakes Christmas Ale is mid UNLESS you rim the glass with cinnamon sugar. This is so common that the endcaps in our grocery stores have the two displayed together. I promise this isn't like a Skyline Chili situation - it's actually good.
Ho ho ho, now I have a table full of beers...
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I'm glad you liked the Einstok, there are a few other brews they sell. One of which is like drinking a pine tree, the spruce tip flavor is strong and I love it.
Alternate title: Bartender Searches for the Meaning of Christmas at the Bottom of the Bottles
So, if you're not big on beer, you make like the fact that they're doing a lot of weird, weird interpretations of beer. A lot of them include things like, just adding enough fruit puree to a beer post-fermentation to turn it into an alcoholic smoothie.
Anything you can find that is some kind of weird combination of words that shouldn't go together like "Pastry Stout" or "Smoothie Sour" will be unlike any beer you've ever had before. You might enjoy giving those a try and possibly making content out of it.
(Fair warning, they are fairly high calorie.)
Is it scummy probably … but I wanna see my creation come to life.
Angels Tit into Demons Tit.
3/4 ounce of a blueberry or blackberry liqueur.
3/4 ounce of chocolate milk.
1 bar-spoon of bitters.
1 bar-spoon of absinthe or malört or kaoliang wine.
Blueberries or blackberries for garnish.
Served in the same glass just not layered.
Hope you enjoy ^w^ feel free to change whatever you want to make it easier to make.
Greg, who did the sound mixing for the levels between " background music" and your audio? The background music isn't really in the background...
May I say one thing, RIP to Anchor Brewing, a West Coast brewery that was 127 years old with a killer Holiday beer that got shut down because a major conglomerate bought it out and stupidly mismanaged it.
We used to do some sponsorship stuff with their distilling arm before the company sold. It sucked.
i used to buy at least one magnum every year, sometimes opening several years at once for my beer nerd friends at xmas parties. end of an era and im still hot about it
It happens all the time, Red Hook in Seattle is the same. They say that they will let the brewery do its thing, but very soon after, you get a bean counter telling you "well, instead of those hops from that farm in Yakima you have been using for decades, we prefer you use these hop pellets from China, its a lot more "cost effective".
@@roscoemuttley As if you can somehow cost-cut your way to incredible profit.
@@imightbebiased9311 Time to criminalize getting an MBA
This would be a good series. An octoberfest episode, summer ale episode, etc, etc
My wife and I did a pumpkin-beer tasting with friends for years and even did a rating system. Consistently in the top 3:
1. Southern Tier Imperial Pumpking
2. Saucany Creek Maple Mistress
3. Schlafly Pumkin Ale
4th spot moved between many contenders over the years, but DuClaw 31 Pumpkin Lager and Heavy Seas Greater Pumpkin were often there.
Greag's wife is an MVP. "Honey, why don't you buy and then drink a whole bunch of beers." "Yes dear."
I wonder how long he had to ponder that response.
I don’t, obviously, know what his exact response was at the time but his response on the show was the right one. “I love my wife.”
I'm huge into Troeg's. They're the brewery that single-handedly got me to appreciate really hoppy beers. Blizzard Hops is good and it's their seasonal winter beer, but I wouldn't call it a Christmas beer exactly. Mad Elf is definitely their true Christmas beer.
Even though it isn't a seasonal beer, Troegenator is my go-to for the holidays/winter. Just a nice heavy glass of liquid bread to fill your belly and your soul.
Blizzard of Hops is part of their rotational IPA line call the Hop Cycle along with Hop Horizon, Field Study and Hopora. So definitely not a winter beer.
Nimble Giant Single handedly got me into IPA's . Worked at Troegs right before covid and it was wonderful.
Personally I think Troeg's is overrated and Mad Elf is NOT a Belgian style beer. For one, it doesn't have the characteristic Belgian yeast flavor. For another it is nowhere near what it used to be before the art style changed. Once Troeg's moved out of Harrisburg and over to Hershey, their quality tanked. What used to be "Mad Elf" now is Mad Elf Grand Cru because they use real cherries. Mad Elf now uses a syrup.
