2016 Craft Beer Cellar Advent Box: Day 19

Advent Beer Day 19:

Trifecta from Night Shift Brewing

Anna asks, "Why Trifecta." The label says it's a Belgian style pale ale with vanilla, so my best guess is it will be like a tripel. A quick look at the ABV; only 6.7% so too light to be a tripel.  I really have no idea why it's called "Trifecta." The website clears it up saying it is also made with three Trappist yeasts.

This beer was beautiful. I could taste the vanilla, but only when I concentrated on it. The flavor blended well with the traditional Belgian flavors. Although, I didn't taste any of those classical Belgian yeasty characters in this beer. That's a bit surprising given the use of three transit yeasts. It was very smooth and easy to drink. I have yet to have a bad beer from Night Shift.

2016 Craft Beer Cellar Advent Box: Day 16

Advent Beer Day 16:

Petrus Aged Pale

I was anxious about this beer. The label says it is sour at a level of 5 out of 5.  The web suggests that this is the sour beer by which all sour beers should be judged. I'm not a sour fan.

While this still isn't my thing, it was not as scary as I was led to believe. It was sour, like a strong barleywine or like sucking on a clover stem if you've done that. It also had some other flavors that stood out, notably new oak and grapefruit with a very slight black pepper taste.

I can tell it is very good. I still don't love sours.

2016 Craft Beer Cellar Advent Beer Day 4

Advent Beer Day 4:
Hugh Malone Ale (Belgian Style IPA) from Allagash

Look at the beautiful color and head on that beer. It tastes like a mix of Duvel and a New England IPA. The yeast strains delivered the typical ester flavors found in Belgian singles that layered well with the floral bitterness of an IPA. And it had the fresh, clean flavors characteristic of Allagash. This was an excellent, unexpected pick for the box.

2015 Craft Beer Cellar Advent Box

This is the third year I got a beer advent box from Craft Beer Cellar in Belmont. The first year I kept it all to myself. That was just too much beer for me. The second year I split it three ways with my two daughters. That was too little for me and too much for them. Hopefully, I've dialed it in better this year with me taking the even days and my daughters splitting the odd days.

Here are the contents so far:

Day 1: Sierra Nevada - 2015 Celebration Fresh Hop IPA

Day 2: Weihenstephaner - Vitus Weizenbock
This was my first. It was rich and sweet with caramel and baking spice flavors. It was a bit hazy with a nice foamy head.

Day 3: Bantam - Wunderkind Modern American Cider





Day 4: Dog Fish Head - Old School Barleywine Style Ale Brewed with Figs & Dates

This was thick with burnt caramel, pine, fig and date flavors.

Day 5: Smuttynose - Baltic Porter




Day 6: Shmaltz Brewing Company - Hanukkah, Chanukah, Pass the Beer Dark Beer

Nice pick CBC for this, the first day of Hanukkah. This beer is very, very good, and the label is a riot. It had many of the characteristics of a good Belgian double. But it also had a bitterness profile like a west coast ale, with the slightly burnt flavor that reminded me of a chocolate malt.

Day 7: Chimay - Dorée Ale Brewed with Spice

This is a good place to publish this first report. More as I drink them. Thanks Craft Beer Cellar!

Craft Beer Cellar Advent Beer Day 12

A Belgian ale is the perfect starting point for a Christmas beer. And this Scaldis de Noël is the perfect Belgian Christmas ale. Put out by Brasserie Dubuisson, this beer takes the typical richness of a Belgian ale and turns it up a notch. It reminds me of burnt caramel and roses, and despite the intensity of sugar, it's not a bit cloying.

This is my new favorite from this Craft Beer Cellar Advent box.

Craft Beer Cellar Advent Beer Day 6

Day 6 of my Craft Beer Cellar Advent beer adventure was Cold Front from Ithaca Beer Company. It's a Belgian Amber Ale with all the flavors that remind me of Brussels: low hops profile, strong malty flavors and the characteristic sourness of the Belgian yeasts. This was just the dessert I was looking for.

Craft Beer Cellar Advent Beer Day 5

Today's Beer was Dogfish Head Raison D'Etre. The label reads "A deep mahogany ale brewed with Belgian beer sugars, green raisins & a sense of purpose." Honestly, "Dark Belgian ale" would have worked just fine. I can't tell the difference between Belgian sugar and German sugar, or green and purple raisins, but the beer is good.

On a side note, you can see the pepperoni slices that Santa brought me today to go with my beers. This beer went particularly well with pepperoni.

This beer is great for the season. As ever, thanks Craft Beer Cellar!