Here's a holiday beer that’s been cranked out winter after winter for years now – and which is flat-out excellent this year. I’m talking about the 2006 version of MARIN BREWING COMPANY’s HOPPY HOLIDAZE, which is probably no more dumb of a name than most of ‘em out there now – oh all right, it’s a terrible name, but that’s about the least of my concerns. What I needed to know was that when I poured this 22-oz. bomber last Saturday, I was going to be getting a classic Holiday ale full of different malts and spices & balanced to near-perfection, and that’s what I got. 4 different kinds of malts and several hop varieties go into this one, and it’s spiced – but not too over-the-top – with “Nutmeg, Mace, Cinnamon, Vanilla and Orange Peel”. Mace??!? Is that what put me asleep on the couch after drinking it? Anyone who knows what mace is besides a keychain-based anti-rapist spray, please let me know. In any event, the only holiday beer to top this one so far this season is DESCHUTES’ JUBELALE, but then again, it’s a loooong way til December 31st, when these start disappearing from the shelves. Until then, grab this 8.5/10-rated beer and maybe even order one on the interweb if you’re not within Marin Brewing’s distribution area.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
MARIN HOPPY HOLIDAZE
Here's a holiday beer that’s been cranked out winter after winter for years now – and which is flat-out excellent this year. I’m talking about the 2006 version of MARIN BREWING COMPANY’s HOPPY HOLIDAZE, which is probably no more dumb of a name than most of ‘em out there now – oh all right, it’s a terrible name, but that’s about the least of my concerns. What I needed to know was that when I poured this 22-oz. bomber last Saturday, I was going to be getting a classic Holiday ale full of different malts and spices & balanced to near-perfection, and that’s what I got. 4 different kinds of malts and several hop varieties go into this one, and it’s spiced – but not too over-the-top – with “Nutmeg, Mace, Cinnamon, Vanilla and Orange Peel”. Mace??!? Is that what put me asleep on the couch after drinking it? Anyone who knows what mace is besides a keychain-based anti-rapist spray, please let me know. In any event, the only holiday beer to top this one so far this season is DESCHUTES’ JUBELALE, but then again, it’s a loooong way til December 31st, when these start disappearing from the shelves. Until then, grab this 8.5/10-rated beer and maybe even order one on the interweb if you’re not within Marin Brewing’s distribution area.
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The nutmegs Myristica are a genus of evergreen trees indigenous to tropical southeast Asia and Australasia. They are important for two spices derived from the fruit, nutmeg and mace.
Mace within nutmeg fruit
Mace within nutmeg fruit
Nutmeg is the actual seed of the tree, roughly egg-shaped and about 20-30 mm long and 15-18 mm wide, and weighing between 5 and 10 grams dried, while mace is the dried "lacy" reddish covering or arillus of the seed.
Several other commercial products are also produced from the trees, including essential oils, extracted oleoresins, and nutmeg butter (see below).
The pericarp (fruit/pod) is used in Grenada to make a jam called Morne Delice. In Indonesia, the fruit is sliced finely, cooked and crystallised to make a fragrant candy called manisan pala ("nutmeg sweets").
The most important species commercially is the Common or Fragrant Nutmeg Myristica fragrans, native to the Banda Islands of Indonesia; it is also grown in the Caribbean, especially in Grenada. Other species include Papuan Nutmeg M. argentea from New Guinea, and Bombay Nutmeg M. malabarica from India; both are used as adulterants of M. fragrans products.
I also feel you sholuld give stones two great products another try
if you like hopsickle...
especially the 10th
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