2-4-T: Mikkeller Santa's Little Helper '10 & The Bruery 3 French Hens

1. Mikkeller Santa's Little Helper 2010

I've mentioned recently how I've been meaning to try more beer from Mikkeller, a brewery primarily out of Denmark but one that has collaborated with a lot of other European and US breweries. This winter seasonal has been made atleast since 2006 as a Belgian strong dark ale. I had this beer Christmas night and had one of those "damn this is good" first sips, kinda like Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction when he tries the 5 dollar shake...except he's not sure if the shake is worth $5...I AM sure that this beer is worth the $8 or $9 I paid. It has a very sweet chocolate and brown sugar upfront taste with a nice kick of booze in the finish since it's over 9% ABV. There are also some other typical christmas ale spices in there like nutmeg, cinnamon and clove. Normally, I'm not overly impressed by christmas ales because they all have some kind of combination of these spices but I think the choice of malts and the Belgian yeast made for a great beer.

Overall Rating: A

2. The Bruery 3 French Hens

The Bruery started their Christmas seasonal selection 3 years ago, using the 12 days of Christmas theme as both the names of each selection as well as somewhat of an inspiration for the beer itself. The first, Partridge in a Pear Tree, may be the loosest interpretation as it did not use pears nor partridges. 2 Turtle Doves used the classic "turtle" candy and was brewed with cocoa, pecans and caramel. Unfortunately, I have not tried either of these first two, but I'll be looking out for this series each year from now on. A portion of 3 French Hens was aged in French oak and the style was also a Belgian strong dark ale. Unlike the Mikkeller, this ale had much more of a fruity taste to it from the oak but also had the typical spiciness. There's also a little bit of an earthy sour taste to it too, which is odd for a strong dark ale. I'd like to see how this beer ages and the Bruery notes that it can be aged all the way until the 12 Drummers start Drumming.

Overall Rating: B+

2-4-T: Boulder Beer Killer Penguin Barleywine & Southern Tier Krampus Helles Lager

1. Boulder Beer Killer Penguin Barleywine Ale

You see that picture? Notice the fire in the background? That's ideal for drinking a barleywine ale, which doesn't have anything to do with wine. It's named so because of its strong alcohol content. The "Killer Penguin" from Boulder Beer is actually on the low end of the spectrum at 10% ABV, but it still has that warm fuzzy taste, great on a cold winter's night. I have to say that the appearance of this bottle does not really match up with its taste, in my opinion. You can't really lightly put wax on a bottle...it makes a bold statement. I don't drink barleywines often, but this didn't really stand out as a premium one. I expect really bold flavors with a great balance of sweet and hoppy. This had the sweet and hoppy but it wasn't bold. The unfortunate thing is that this beer starts at 10%. Often times, a beer might overcompensate with a higher ABV so that aging the beer might subdue the strong flavors, but that's not really the case with the beer. Points for the name though!

Overall Rating: C+

2. Southern Tier Krampus Helles Lager

Southern Tier is one of my favorite breweries and this beer, their winter seasonal, is one of my favorite selections from them. Let me explain who Krampus is first of all. Krampus is the evil side kick of Santa Claus, a legend originating in where else but Europe. Everyone knows that Santa Claus delivers presents to the "nice" boys and girls, but the "naughty" boys and girls? Krampus takes care of them. As you may be able to see from the picture on the label, Krampus is a fanged, goat-horned bully who uses...brace yourself...sticks and chains to beat the naughty children. I wonder how this guy never made it into the story books, jingles and movies? Anyway, on to the beer. It's nice to see a great tasting lager, because most breweries don't bother brewing them, and I don't blame them. It's time-consuming and sometimes more laborious than brewing an ale. This one hits it on the head though with some of the best hop flavor that I've ever tasted, which might lend its great taste to the lager yeast. Be careful though...drink too many of these and you'll feel like Krampus beat you with his sticks and chains, because it's 9.3% ABV. So naturally, I hooked a sixtel of it up to the kegerator. Merry Christmas to me!

Overall Rating: A

2-4-T: Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stout & Cigar City Brewing Or

1. Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stout

I've said it before but it's hard to go wrong with an Imperial Stout. I've consumed a good portion of what Great Divide, out of Denver, CO, brews, and they make some really delicious stuff, even with some basic beer styles. Their Hibernation Ale, a winter seasonal which I tried for the first time last year, might be my new favorite winter seasonal. They've expanded upon the Yeti, making it a base for some aged beers that they also offer: an oak-aged Yeti, a chocolate oak-aged Yeti and an espresso oak-aged Yeti. If a brewery takes one of their beers and ages it 3 different ways (and I'd guess even more ways at their brewpub), it's probably a good sign that they make it well. And they do. This particular imperial stout is not only a dark, roasty bomb but it also has a lot of hop structure which makes this a lovely balanced beer. It's one of those beers that you can immediately get a handful of flavors, but they come and go in the right way, a very tasty way.

