posted on 10 May 2010 by tom
Orignal Post November 2009
Anchor Brewing Company has been producing quality beers for over a century. Started by German immigrants after the California gold rush in 1896 Anchor became known for Steam Beer which was brewed without the use of ice. Anchor has been a trusted name in beer long before the craft beer explosion of recent years. Beginning in 1975 Anchor began brewing Liberty Ale and Anchor Porter to go with their already popular Steam Beer. This same year Anchor produced their first Christmas Ale. Now in its 35th year Anchor Christmas Ale is anticipated each year like Black Friday, Santa Claus, and Eggnog… Well at least to those in the beer community.
Just as people get a new Christmas tree every year each Anchor Christmas Ale depicts a different tree on its label. The bottle states “since ancient times, trees have symbolized the winter solstice when the earth, with its seasons, appears born anew.” So this seasonal ale is not just for Christians but pagans, Jews, and gentiles alike. While the tree motif remains constant the beer itself is different every year. As if brewed in Santa’s workshop the ingredients for each seasons Christmas ale are kept secret.
The 2009 Anchor Christmas Ale pours dark brown with hints of red when illuminated. Hints of chocolate, nutmeg, and other holiday spices are evident when sniffing a fresh poured glass. The dark color of the beer shows up in the taste. It has a strong malt and yeast character with the suggestion of chocolate and coffee flavors. As you get farther down into the glass a stronger bitterness becomes evident with a subtle taste of hops. Overall this is a wonderfully balanced beer that has just the right amount of winter flavoring without overwhelming the palate.
Available in 6 packs and 1.5 liter bottles, Anchor Christmas Ale makes a great gift or great drink while wrapping presents. Make sure to ask about our selection of cellared Anchor Christmas Ales from years past. Compare the 2009 edition with older Anchor Christmas ales. This beer if aged properly remains drinkable for years, changing character with each passing season.
Tags: anchor brewing, christmas beer, pagan
Category: Beer Reviews, The Beer Blog | Comments (1)
posted on 10 May 2010 by tom
The Lager style is one of the most produced and consumed beers in the world. It may be known to you as your father’s favorite or an old stand by, but when it comes to beer, lager is hard to ignore. Often lager is considered to be part of the old guard of beer as it is the chief product of the macro-breweries that dominate the market, but it has a rightful spot in the expanding world of craft beer. Lager is a great bridge for those who are overwhelmed by the countless craft beer choices, as it is something nearly all beer drinkers are familiar with.
Lager became popular after prohibition since new technology made it cheaper and quicker to produce. Traditionally lager was differentiated from other styles of beer, such as ale, because it needed to ferment longer and at colder temperatures. In the 1950s the process of continuous fermentation came about and lager became one of the easiest beer styles to produce. Prior to this breakthrough it took nearly twice as long to produce a lager compared to ale. While continuous fermentation made it easier to brew large quantities for mass consumption it took away much of the distinctive flavor that set lager apart from other beer styles. Most of the American macro-brew lagers use adjunct cereal and rice grains to cut production costs, subsequently creating a heavily carbonated lighter beer with little malt flavor and low levels of bitterness. Thankfully the expansion of craft beers has allowed for a return to the traditional brewing process.
Once you have tried an imported or microbrews lager you can immediately taste how the time provided for malt maturation during the fermentation process creates a smoother distinctive malt flavor. Lager that is given the necessary time for fermentation has greater flavor nuance than its macro-brew counterparts.
Tags: 101, beer, lager
Category: 101, The Beer Blog | Comments (0)
posted on 1 July 2009 by dan
Yesterday brought with it two singular excitements: Tony and I undertook Boozy Milkshake Day Part II and George, an esteemed dT alum, popped over to my house for a bit. What with this being the beer blog and with the spirits blog being a whole separate blog, I’m going to leave the story of boozy milkshakes to Tony. The George-bit has more to do beer, so therein we find our subject. B.G. on George: he left our ranks a little over a year ago for UCLA law school; in town again for a wedding, he called us up for a bit of a reunion, “bearing gifts from the left coast.”
Which gift turned out to be two bottles of Pliny the Elder for Tony and I. Never heard of Pliny? You must never been to BeerAdvocate; the BA’s over there hold the DIPA in the same esteem winos hold Caymus or Dom. It’s damn near impossible to find anybody with even lukewarm reviews, nevermind critical. Like anything else hoisted up on a pedestal of such great heights, I’m immediately skeptical, so to actually drink this like-mythical brew doubled as both a drinking pleasure and an intellectual experiment. Of course, as mentioned above, it was Boozy Milkshake Day (the sequel). The scales obviously tipped a little toward the former. I just drank the bastard, frankly. Here, in retrospect, I’ll try to even it out a bit.