@@SgtNukerThe regular Mad Elf Holiday Ale, not the Grand Cru, is certainly better. Both are still available, especially here in DC area.
Maybe next year you should try a good selection of pumpkin beers or the octoberfest beers and see which ones are worth having
Every Bavarian beer is worth having! ;)
@@stan3437 true but in the US there are breweries that do Octoberfest style beers and i've had a few that were pretty disappointing
Pumpkin is a hard sell for me, at least in beer. Ciders are another story. I’ve had one pumpkin ale, Elysian I think🤔, that left me wanting a few more sips. The rest were a hard “Pass”! Octoberfests would be compelling, but their in my style preference to begin with, with all that malty goodness! Yum
I love New Belgium's Atomic Pumpkin, though I understand that's not for everyone.
Oktoberfest beers are generally 2 styles: Marzens or Altbiers (rarely Dunkels, which are delicious). It would be fun to track the styles too, though I have a few beer channels I follow for that expertise.
Oh man, while this is needed, it sounds bad.
As a Clevelander, Great Lakes Christmas Ale is my go-to. And I hate beer. As a whiskey drinker they started releasing a Barrel Aged Christmas ale each year, and highly recommend you pick that up if you can. It might only be available here, but the barrel aged stuff is the only beer I can say I enjoy rather than just drink
Ex-Clevelander here, and yeah - not a beer person but the Great Lakes Christmas Ale, especially back in the 00s, was absolutely amazing. Luckily I can still find it where I live now.
Pimp my sleigh by fatheads is a good one in Cleveland as well
Even better: try Thirsty Dog's 12 Dogs of Christmas. It's actually the original GL Xmas recipe and it's just a little bit better.
@@cameronjohnson8842 I've had it. Not the biggest fan.
From what I understand is that the great lakes recipe changes every year, and I think that's part of the charm.
And as I said, I drink the normal great lakes from time to time, but the only beer I've ever really Enjoyed was their barrel aged christmas ale.
Friends don’t let friends drink barrel aged beers; no beer should taste like raisins! Eh, more for you I guess 😂
My guess is that the carpet note is oxidation. Common problem for home brewers (but it does happen commercially) that adds what is often described as “wet cardboard” note to beer.
in the worst cases i like to sat it "tastes like rotting newspaper smells."
which i suppose outs me as An Old
@@mikey-wl2jt im 20 and know exactly what you mean so dont sweat it
Whoa ho ho ho! Rockin a little harder now!
Nah, the "carpet store" note he's talking about are phenolic compounds that resemble the scent of "band-aids" or "adhesive" or "disinfectant"
Those are pretty close to the smell that hits you when you walk into a carpeting store (the smell of new polymer carpets off gassing somewhat similar molecules)
Actually it’s Such-and-Such hops doing Blankybloo
Watching this to avoid doing an assignment; i dont even drink all that much. Very cool thank you greg
I feel that. What’s the assignment?
Word, I'm watching to avoid folding laundry
relatable as hell...
Same
If you mix equal parts of Southern Tier 2Xmas and Troeg's Mad Elf, it's heaven in a glass! Tastes like the best Christmas fruitcake!
Southern Tier Nitro Smores Stout is awesome. Mad Elf is nasty
Well heaven for those who like alcohol and fruitcake xD
@@everythingsalright1121the only excuse for not liking fruit cake is if some eedjit has been giving you a booze free version 😂
Mad Elf if a good time in a glass, love the cherry flavor
@@d34dj3d1Careful, your beer snob is showing
A Traditional German Christmas beverage is hot, mulled wine. In recent years some small breweries have tired (and even succeeded in some cases) in creating a kind of beer that is spiced and can be served hot! BLEW my mind the first time I tasted it, but it is now something I very much look forward to, considering they only serve it for around Three weeks a year!
