A Year in Waiting: 2009 Anchor Christmas Ale

image from wikipedia

I'll never forget the first time I went to Monterey, Ca. It was 1995 and my first time to the Northern California coast. It was also the first (and only) time I'd run over a seagull (a complete accident, but it was in front of a bunch of nuns!), and the first time I'd ever seen the majestic cypress tree. The Lone Cypress is visible on the 17-Mile-Drive loop, which also goes past Pebble Beach.

When I saw that the tree on the 2009 Anchor Christmas Ale was the Cupressus Macrocarpa (Monterey Cypress), I instantly recalled this trip. Though I didn't drink any beer on that vacation, I had a lot of chocolate. A lot.

And the 2009 Christmas Ale pays tribute to the Great Chocolate Consumption of 1995 with a heavy dose of cocoa in both aroma and flavor. Right away, you're met with aromas of chocolate and oranges, accompanied by molasses, anise, and cherries. While the 2010 was reminiscent of molasses crinkles, the 2009 brings forth images of well-made fruitcake (not the crappy kind with cheap candied fruit) and chocolate-covered orange rind.

The flavor is heavy on dark, rich, bitter cocoa - the kind you'd only get at a specialty shop... the kind grandma doesn't care for because it's so bitter. The orange character pops up again in the flavor, followed by some spices - notably, clove and mace.

And the body is quite different from the '10. This one is much drier, lighter in body, and more highly carbonated. That lightness in mouthfeel, the dryness - they pair extremely well with the bitter, dark cocoa components of the aroma and flavor.

So far, we favor the 2009. But we still have five more magnums to go.

A Partridge in a Ginkgo Tree

Back in September, Mr Wort Hog and I made a trip to Goebel Liquor & bought six magnums of Anchor Christmas Ale (2009 - 2005). We weren't sure what we'd do with them, but they were so damn cheap we couldn't leave them there on the shelves. It seems unfair to do anything but a vertical, but trying to drink 9 liters of beer in one go between us seemed a bit ridiculous. Besides, this isn't Oktoberfest. So, over the next couple of weeks, we're drinking them all. Yep, you read that right.

Every year since 1975, Anchor has made its Christmas ale with a different - and secret - recipe and a different tree on the label. This year's tree is the Ginkgo tree (does memory improve with consumption?); we didn't get a magnum of the '10, but did pick up a sixer of the vintage. I think that's probably a more reasonable size for verticals. We're starting with the newest first, so a bottle of the 2010 starts this run of reviews (and yes, I'll actually post them in a timely manner, unlike my still-outstanding Germany posts).

The 2010 has a fantastic aroma; it smells like a molasses crinkle! Tons of molasses & ginger in the aroma, with nutmeg & dried fig not far behind. There were also notes of cherries & juniper or spruce in there, with a little bit of cookie-biscuit (you know, like those British "digestive" biscuits - vanilla, graham, and grain).

The flavor isn't much different, melding ginger, dark chocolate, toast crust, candied orange peel, and a little coffee. The finish is moderately bitter from the roasted malt and a decent helping of hops, but ends a little on the sweet & creamy side.

There are a lot of flavors going on here, and they all pair very well with each other. However, I think a few years of hanging around in the bottle will improve the complexity and depth of flavor. The different components just need more time to "marry". It's definitely worth picking up a six-pack or two and drinking one or two bottles now, saving the rest for next year. The richness and complexity of the Christmas Ale is something that is sure to change over time.

Summerfest and the Living's Easy

It's no surprise I'm a fan of Sierra Nevada Brewing Company and their products. The quality of their beer is outstanding, and their commitment to the craft beer community is constant. Everyone knows their Pale Ale, of course, but their German Hefeweizen (Kellerweis) is one of the best I've had from an American brewery. They're coming out with a new seasonal this fall (nixing their Anniversary Ale), named "Tumbler". It's an American Brown in IBUs and original gravity, but hopped with English-style hops (Challenger and Yakima Goldings). But we'll have to wait until late summer/early fall to see that in stores.

