beer advent: december 16-25, the end of the flight

happy new year! i will get to all the wonderful things i want to share with you about our holiday, but first i must finish this beer advent blog. it was something i was so excited to do and share. but you know, the holidays got in the way of any personal time being used for personal time.... ;)


it is a bit exhausting to drink a half a beer a day. yeah, i said it. it is kind of ridiculous that half way through, i am getting a bit tired of beer every day. after the last group of five, i needed a beer break. i think we got two or three days behind. and i was totally ok with that.

december 16: troegs, mad elf, belgian strong dark ale
this is an excellent beer, but by this time in our advent i was spent on christmas ales. i was worn out on spicy [cinnamon/nutmeg, etc] flavored beer.

december 17: samuel adams, chocolate bock
this sweet treat was a very pleasant surprise. i am not a huge fan of sam adams beers, but this one was very good. it was not overly sweet nor overly bock-y. it was a wonderful mix of the two flavors.

december 18: firestone walker brewing company, double jack, imperial IPA
imperial IPAs are always better. hell, imperial anything is always better. the flavor is typically stronger, which is always more delicious. excellent beer.

december 19: lonerider brewing company, pistols at dawn, stout
it had a weird smell, but the flavor was good. typically if a beer has a weird or bad smell, that will ruin it all. however, this beer was able to recover from the odd nose on it.

december 20: new belgium brewing company, salted caramel brownie brown ale
it wasn't bad, but it was a pretty standard brown ale. there was nothing truly special about it. there were small hints of salt and caramel. so, if you are looking for big sweet notes, this is not the beer for you. however, if you are looking for a solid brown ale with hints of sweet, check this one out.

december 21: sierra nevada brewing company, ovila abbey saison [with mandarin oranges and peppercorns]
we bought this bottle back in august when we were at sierra nevada. this beer was so, so good. it was exactly as it was described - hints of citrus and pepper, with the pepper hitting you at the end. neither were too overwhelming. it was definitely worth the wait.

december 22: troegs, javahead, stout
i guess we really like what troegs has going on. we had a bunch of their beer. and why wouldn't we? it's good shit. a coffee stout? um, yes please.

december 23: triple C brewing company, 3C IPA
this is one of our favorite beers. OMG. it is a completely solid IPA. if you are in search of a go-to IPA, search no further. it is light, crisp, full of flavor and hops. i am drooling just thinking about it.

december 24: great divide brewing, hibernation ale, english style old ale
i wasn't sure what to expect with this one, but it is a good beer. it is malty with a slighty hoppy finish. a very nice winter warmer type beer, without all that extra spice.

december 25: mother earth brewing, silent night, imperial stout
we knew when we set up our beer advent calendar that this beer was going to be day 25. how could a beer named "silent night" not be? also, it is just so damn delicious it is worth having on our very last day of this amazing beer journey. it has a slight coffee taste and aroma with a rich malty flavor. it is another beer that sits on my top ten list.


whew.

we made it. the flight of 25 beers is over. it was certainly fun. but i felt like a gained 10 pounds throughout the month. but for the love of beer, it was worth it. maybe next year we can mix it up a bit and combine something else with the beer in our advent calendar....like beer + chocolate. or beer + pizza! or beer + garden vegetables. haha, totally kidding on that last one.

i hope you all had a glorious holiday season. our was fantastic. i will post about it soon!

health and wellness to you all this new year!

xoxo,
ks
 

beer advent: december 11-15

so, i wrote this a few weeks ago and told blogger to publish it for me the day after i wrote it. seems like blogger doesn't follow directions very well. sorry for the delay. i know you all have been waiting on pins and needles to read more about what beers we drank! so without further ado...the treats continue!

every day has been a bit more fun knowing we have a delicious treat to unwrap. i think everyday of the year should be this way - filled with a small treat to make your day just a bit more delicious.

anyway, moving onto days 11-15...

december 11: troegs, hop knife, harvest ale. 
presents like an IPA. light and refreshing.

december 12: terrapin, moo-hoo, chocolate milk stout.
this was delicious! there was just the right amount of chocolate flavor and "fullness" from it being a milk stout. it was wonderful.