We gotta get a sequel with a selection from another store! I'm shocked they didn't have St. Bernardus Christmas.
$24 for a 4 pack is straight up stupid, but it is tasty
Yup, add to that: Deschutes Jubelale, Samuel Smith Winter Welcome Ale, Odell Isolation Ale, and Sam Adams Old Fezziwig.
Delirium Noel is also another good one for this list
@@n0isyturtle oh the expensive beer, it calls to me, but my bank account pulls me away
@@nongratum7755such a good beer need to pick that up again. Thanks for reminding me of it!
There is this drink me and my friends have been doing every holiday season for the past few years, and one of them suggested posting it.
It's simply a White Russian, but instead of milk/cream you use eggnog. Any eggnog works, but we've found it's best using Southern Comfort eggnog.
We've been calling it a "Soviet Christmas".
Ha! Love the name.
episode idea: make a cocktail for every country, it can be a national drink or a drink inspired by the country's culture.
You can also talk a little bit about each one, like Miller does in Tasting history.
195 cocktails...
Multiple parts lol
@@hyacinthdavidson3123 even better, a whole series (if its succesful)
Stone Brewing’s Xocoveza is the best Christmas beer I’ve tried, though it’s kinda hard to find. It’s basically an alcoholic Mexican hot chocolate.
Sold.
Love that stuff
Agreed. A really good beer.
do they still make that? it was amazing!
@@sethmcfarland1083 I just saw it in cans at a local grocery store
1:03 I love how "It's a lil' bit hoppy" translates into "Bunny Beer" and "Hippity Hoppity"in the tasting notes!! Brilliant!! XD
If you like un-hoppy beer, there's a medieval herb blend called 'gruut', used to flavour beers before the widespread use of hops, and there's a few breweries who are reviving it. You might be able to get your hands on a Ghent Gruut, but there's a few American beers as well who use similar blends
I AM GRUUT 🍺
😁
...sorry, that's all I could think of with that name!
Your wife is looking out for you Greg. You're a east Coast guy. Do what west coast guys can't get. Treehouse brewing! Anyway I've make my own beer 20 years now and Christmas beers take planning. But they can be the most rewarding style. Great episode!
Tree house is soooo overrated.
Spicy Belgian yeasts may throw off phenols that read as clove flavor. That might be what you tasted in the saison earlier.
I'm a big fan of Christmas ales, and I've started playing with them by making what I guess are fancy boilermakers, with Angostura bitters, Laird's Bonded Applejack, and a Christmas ale.
Thank you for the beer episode, loved it! Missing Meredith, is she going to be back in episodes any time soon?
I was hoping for Winter Character cocktails, though I do love the review. I can't help but imagine a Jack Frost Julep, or a Santa's hot eggnog punch bowl, and maybe a peated whiskey cocktail for Cailleach.
Not sure who does the captions on the left of every video but I just wanna say you're doing an amazing job and make these videos even better.
I always appreciate how you're able to dissect the flavor profile of all these drinks. I'd love to see some tips and tricks for honing your own palette to be able to identify the different flavor notes. I'm sure just exposing yourself to different drinks is a good way to start, but to a certain extent, nothing is refined (to a single flavor) enough to truly isolate individual flavors, so I'm not sure where to start with that.
I live for the written interpretation of your tasting notes on every video. They're always great, but these were especially so ahaha
Me too. Anybody know who writes them?
Looking forward to picking up some St. Bernardus Christmas ale and some Delirium Noel this year. Sierra Nevada's Celebration ale and Einstok's toasted porter are also on the cards, but if I can find Einstok's winter ale, I'll definitely give it a shot.
Also have some St. Bernardus Christmas ale stashed up for the holidays. I also really enjoy St.Feuillien Cuvee de Noel, but it was not available in my neck woods this year.
@@DaronMGL All of the ones listed here in the video (except Einstok) aren't available here in Ireland. The only other ones that I've heard of besides the Einstok are Shiner Holiday, Great Lakes Christmas ale and Bell's Christmas ale, but you can't get any here, which is a shame.
