FINAL 2006 HOLIDAY BEER RANKINGS

I’ve cleaned out all 2006 holiday beers from the fridge and the garage and poured each of them down my throat, and documented the results here. No more are left, and I have no plans to go to any bars the rest of 2006 that might serve some wild stray I haven’t tried yet. Thus, without further adieu, here are the final, highly scientific rankings for the holiday beers we tried in 2006. Please note that he ones we tried at the Pacific Coast Brewery holiday beer fest a few weeks ago have been re-graded on the HBJ scale of 1-10; others that have been consumed multiple times had their rankings adjusted depending on my mood. The results are:

1. DESCHUTES JUBELALE - 9/10
1. MOONLIGHT SANTA'S TIPPLE - 9/10
1. 21ST AMENDMENT HOLIDAY SPICED ALE – 9/10

4. MOYLAN’S WHITE CHRISTMAS BELGIAN-STYLE WIT - 8.5/10
4. MARIN BREWING HOPPY HOLIDAZE - 8.5/10
4. PAUL'S DIRTY SCARECROW - 8.5/10
7. AFFLIGEM NOEL - 8/10
7. BRIDGEPORT EBENEZER ALE - 8/10
9. LOST COAST WINTERBRAUN - 7.5/10
9. GOUDEN CAROLUS NOEL – 7.5/10
9. NEW BELGIUM 2 BELOW WINTER ALE – 7.5/10
12. ANCHOR STEAM "OUR SPECIAL ALE" 2006 – 7/10
12. ANDERSON VALLEY WINTER SOLSTICE ALE – 7/10
12. NORTH COAST OLD STOCK 2006 – 7/10
12. N'ICE CHOUFFE – 7/10
12. PACIFIC COAST HOLIDAY DOUBLE IPA – 7/10
12. LAGUNITAS BROWN SHUGGA – 7/10
12. SIERRA NEVADA CELEBRATION - 7/10
12. SAMUEL ADAMS WINTER LAGER – 7/10
12. BIG SKY POWDER HOUND - 7/10
21. ALASKAN BREWING 2006 WINTER ALE - 6.5/10
21. DRAKE'S JOLLY ROGER 2006 – 6.5/10
23. He'BREW MONUMENTAL JEWBELATION – 6/10
24. FULL SAIL VESUVIOUS - 4.5/10
25. SAMUEL ADAMS OLD FEZZIWIG ALE - 4.5/10

UNLOADING THE NOTEPAD RATINGS

I’ve got what must be a totally bewildering habit to anyone who’s witnessed it in public; when I’ve finished a new beer for the first time, I reach for my cell phone and go into its “notepad” section and quickly score the beer for the purposes of this blog. In other words, as soon as I’m done, I rate the thing by pecking into my phone. It looks really cool, I'm sure you'll agree, and the ladies love it. Anyway, the list is getting full so I need to clear some out by throwing up some quick reviews.....here goes.....well, top honors this week go to my heroes at MOYLAN’S and their WHITE CHRISTMAS BELGIAN-STYLE WIT. Fantastic beer, darker than any other witbier I’ve ever had, and just bursting with juicy flavors like vanilla and orange. I’m not surprised, because just about everything these guys touch turns to gold, but 8.5/10 means go drink one now.....At my company’s holiday party the choices were pretty limited, so I reached for my first PILSNER URQUEL in many years. I couldn’t finish it; just tasted like a slightly smoother macrobrew than, say, BUD LIGHT, and pretty bitter at that. 4/10 – not too good for what some (marketers) call “the greatest beer in the world”....I also wasn’t too bowled over by DRAKE’S BLONDE ALE (5.5/10) nor by 21ST AMENDMENT BREWING’s WATERMELON WHEAT (6/10), both tried within the past couple weeks. Both just barely scratched the surface of moderate drinkability, with the former, a kolsch beer, being too syrupy & not refreshing enough, and the latter just being a strange, only vagulely satisfying concoction that felt light on both watermelon and wheat.