You can, however, pick up Summerfest now, and I recommend you do so. It's a Pils brewed with American two-row and Munich malts, and is hopped with both German and Czech noble hops (Perle and Saaz, respectively). The end result is a beer that is light in body, but with plenty of grainy malt flavor and spicy hop aroma and bitterness. There's also a bit of lemon in both aroma and flavor as well, but not enough to take over the beer. The high carbonation and lingering bitterness really make this a thirst-quencher, but a light lager it is not. There's plenty of maltiness there to keep you interested.

I really enjoyed this beer and was disappointed it was the only one I stuck in a mixed six-pack. Next time, an entire sixer it is.

Summer's Here

There are a few things I love about summer:

• Sitting/eating/drinking outside
• Fresh summer beer that's light and refreshing

OK, maybe "a few" is an exaggeration.

A couple of weekends ago, we hiked on over to 75th Street Brewery and checked out their brand-spanking-new beer garden. It's in the old Kennedy's space; they ripped the roof right off and slightly redesigned the layout into a great partially-covered beer garden. Some hop bines are growing up one wall and over the top; they should provide some shade this summer and for years to come. There's a bar out there, too. I snapped a couple of pictures with my (new!!) cell phone (that has a camera on it!!):

As a side note, they had a ginger mango wheat on tap for American Craft Beer Week; I ended up drinking an entire pint of it and wanted more. It was lightly fruity and refreshing; the ginger gave the beer a little sweet spiciness, and the mango wasn't overpowering or too sweet. Great for summer, and if you see it there I recommend ordering a pint. My only complaint about it was that I would have liked a bit more carbonated. It was, however, quite enjoyable.

Last night we walked down to Swagger, then back up to Waldo Pizza, for a Friday night on the town. My first pint at Swagger was a $3 Czechvar (known as "Budvar" outside the US & Canada; the Czechvar name is thanks to labeling and trademark laws). I'd never had it on tap before, and it sounded perfect after a 1.5 mile walk in 90-degree heat. I'm always up for a non-skunked Czech Pils, and this one did not disappoint. Cold, grainy/malty, and a wonderful dry bitter finish. I heard one of the bartenders say they ran out, but I'm not sure if she was referring to keg or bottle form. In any case, if you do see Czechvar on tap and don't have an aversion to beers that finish dry & lightly bitter, order up a pint. It's perfect for a hot & humid Kansas City evening.

On our Waldo Pizza stop, I ordered a Goose Island Summertime- their version of a German Kölsch. It immediately imparts a lemony-citrus aroma and follows through with that in the flavor. Body's nice and light and, like the Bohemian Pils, well-carbonated.

We enjoyed our own version of our Waldo-Crawldo, but you can be a part of the official pub crawl in what I think is KC's best beer neighborhood next weekend for $5 (in advance).

It's the Great Pumpkin Ale, Kansas City!

Ah, September: pilsners and summer ales behind us, Oktoberfests and pumpkin ales on the horizon. I can already smell the wood smoke, pumpkin pie, mulled cider, wet leaves, and smoked turkey. This is, without a doubt, my favorite time of year. (Yes, it's still officially summer but this cool weather is toying with me. Let me have my moment.)

We made a pumpkin ale a few years back; roasted the pumpkin & added it to the boil, fermented the beer and realized... in beer, pumpkin pretty much tastes like a whole lot of nothing. These beers really ought to be called pumpkin pie ales, since the characteristic flavor is the spices, not the squash. A related note to the home brewer: if making a pumpkin beer, skip the pumpkin and just go for the spices. You'll save yourself a lot of work.

Anyway, so I've been working on this idea for weeks: buy a few pumpkin ales and do a blind tasting. John and I decided to each do the blind tasting at the same time, so I stockpiled a few beers over the past few weeks and kept them in the fridge, waiting for the perfect evening. Alas, it finally arrived.