Yes! I was waiting for someone to note that St. Bernardus was missing. I always buy a case early, as it always sells out fast.
St bernardus is my favorite
New Belgium's Holiday Ale is the best beer I've had this year. "Flavors of cranberry and spice, and everything nice." As it says on the can. Maybe the best beer of the past few years of all seasons.
Big New Belgium fan, their Honey Orange Triple is currently my go to favorite beer. I'll have to try out their Holiday Ale, definitely intrigued.
Can confirm. I recently picked up a six-pack on a whim, and was actually blown away.
In Washington, my dad look forward to the jolly Rodger winter ale every year, and it always sells out within a couple weeks of its yearly release.
Once upon a time a distillery sent used bourbon barrels to a sugar house to age maple syrup with a bourbon flavor, then the sugar house sent the maple bourbon barrels to a brewery where they brewed a stout and aged it in the maple bourbon barrels. Once in a lifetime beer. Had all the deep maple Carmel flavors added to the beer with a hint of bourbon... so good
Founders Canadian breakfast stout?
Where I’m from in Southern California we have Stone Brewing and I got to try their new Christmas beer which was a peppermint chocolate stout and I swear it tastes like an iced peppermint mocha and more of the chocolate comes through the more room temperature it gets.
My guess on the clove in the Saison is that it comes from the yeast.
Saison yeast can often give off clove phenolics. I personally love it ☺️
This was a super fun change-up to your normal content. Super big beer nerdy fan guy here, so it spoke to me. I loved your no nonsense approach to your reviews. It speaks to you or it doesn’t.
Christmas ale flights could certainly be fun, but in like 5 or 6 4 oz pours. Kudos to you.
Someone else mentioned pumpkin ale or octoberfest in the future, I definitely think that would be worth seeing you do. Once a quarter just an unhinged beer seasonal review.
Such a hoptemistic start in the festive season!
Up here in New England, Sam Adams sells a variety pack of 3 flavors for winter/christmas and they are quite nice. They also have a VERY limited 1 or 2 christmas beers but they are hard to get ahold of.
Honestly, one of my favorite beers is just Modelo Especial plus a few dashes of Angostura bitters. I find that the extra spiciness is very much welcome.
Wow. Ango in beer? What an idea! Going to try it. Thanks
Def gonna give this a try.
I live in Colorado and my go-to Christmas beer is Oakspire from New Belgium Brewing. It's an amber ale aged in Four Roses Bourbon Barrels and it is DELIGHTFULLY STRONG!
Gotta love Bell's. They are definitely one of Michigan's greatest gifts to the world of alcohol!
I absolutely love Two Hearted. It's the only thing from Bell's I've seen in my area but I do love it.
For me it's their Kalamazoo Stout.
@@deedeethedog05 Not sure where you are but if you get Two Hearted you might get Oberon in the summer, and boy is it perfect.
@@UlyssesEverettMcGill you're right, I do get Oberon and I love that beer. I forgot they also made that one
I have an amazing discovery. HAVE A CANDY CANE FIRST. THEY MATCHED IT TO THE PALATE OF THE BEER.
Great Lakes brewing out of Cleveland makes probably the best xmas ale I've tried, not that I'm a big beer guy. Will check out the Southern Tier, mostly because I like visiting the brewery.
100% LET THE HEAD FROTH OUT! Glad Troegs nearly won you round, one of the best breweries in the States. Mad Elf is their main festive beer though, heavily cherry - more your kinda thing. Love your work as always!x
Thanks on the head comment. Am I crazy or are bottled beers seriously overcarbed vs a draught?
@@howtodrink I think it's more that bartenders and the process of pouring from keg tends to knock a lot of head out. But it will depend on the beer, of course.
if you ever do holiday ciders, I highly recommend Artifact Cider Brewery's cranberry cider. Very festive and very tart- and I am usually a dry ciders lass.