While I was at the 21ST AMENDMENT BREWING CO. yet again last week, I gave a third try to their HOLIDAY SPICED ALE, this time on tap just like a couple weeks ago, and what do you know, it was terrific again, maybe the best holiday ale of the season, quite frankly. With the three different tastes I've had of it, I'd reckon it comes out to an 8.5/10 overall.....Finally, as part of this SAM ADAMS holiday 12-pack I bought, I braved the SAMUEL ADAMS WINTER LAGER and was glad I did. This rich, toffee-flavored malt-heavy bock warmed the cockles of my liver and tasted like they were really trying to brew up something special. I gave it a 7/10, but there's another one waiting in the fridge that might just have to be consumed this eveing. That's it - I think we're caught up, and now I can clean out the cell phone's memory!

HERE'S ANOTHER GOOD ONE 4 YA

It hasn’t been easy for me to find non-California-based holiday ales to drink and to write about this season, so I jumped at the chance to grab one all the way from Oregon.... : BRIDGEPORT EBENEZER ALE, from the longtime brewing stalwarts at BRIDGEPORT BREWING CO. Well, they make a damn good holiday ale. I was proud to oxymoronically ingest one at a Hanukkah party over the past weekend. It’s really dark and cloudy, and promises untold goodness from the first whiff. I felt that its mix of roasted malts and fairly light hoppiness led to something that could be considered nearly great, and it’s one of the best examples of the ill-defined “holiday” style that I’ve had this year. I immediately wished I had a 6-pack of it, because I bet it’d age well. Try and snag one or more of these if you get the chance, and tell them HBJ sent ya. 8/10.

SCHOONER’S OATMEAL STOUT – COMFORTABLY MIDDLING

You know when you read about a beer winning a gold medal at the GREAT AMERICAN BEER FESTIVAL, as SCHOONER’S OATMEAL STOUT did this year, you figure you gotta give it a go. The other night I tried this prize-winning gold medal beer on tap, and I was kinda wondering what they were smokin’ in Denver earlier in the year. Sure, it was all right, but this Antioch, CA brewery (that's their tanks pictured here - awesome!) didn’t do anything out of the ordinary to deserve the prize – it tasted like something that you’d find at any one of a number of middling microbreweries the country over. I think I expected the sugars to carry this one into something really bold but sweet, the way a great Oatmeal Stout typically tastes, but it had a real flat and somewhat less-than-exciting combination of tastes, almost striking me as sort of root beer-ish at times. Then again, I rated it 6.5/10 after it was done, so something was going down right, I just can’t remember what it was. I might have to get on the BART and head out into deepest Antioch (a San Francisco/Oakland suburb in what is often called “the deep east bay") and give these guys a grilling about what’s going on. Until, then if you want to see for yourself what they’re calling the best oatmeal stout in the world in 2006, be my guest.

BELGIAN BEER ESCORT

I've vowed that 2007 is the year I dive in deep to Belgian beers. Just as soon as I get through with all of these American holiday brews. One resource that'll help in a big way is BELGIAN BEER ESCORT, which is part of the "Burgundian Babble Belt". It's a bursting collection of style guides, classic examples of said styles, photos, links - just an amazing treasure trove of informative for the budding Belgian beer snob. It's a must-visit and something that'll nurture your habit but good.

LA TIMES ON VINTAGE BEERS/EXTREME BEERS

Missed this article from a couple weeks ago, but it's a good & informative one. Anyone know if the Hoppy Brewing "Hoppy Claus" ale is any good? They've got that at my local beer emporium and I don't know if I should pull the trigger.