When I got home, we lined up 8 glasses in the kitchen and again in the dining room; seven pumpkin ales and one control (Show-Me Beer's Hamm's that he generously donated to me at the last Brew Day, with a bit of sugar-free Torani pumpkin syrup. Yes, the trashiest pumpkin ale possible. Awesome.). The seven we tried were:

• Buffalo Bill's
• Michelob Jack's
• Schlafly Pumpkin Ale
• New Holland Ichabod
• O'Fallon Pumpkin Beer
• Arcadia Jaw-Jacker
• Shipyard Pumpkinhead

Water crackers and note paper in hand, we set out on our assignment: make comments on our tastings and identify our favorites (and least favorites). The results were interesting. We realized that we had completely different preferences in our pumpkin ales; I liked the hoppier ones and John preferred the ones with more spice. Here are the results, listed in order of our preferences (best to worst):

Ms Wort Hog

1. New Holland Ichabod: sweet, cinnamon, floral aroma, bitter flavor with lots of hops & nutmeg. Resiny mouthfeel. Like this one a lot.
2. O’Fallon Pumpkin Beer: brown sugar aroma with flavors of pie crust & spice. Appropriate mouthfeel, a little weighted but not much. The longer I drank this, the more it became my favorite (after I knew what it was, though, so I still rank it #2)
3. Michelob Jack’s: generic ale aroma, malty, tastes more like an Oktoberfest. Less spice than all of the other pumpkin ales. Spritzy mouthfeel, but not too much. More of a session ale than the others.
4. Schlafly Pumpkin Ale: Cinnamon & allspice aroma with a really spicy flavor. The high carbonation is a little distracting.
5. Arcadia Jaw-Jacker: malty with an almost apple liquour type smell. Pretty bitter and kind of strange, with a medicinal/mouthwash taste after a while. Not great.
6. Buffalo Bill’s Pumpkin Ale: apple cider aroma, and flavors of clove, clove, clove. Thin mouthfeel with a hint of clove. Clove aftertaste.
7. Shipyard Pumpkinhead: The worst out of all of them. It smelled like mulled cider, but tasted like sucking on a pine tree. Astringent, piney, weird. Thin mouthfeel and overall a drainpour.

Mr Wort Hog

1. Schlafly Pumpkin Ale: Aroma & flavor by the book, pumpkin pie spice. Alcohol warmth with no heat (it completely surprised me that this beer is 8% ABV!). "Great beer!"
2. Shipyard Pumpkinhead: very clear, aroma is spice, warm, not harsh, lighter body. Flavor like aroma, warm, spiciness, not much else.
3. Buffalo Bill’s Pumpkin Ale: Good spice aroma & flavor, good body, well-balanced
4. O’Fallon Pumpkin Beer: Good head retention, cloudy. Warm cinnamon aroma. Some roasted pumpkin almost reminiscent of roasted tea. Sweet, very spiced, cloying.
5. Arcadia Jaw-Jacker: Good head retention & lacing, a little cloudy. Strong spice aroma, maybe clove. Spice a little harsh, very full body, a little medicinal/astringent.
6. New Holland Ichabod: More hop than spice flavor. Little phenolic, spice there but not pleasant or familiar to pumpkin pie.
7. Michelob Jack’s: faint spice & bread aroma. Weak spice flavor. Thin body, maybe noble hops. "eh."

If anything, this little experiment proved that taste really is widely subjective and what some people rave about as the best beer in the world may very well be middle-of-the-road to others. Clearly, I preferred the hoppier, less spicy beers while Mr Wort Hog got into the spirit of the spice. I'm embarrassed to see that I ranked Michelob higher than Schlafly. I'll make up for it when we get to my favorite seasonal category, winter beers!

* Note one afterthought - though I didn't include it, Southern Tier's Pumking is excellent and worth your money (comes in a bomber only). And Dogfish Head's Punkin Ale is fantastic... but alas, we cannot get it here.