The first hoppy beer I had that I liked was Rogue Dead Guy Ale. Definitely worth a try 👍
Edit: in addition, the tasting notes on the side are always great, but these were fabulous; extra christmas goodness for sure.
I didn't know this until recently, but Dead guy is a line of beers, so they make an IPA under it too. I think i've read Dead guy original is a maibock and they also do a bourbon barrel aged one.
I have a brewery down the street that makes an Imperial Stout and it's fantastic. It's also exactly what I want for a winter/Christmas beer. Nothing crazy over the top, an elf didn't vomit into the keg, it's just a solid, 9% stout that does what it should.
In North East Ohio, you're either a Great Lakes or a 12 Dogs of Christmas person
12 Dogs is the superior Christmas Ale
Greg, you need to try more Christmas ales from Michigan!! (Like the Bell’s Christmas ale) we have the best Christmas ales. Also the octoberfest from Bell’s is amazing as well
Part of the trouble with beer is how regional it usually is, so I'm over here skimming three different stores and I don't think I have a single one of these available in my area at this point.
At least 3 of these come from PA breweries that I’m not surprised aren’t nation wide (Troegs in Hershey, Victory and Evil Genius in Philadelphia)
Tröegs & Victory are more regional to the North East. Evil Genius is even more regional than those two if I recall correctly, specifically from central PA, NJ, and maybe parts of NY and MD. It's because they're independently owned and, aside from Victory, don't send their recipes out for contract brewing so it's only the company owned breweries that are making it.
Absolute best winter ale: Deschutes Jubelale, plus it comes in barrel aged versions if you can find them.
Runners up: Widmer Brrrr, Lagunitas Brown Shugga (looks like a name change this year to Unrefined Shugga), and Delirium Noel.
If your beer friends are telling you there is a single way to pour every beer, you need new beer friends.
there is, however YOU want to pour your beer
@howtodrink 18:18, something I tried a few years ago is to let the Mad Elf Grand Cru age! It’s bottled conditioned so it will keep doing things over time, and i found that hanging on to one for a year mellowed out the sharp (but delicious) cherry notes.
OMG Finally a good beer episode for us Dads 😂
I live right by Troegs brewery and they have a bourbon barrel aged mad elf right now. It clocks in at 13 percent and packs quite the Christmasy punch. And the bourbon barrel aging definitely brings something to it as well.
I cast no aspersions on Greg's palate, but for me, Great Lakes Christmas Ale is the perfect Christmas beer. It hits all the flavor notes without veering into overtly artificial territory & is a rich ale in its own right first.
Agreed, it is truly a great beer.
Couldn’t agree more! Well said!
Having lived my adult life in Chicago, New York City, and Seattle... nothing beats the Jolly Roger Christmas Ale from Maritime Pacific in Seattle. You won't get it nationally, sadly (I miss it so...).
As a beer guy, I wish I could write off trying 15 beers as a business expense.
When you're paying for your own drinks, and not monetizing it, it hurts to buy those $5-$15 bottles and not like what you just bought.
But regarding beer, I'd love to see you try some Trappist beers, although they offer distilled versions if you're looking for a spirit.
Christmas Ale by Breckenridge is my go to December time beer. Living in Colorado, every grocery and liqour store has a ton of it each year. Cheers Greg!
I can tell you aren't a beer guy overall; calling Great Lakes hoppy more than malty shows an underdeveloped beer palate.
Mad Elf from Troegs has been my go to Christmas beer for years now. Save a few bottles for the next year and it ages incredibly well.
Greg thank you, this is the video my neurodivergent brain needs right now to “break” and stop overthinking and get distracted.
Living in sucklahoma i can hardly get any of these. Now I'm planning a multi state beer run with my brothers to try them. So cheers to you pal for bringing us back together.