21ST AMENDMENT TRIES TO PULL A FAST ONE ON HBJ

I feel bad for this guy “Mumbly”, who read my review of 21ST AMENDMENT BREWING and their HOLIDAY SPICED ALE, and then decided to incorporate a visit to the brewery on my say-so alone. Then he gets there and reports that he was a bit underwhelmed, particularly after my enthusiastic review of the stuff, and the 9.5/10 score I gave it. Well Mumbly, I hear you, brother. I went to the brewery myself the other day to try and recapture the high, and ordered up a glass of the Holiday Spiced Ale on tap (astute readers from 3 weeks ago will recall that it was a 22oz. bottle that I bought on the brewery’s premises that got me so wound up). It was almost like drinking a different beer. The one on tap was a lot thinner and less bountiful in terms of flavors than the one in the bottle was. My pal who accompanied me had to slowly & painfully break it to me that he was unsure of what the hell it was I’d gotten so worked up about. So we asked the bartender what was going on, and her take was – and I quote – “it’s the exact same beer. There’s no difference”. So then I asked her to prove it by selling me another 22-oz. bottle, and she told me that they “were all out”. A-ha! You can’t put one over on me, 21st Amendment. I got your number. Anyway, all that aside, the beer was still not bad, but I dropped it down to a 7/10 on my scoresheet just because the on-tap version couldn’t hold a candle to the bottled version. Go figure. Sorry, Mumbly.

I next ordered up the 21A – I.P.A. on tap, their IPA of course, the one that’s getting all the hype for being available in cans (again, only available at the brewery). I’ve had it before, and had a consistent take this time: it’s just OK. It’s probably a little south of most west coast IPAs in terms of hoppiness and drinkability. I didn’t like the unusual almost “smoked malt” taste to it, very different than most IPAs I’m used to, and I found that with one half of my brain I was admiring its unique nature and the other half was wishing I’d ordered something I hadn’t had before. 6.5/10. Ah well, that’s the nature of the beast on a big Thursday night out in the big city. Rest assured that I will be back with further reports from this fine brewery in the future.

ANDERSON VALLEY WINTER SOLSTICE MAKES THE GRADE (AGAIN)

Have had about one of these every year for at least the past five years, and it's typically in keeping with ANDERSON VALLEY BREWING s high standards. Their brews just always seem to be far better-than-average, except when they're not, and as I've mentioned here before to the consternation of some, BOONT AMBER might still be my all-time favorite beer (though I recognize some nostalgia for youth and/or regional pride may be in play here). Anyway, this year's model of the WINTER SOLSTICE SEASONAL ALE does not disappoint. Very spicy, definitely in the 80th-90th percentile for Christmas flavors, this one, and incredibly aromatic of same. I was a bit disheartened by a slightly more "watery" feel than I usually enjoy, but was cheered by the general combination of flavors and the way the deep amber flowed nicely and even changed its character as it warmed up. Getting through an entire 22-oz. bottle was no challenge, is what I'm trying to say. It's no JUBELALE this time around, but definitely worth a guzzle. 7/10.

HOLIDAY BEER OVERDOSE - 12/9/06

I said I wanted to "go big" on the holiday beers this year, and this event last Saturday at the PACIFIC COAST BREWING CO. in Oakland, CA was the best way that I knew how. Kudos to the planners & staff at this establishment for putting on such a well-mannered and knockout-beer affair. All participants, after plunking down $40, were seated at numbered tables and given their own individual server, who thusly hauled out a grand total of 14 beers for our tasting pleasure, along with a bevy of fine roasts and meats. While I did see one gentleman squire lose his lunch in the restroom (and this only 7-8 beers in), the crowd in general was orderly, tidy, and predisposed to a good beer-drinking afternoon out. Me and my pal CM were a little taken aback by the inflated alcohol content on the beers presented to us on our "scoresheet" (yes! a scoresheet! These are my hombres!) - the lowest was 5.6%, while most tended to the double digits, all the way up to 12%. It was to be an afternoon of much mirth and merrymaking, with some fantastic holiday beers lighting the fuse. Let me continue.