And it’s good. It’s very good. Anybody following along these past couple months probably caught wind of my frustration re: American IPA’s going for that over-the-top hop quality (rhymes!); the coolest thing about the Pliny is that even though it’s a double IPA (doubles usually equating to double everything - hops, alcohol, etc.), it manages to seat itself in balance. It doesn’t pull you one way or the other, doesn’t rip your tongue free of your cheeks in an effort to impress. Actually it drinks more like a pale ale, in terms of bite and slice.
As much as I love to knock things off their pedestals, I just can’t bring myself to do so in this case. If you can get your hands on it, I’d highly suggest not blinking, just buying. Pliny’s brewed by Russian River, out in California. Nothing gets shipped out to us in the east. Why am I writing about a beer we can’t get? Well… I don’t know, really. You can’t buy it here. But it is beer, and we deal with beer. So, if you ever find yourself Cali-ways, find a pint, find a bottle; tell ‘em dT sent you.
Tags: American beer, craft beer, DIPA
Category: The Beer Blog | Comments (0)
posted on 27 June 2009 by dan
We waited and we waited, but it’s finally arrived: Mad River’s Steelhead Double Dread Imperial Red. It’s the most recent entry in the brewery’s High Gravity series, an uber-limited series of full-throttle brews.
For those of you just hopping on the dT blog-wagon, we’ve been waiting (sort of) patiently for its arrival since a tasting over at the Cambridge Common a couple months ago, when the M.R. president promised us a slice of the High-Gravity-pie. We tasted the then-current Serious Madness Black Ale back then; we gushed and sputtered over it. Which led to our Double Dread anticipation.
Was it worth the wait? Abso-effing-lutely. I waffled with sampling it for this posting, it being limited and whatnot, but in the end, I caved and bought a 4-pack. The side of the pack claims 8.6% booze, but it’s hardly noticeable, what with the sweet malts and the prickly hops tap-dancing about on the palette. It manages to refresh, despite its weight and claims at heavy-headiness.
The coolest bit of all, though, comes at the top of their brewery description: “…we were astounded to see light literally dance and refract in its ruby depths.” Aside from that being a poetic and beautiful and apt description, it also reveals considerable information re: the integrity of M.R. in general. Any true art controls the artist as much as the artist controls it; the Double Dread reflected something unexpected back to the brewers. What else could you ask for from a beer? This is craft beer epitomized, people. Dig it.
Tags: California, double imperial red, imperial, mad river, red ale
Category: Beer Reviews, The Beer Blog | Comments (0)
posted on 26 June 2009 by dan
By which I’m not joking; so many beers come out with these fancy titles talking about “double espresso” this and “blueberry pie” that and for the most part, while the referent beers are often outstanding, the flavor itself is accurate only in a sort of secondary sense. It tastes like blueberry beer or chocolate beer or what-have-you. So, witness Southern Tier’s Creme Brulee Imperial Stout. It tastes like somebody melted down the custard, shook it up, and bottled it.
Whether or not that sounds appetizing comes down to whether or not creme brulee sounds appetizing in the first place. Me, I dig it thoroughly, but then I’d order the creme brulee off a menu at a chicken shack. If you’re like me, trust me trust me on this beer. Sip on it, close your eyes; you’ll swear you’ll need a spoon. The back of the label reading like a philosophical equation of history, the only clue to how S.T. arrives at the brew is the inlcusion of dark caramel malt and vanilla beans in the recipe. The sum is more than its parts. This ain’t your typical vanilla beer.
Tony and I sipped on a pint just to see if anything’s changed since it came out last summer. This year’s tastes almost the same as last year’s batch, except that its got this bitter kick on the finish that, in context, conjures up a dark chocolate glaze. The nose is just as intoxicating, that vanilla apparent as soon as the bottle popped. It’s that combination of smelly nose and thick vanilla stout that manages to mask the 10% alcohol in the bottle. Don’t be fooled: sweet, yes, but also brawny enough to lay flat the unaware.
We got this is in last year and couldn’t keep it on the shelf. Right now, we’ve got ten cases or so in the basement and a promise of further availability, but… well, future availability is enlightment: fun to talk about it, difficult to acheive without constant perserverence. Dig it while the diggin’s diggable.
Tags: beer, imperial stouts, vanilla
Category: Beer Reviews | Comments (0)