Being in Ohio in and growing up in Northern Ohio. Great lakes Christmas Ale is like a staple.. but I will say thirsty dogs 12 dogs of Christmas is a much better version of pretty much the same beer.. there's a whole history behind it. One of the people who worked for Great lakes had an idea of how to improve the recipe. The Great lakes company said no beer sells fine already. He ended up having to quit the job and took a job at thirsty dog and gave them a Christmas Ale that Christmas sale being the 12 dogs of Christmas
Loving the Troegs representation!! They just dropped a variety pack for the holidays called the Most wonderful Beer of the year and it has Mad elf (not grand cru), Naked elf & a Gingerbread Cookie Stout!
That Gingerbread Stout Sounds amazing
Not sure if this is too local but... Hardywood Gingerbread Stoudt is a great Christmas beer
Would you kindly consider doing an episode on chocolate beers? The time between Thanksgiving and New Years was always filled with strong chocolate brews. May I suggest Southern Tier Nitro Hot Cocoa. If you enjoy strong smooth beer you'll enjoy this. Cheers.
Boulevard Nutcracker and Sierra Nevada Celebration are my two favorite holiday/Christmas beers. RIP Anchor, their Christmas Ale was my favorite for years.
Delirium Christmas would have fitted perfectly in this lineup
My all time favorite Christmas beer is Samichlau. It’s a 14% ABV Bavarian Doppelbock from Brauerei Schloss Eggenberg in Austria and brewed on Saint Nicholas Day (December sixth) each year, then it undergoes a 10 month lagering before bottling.
I'm glad you put the "Peaches the clown" reference in. I can't eat a peach or see anything peach flavored without doing that bit. A true HTD classic.
As someone who doesn’t really like beer but lives deep in Great Lakes Brewing country, this reaction to the Christmas ale was very amusing to me 😂
Freemont Brewing's Imperial Winter Ale didn't make the cut and it should have! It is a superb strong dark ale.
This season I’ve really been enjoying 1554 from New Belgium. An old school gruit with no hops and lightly spiced with licorice and a few other spices. It’s warm and malty without being over spiced. I dig it.
I feel like beer companies should just go like full-on mead for the holidays. Make it absolutely decadent. It's the holidays, it's cold, bring out the honey, bougie fruits (plums, dates, juniper berries, currants, etc.), expensive nuts (hazelnuts, cashews, chestnuts, brazil nuts, pine nuts, all the nuts) and grains (especially like malt), and all that good stuff.
Greg, Anderson Valley makes a Christmas Beer. They do it in a nitro, but the only way to get it is on tap. Best Christmas beer I've ever had. You can get a non-nitro version in a can, can't vouch for it though, never had it other than the nitro version. It's called Winter Solstice.
If you ever find yourself in Dayton, OH Carillon Brewery makes beer close to how it was made in the 1850s, and one of their seasonal beers is made with spruce tips.
The brewer for a day experience is a lot of fun
The Breckenridge Christmas ale is definitely tame but add a nice cinnamon sugar rim and it becomes an A+ experience. Same with the Great Lakes beer
Great Lakes Christmas Ale used to be absolutely delicious but started going downhill a number of years ago. I believe the brewmaster left for Thirsty Dog out of Akron; 12 Dogs of Christmas is now the gold standard Christmas Ale in Northeastern Ohio. Hoppin Frog Frosted Frog is delicious, but expensive as balls.
I know beer selection can be very regional, but my go-to for the holidays is Fremont's winter ale
Adding a shot of fernet to a pint of a pilsener is something a friend introduced me to as the "Poor Man's IPA" and its actually pretty good
As someone who is from Michigan, it's always good to see bells. One of the best bigger breweries and one of the best things the state has
I found this year's Great Lakes Christmas to be objectionable. Glad to see you reviewed it!
I can't speak if it would work with fernet, but there is a pretty common drink called a NASCAR Spritz. It's usually a Miller High Life (though any similar light lager will work), with an ounce or two of Aperol or Campari and lime or lemon to taste.
Some nice selections in this video, and many are readily available. I don't have a dedicated Christmas Day beer, but I will usually drink two Mad Elf's on Christmas Eve while wrapping gifts. Great Lakes Christmas ale and Sierra Nevada's celebration are a couple I am obliged to grab every season.