Our scoresheets allowed for a highest possible score of 20, but coached us judges into generally higher scores than the vaunted Hedonist Beer Jive scales, which only go to 10 and like to grade around a mean of 5, with 5 being the "average" beer available in supermarkets and bars. At this event, "ordinary beer" was recommended to be a 7 out of 10 in terms of mouthfeel and taste, so I judged accordingly. Most of these were far, far above ordinary. Here were the results, ranked on my scoresheet, shoved into my backpocket after the day was done:

1. MOONLIGHT SANTA'S TIPPLE - a strong, dark, and wonderfully full-bodied beer - 19/20
1. NORTH COAST OLD STOCK 2004 - 19/20
3. PAUL'S DIRTY SCARECROW - a homebrew spiced ale from one of the bartenders!! - 18/20
4. BIG SKY POWDER HOUND - Loved it this time, as opposed to a few weeks ago - 17/20
5. GOUDEN CAROLUS NOEL - 16.5/20
6. ANCHOR STEAM "OUR SPECIAL ALE" 2006 - 16/20
6. NORTH COAST OLD STOCK 2006 - 16/20
6. N'ICE CHOUFFE - 16/20
6. PACIFIC COAST HOLIDAY DOUBLE IPA - 16/20
6. LAGUNITAS BROWN SHUGGA - 16/20
11. DRAKE'S JOLLY ROGER 2006 - 15/20
12. He'BREW MONUMENTAL JEWBELATION - 14.5/20
13. SIERRA NEVADA CELEBRATION - strange and annoying aftertaste - 14/20
14. FULL SAIL VESUVIOUS - nearly a "pour-out" - 12/20

At the close of the drink-off, our fetching barmaiden was dispatched forthwith to secure us yet another tall glass of the Moonlight Santa's Tipple, which she did with a smile. I then pronounced the afternoon a success. Strongly recommend you try and find some of the first five on this list, particularly the big two up top, and remember there are only 12 more drinking days left until Xmas.

Check out this post from William Brand for another take on the event, and make sure to bookmark his excellent beer blog while you're at it.

DON’T ANGER THIS THIRSTY BEAR

Ten years ago, when San Francisco was in the initial throes of what came to be known as “the dot-com boom”, a new tapas restaurant & brewery opened up South of Market called THIRSTY BEAR. It got good reviews, it served its own beer, and it catered to the yuppie dinner crowd, and who doesn’t need a good yuppie dinner every now & again, right? We went a few times and always figured it was OK, maybe the beer was just mediocre, but man, that Paella Valenciana was pretty smokin’. A couple years ago I went with some co-workers and had roughly the same reaction – beer was all right, food was better, and the general sense I got from Thirsty Bear was it was the sort of place you might want to hit about every third year.

Now that I work down the street from it, and am an amateur beer writer of zero renown, I decided to make another visit with some ex-co-workers. The waitress talked us into going with their small-batch 10TH ANNIVERSARY ALE, and man, it was something else. Beer snobs of Northern California, do not miss this one, because it’s a high-alcohol, complex and exceptionally tasty ale. I can’t find a single thing on the web to link to to help tell you about it, not even on the brewery’s web site, but don’t let that stop you. She told us that it was cask-conditioned, and was brewed in a small quantity a few months ago. She also pushed it on us because I think I asked too many questions & she took me for a beer dork, which I most certainly am not! No, check that, I totally am. It was a dark, cloudy brown with a medium head, and really tasted closer to a barleywine than the cask-driven brown ale I was expecting. Excellent. I gave it an 8/10, and promised to never misunderestimate this place again.

LOST COAST’S WINTERBRAUN TOTALLY SHREDS

As we go even deeper into the holiday beer season, the varying styles that make up this cornucopia have obviously become a disproportionate amount of my intake, as they perhaps have yours as well. This is all relative, of course, as I feel the need to point out to you, to myself & to my wife, if she’s reading this, that my weekly beer consumption only hovers around the 3-6 bottle/pint mark. Some “expert”, hunh? Far from it, my friends, but since nearly everything I drink is being enjoyed for the first time (i.e. I make a point of tryin’ new exilirs), it might appear from the frequent posts on this site that insane quantities of beer are pouring down my throat every week. Now that might actually be the case tomorrow, when I attend the annual holiday beer fest at Oakland, CA’s PACIFIC COAST BREWING CO. Look for an eyewitness report on that next week.