Overall Rating: A

2. Cigar City Brewing Or

This is the first brew I've had from Cigar City Brewing out of Tampa, FL. But it won't be the last, although I think this beer is probably one of their top brews. It's the second in two separate 2-part series, the first one being "Either" (get it? I think they should have named it "Humid" Get that??) Actually, even though I'm freakin' hilarious, their name makes more sense in the grand scheme of their vision, because the next 2 beers will be "Neither" and "Nor." They're making each 2-part beer series similar with slight differences, based on the other brewery that they're collaborating with. Anyway, the Either/Or beers are Black IPAs, a hot trend in the microbrew world. Personally, I love the trend because I'm neither a hophead or dark beer-head; I'm a 2-headed dark hop monster, and the Black IPA encompasses that. My favorite black IPA to this point has been Avery's New World Porter, but I think this one is a close second.

Overall Rating: A-

2-4-T: Lagunitas Brown Shugga & Brewdog Dogma

1. Lagunitas Brown Shugga

Lagunitas (LAH-GOO-KNEE-TUSS) Brewery is like a typical West coast brewery, big on hoppy style beers, but they also branch out into different beer styles. "Brown Shugga'" is their seasonal October release and actually came about by accident when they were trying to fix their barleywine beer by adding loads of brown sugar. Therefore, they call this beer irresponsible because it doesn't follow any style guidelines. So it's not a brown ale but more of a strong ale. It definitely has a strong brown sugar smell and taste, which makes it very smooth, masking the fact that it's 9.8% ABV. In terms of perceived ABV versus actual ABV, this beer probably has one of the largest gaps in my mind. That's not a bad thing, unless you're one of those dumb college kids that was hospitalized from Four Loko, but chances are those kids aren't buying this beer. Anyway, it finishes with a little hoppiness, bringing in that California charm typical from this brewery.

Overall Rating: B+

2. Brewdog Dogma

With Brewdog, although I've only had a few of their beers, I'm either going to expect a very strong take on a traditional style or something completely wild. This beer falls under the latter category. Brewdog is run by some Scottish maniacs, somewhat responsible for starting the war for the highest ABV beer that stormed headlines in the beer world earlier this year. Don't get the wrong idea when I call them maniacs though...that's a big complement when we're talking about extreme beer. So this "Dogma" is a spiced beer brewed with honey, kola nut, poppy seed and guarana. So what the hell is a kola nut? Don't tell the FDA, but it's a nut with bitter flavor that contains caffeine. I'm very curious how they came to the conclusion of using these 4 ingredients, but I don't think I'll ever quite understand what goes on in their minds. So how was it? Ehh. A lot going on. Some sweetness, some bitterness, some breadiness, some nuttiness...but also very heavy. I wasn't big on the flavor combination or the finish. I suppose aging it might bring some more balance, but I don't know how well this beer would age considering the ingredients and its 7.8% ABV. I'll definitely be trying more Brewdog beer, but probably not this one again.

Overall Rating: C

Allentown Brew Works Craft Beer Festival 2010

3 hours. 25+ breweries. 40+ beers.

Yes please.

This past Saturday, at the nearby Allentown Brew Works, there was a Craft Beer festival which had no trouble attracting guests. With 2 sessions and an extra VIP session, all tickets were sold. The thought of a sold out beer festival left me skeptical with visions of unavoidably bumping up against hairy men with beer guts, waiting 10 minutes to get a 4 oz. sample and having to wait in line to use a urinal. However, I was fortunate enough to avoid all of that and so I must commend the Brew Works for their set up. Although this festival had mostly standard local choices with no big knockouts, a good time seemed to be had by all.

The winner of the night was the most local brewer...the Brew Works itself. Along with my brother and two of my co-workers and fellow "Beer Club" members, we all seemed to be in agreement that the Brew Works had the best beer there with 2 of their cask ales, a Cocoa porter, which smelled incredible, and a Rum Raisin Belgian Ale, which took their seasonal annual Rude Elf and added caramelized raisins, rum and brown sugar...very tasty.

Other standout brews of the day included a Pumpkin Porter and Double IPA from Harvest Moon, a brewpub from New Brunswick, NJ, a Double Coffee Stout from the Bullfrog Brewery in Williamsport, PA and actually, another couple ultra-local offerings from the Keystone Homebrew Club: a Pumpkin Lager and Dark IPA.

Food wasn't anything to brag about but when it's included in the $25 price tag and it's fried, I can't really complain. I also was able to purchase the latest book from local bourbon/beer aficionado Lew Bryson, "Pennsylvania Breweries," who was in attendance signing copies. Bryson was at the forefront of the last event I attended at the Brew Works, "Bourbon, Beer & Bryson," another great event put on by the Fegley's.

My only hope: that this event turns annual, the number of breweries grows and that they bring some more extreme beers to sample.

Note: I apologize for the blurriness of the picture on the right but there's a lesson in this: if you want a group picture at a beer fest, ask someone at the BEGINNING of the event. This was his 2nd effort. Oops.