One of great things about Greg is he has to have a system for everything, "I hold my beer a certain way, because it's more efficient." I think that's beautiful.
Even the regular Mad Elf is great. And what is also great is mix half Mad Elf with half Troeggs Dreamweaver wheat, it's called a Mad Dream.
Nothing gets my fond seasonal nostalgia going like the time I had NO idea that a beer could cross 10% ABV, and found Alewerks Christmas Pancake Stout and was _falling out of my chair_ halfway through a pint. It always sold out fast, so I was usually stuck buying their Christmas Morning stout, which was more gingerbread-coffee inclined.
Carpet is typically an oxidative note. Can happen with certain types of malts ie crystal malt (used in malty beers for sweetness and caramel colour). It can also just be a sign of cold side oxidation during bottling/caning etc.
It can be desired/accepted in a select few styles but generally it’s considered a fault.
Anders,
I love your channel on youtube. You, Educated Barfly, and Anders Erickson have really peaked my passion for cocktails. I was wondering what you would do if you got a request for doing a winter holiday version of a Martini?
Thank you so much. I realise there is little chance of this reaching you but nonetheless I hope it does. Keep up the excellent programing and I pray that you will be blessed this holiday season and experience continued success in your business endeavors.
Yeah, I'm with you. When I think 'Christmas Beer' I'm picturing a scotch or a ruby mild or something along those lines. Lots of caramel and malt forward.
Also, I've lived in the UK all my life and never had figgy pudding. It has a strange place as a Christmas food that everyone knows is a thing, but no one has actually ever had it.
I grew up with the southern tier brewing headquarters roughly a 20 minute drive from where I grew up. Heavy influences in that area… many an afternoon at the golf course pounding them down.
The "YEAH" at 16:48 is the throaty sound of pure Christmas joy.
I love Breckenridge brewerys Christmas ale!! Near where i live in Colorado they sell it in these tiny little 3 gallon fridge kegs
three you should try to get a hold of:
Mad Tree Thundersnow- scotch ale brewed with spices, it's got a good natural cinnamon note that avoids the air freshener taste.
Columbus Brewing Citra Noel- sort of an American take on an ESB, super malty and heavily hopped, it's a very well balanced beer and a unique choice for a holiday ale.
Rhinegeist Dad- similar to Citra Noel, but lower key due to the difference in hops used. it's the cozy old flannel jacket to Citra Noel's tailored peacoat with contrasting scarf.
Used to work at Troegs. They use to cap people on how many pints of Mad Elf you could have while at the taproom. People would
Get CRAZY with it
Sigh, nothing available in my local stores except the ones you hated or were "meh" on. I still have last year's Holiday Cheer in the fridge. I see that Southern Tier also has a "Frosted Sugar Cookie" out, but that just sounds like a sugar bomb, which I hate in a beer.
GLBC used to have a truly iconic Christmas ale. Their brewer headed down to Thirsty Dog and now their 12 dogs of Christmas is the standard by which all others should be compared.
Suggestion for a future episode, a deep dive on brandy, brandy cocktails and recommendations for more beginner/mid tier bottles for those
I dig the Trogges Blizzard of hopps it's a local favorite here in Southern Pennsylvania.
Glad to see Great Lakes make an appearance here
Based on what I am hearing, our beer taste is similar, Greg, so if you can get your hands on it, try the Steam-Brew Red Ale. It is a german red ale, 7.9%. Smooth as butter and kicks like a mule. It is soooo approachable, outright dangerous.
"That's not carpet...it's berbah..and you gotta boil it first. Softens the glue" -Carl
This guy ATHFs
the fish flavoring could be from minerals in the water for brewing which are similar to minerals in water the fish come from.
Midwesterner here. Great Lakes Christmas Ale is mid UNLESS you rim the glass with cinnamon sugar. This is so common that the endcaps in our grocery stores have the two displayed together. I promise this isn't like a Skyline Chili situation - it's actually good.