In the meantime, I had another really strong winter ale this week that I’d like to recommend to ya: the WINTERBRAUN from LOST COAST BREWING in Eureka, CA, way up in northern Northern California. These are the folks behind DOWNTOWN BROWN, a long-surviving (and very good) microbrewed brown ale. Funny enough, so it this one – a brown ale with some darker malts and slight fruit characteristics. It doesn’t leap onto the palate the way some of the overly spiced beers do, but it has a really nice complexity that both smells great and keeps you guessing. Good with a steak, I’d imagine. The label has this crazy-ass skier just shredding the slopes, maybe the best label and most ridiculous label of the year so far. I’m a fan – this’ll go into the rotation every year. 7.5/10.

SF CHRONICLE ARTICLE ON WINTER BEER

This morning’s local paper here in San Francisco featured a good rundown on the two competing styles of “holiday beer”, along with tangential specialty beers being brewed around Northern California for the holidays. It probably means I’m going to need to tackle each and every one of them before January comes around. Alas, such is the cross I bear. Please read the article by clicking here.

THE JEWS WILL HAVE THEIR SAY: HE’BREW GENESIS ALE

Let’s give a little equal opportunity love this Christmas beer season to a Jewish-themed beer product from the much-celebrated makers of HE’BREW beer, SCHMALTZ BREWING. I wrote about a couple beers of theirs I’d enjoyed not long ago, but it’s truly been a while since I’ve contemplated the HE’BREW GENESIS ALE, which is not just their first beer but also their flagship product. I first had it nearly a decade ago, and it was a second-tier favorite – one that I bought not just for the logo but for the taste, too! They call it a light brown ale; Beer Advocate calls it an American Pale Ale; I call it a pale brown ale – how about that. It is a fairly simple beer, very much in spirit with an amber ale, and fresh and medium-bodied. The hops are really subtle, and if anything stands out it’s a toasted-malt character, but for the most part it’s a smooth, enjoyable, standard second-tier microbrew. I give it a 7/10 and a big up for the chutzpaniks at Schmaltz Brewing.

3 MORE FROM THE HOLIDAY LOCKER

It was a big weekend that started on Thursday - the new Friday - and I was able to manage three new holiday beers down the gullet that I know you're waiting for me to rate so you know what life moves to make next. Here's what I discovered:

1. AFFLIGEM NOEL - This is quite likely the first Belgian holiday-themed ale I’ve ever tasted, and odds are it’s going to be one of the better ones I’ll have in this year’s campaign. Very dark, very strong (9% alcohol) and with a massive head I had to wait five minutes for to calm down. A very candied flavor, balanced extremely well by the alcohol for a warm and inviting blend. At $8.99 a bottle, it better damn well be good. 8/10.

2. SIERRA NEVADA CELEBRATION ALE – I’ve read some conflicting reports on the World Wide Web about this one; some claim that it’s manna from heaven, and the finest holiday brew of all time, while others opine that the 2006 “varietal” just doesn’t have the same oomph of previous years’ versions. I can’t really remember what I thought of earlier years’ editions, and this one is just fine, if a little basic. Sort of like Sierra Nevada itself. Mildly spiced, fairly deep & rich in taste, and smooth enough for repeat drinking. And lucky enough, available just about everywhere. 7/10.

3. BIG SKY BREWING POWDER HOUND – Tasted this on tap at Barclay’s in Oakland, CA last week against my better judgment – these are the folks that make “Moose Drool” beer, and advance word on the Powder Hound was that it was way too thin and pretty weak in general. Well, it was – but it was still tasty enough. I don’t know why they felt that “water” needed to be the dominant taste in this one, but thankfully Big Sky had the foresight to throw in some roasted malts and light sugary tastes to make it tolerable. I likely wouldn’t order it nor buy it again, but then, you never know when you’re going to belly up to the bar and find this, Stroh’s, Meister Brau and Coors Light as your only choices. It could happen. 6/10.