december 13: terrapin, wake-n-bake, imperial coffee oatmeal stout.
i think yesterday's and today's are my two favorite beers by terrapin. both were excellent. plus, how can you go wrong with an imperial. coffee. oatmeal. stout? i mean, seriously? it has all the components that make an excellent beer. well, in my opinion anyways.

december 14: firestone walker, union jack, IPA.
decent beer, but not much flavor. first one that i am really disappointed with. [sad face]

december 15: atwater, bourbon barrel aged shaman's, baltic porter.
this beer was awful. i know that baltic porters taste a bit different than regular porters. however, this one was supposed to have bourbon flavor. it didn't. it was supposed to taste like a porter. it didn't. it was sour. it smelled bad. we ended up pouring it down the drain. it was so awful i didn't even take a picture of it.
oh no! two bad beers in a row! i guess that can happen with experimentation. however, the atwater beer we think was just infected or a bad batch. we honestly hope that is not how the beer was meant to taste.

oh well. we are still having fun. ten days left!

cheers!

xoxo,
ks

beer advent: december 6-10

hello friends!

so sorry for the delay in sharing our beer advent. i am way behind, i know. december is such a crazy month! birthdays, christmas, holiday parties, social gatherings. it's so fun, but so busy. i didn't forget, i just didn't get a chance to share with you guys. so without further delay, the next five days of yummy!

december 6: dominion, morning glory, espresso stout.
this style of beer is right up my alley. it is really delicious! the espresso flavor isn't overpowering and was complete with a dry finish.

december 7: highland, king macaplin, double IPA.
malt forward with hoppy finish. very complete and delicious beer. we've had this before and i didn't enjoy it much the first time, but this time i really enjoyed the flavor. perhaps because it's cooler out i liked the heaviness of it more.

december 8: stone, ruination 2.0, double IPA.
it is light and drinkable. it is hop forward, but lacks flavor. it wasn't as impressive as most stone beers are. it could be a good beer for a hot, summer day.

december 9: homebrew by low noon, pumpkin porter. 
excellent beer. great porter flavor complete with pumpkin flavor and natural spices [cinnamon and nutmug]. it is not too sweet. very good beer. nice work, fellas!


december 10: dominion, candi, belgian tripel.
it's a decent beer, just not my favorite style of beer.

this adventure has been fun and introduced us to many new beers. it has been fun to try beers we would have normally picked out. i hope this experiment continues to encourage to branch out of our typical favorite styles and try new ones.

cheers!

xoxo,
ks

beer advent 2015

hello friends!

happy december and welcome holiday season! there is something about the holidays that makes my heart smile. i love christmas cheer, decorations, spirit, music...all of it. this time of year really makes life seem more happy. what with the parties, the socials, community events, and parades. it really is the most wonderful time of the year.

one thing i have always wanted to do is an advent calendar. i've never been sure what to put in it though. i don't want a bunch of useless trinkets. but then i saw a wine advent calendar online. it was a bottle of wine for each day. ONE WHOLE BOTTLE. for 25 days. that is a shit ton of wine. plus, we don't really drink wine, but we definitely drink beer.

so the beer advent was born.

we have 25 days of beer. we decided to do one beer that we'd share each day. we bought the beers, wrapped them up, and numbered them. we tried to choose beers we have not had before. since we've never done this before and it is super awesome and fun, i wanted to share it with you. a quick disclaimer, there will be some beer nerd stuff in these posts. sorry, not sorry. i am not overly nerdy about beer, but to a novice or non beer drinker, it could seem that way. my goal is to blog ever fifth day to share with you the beers we've had and our thoughts on the beer.

so, without further ado, december 1-5....

december 1: aviator, black mamba, oatmeal stout.
we went up to our local bottle shop to celebrate my 2 year seizure free anniversary. so, today's beer was a bit different and special. it was a draft beer and keith and i each had our own beer.
this beer was very good. it is a dry stout with a slightly sweet finish. i enjoyed it a lot, but stouts are my favorite.

december 2: southern tier, 2XIBA, india black ale.
it was smooth and malty, with hop finish. we complemented it with an oreo cupcake [keith got it for me for my anniversary!]. it was a delicious addition to the beer.

december 3: dominion, double D, double IPA.
very smooth for a double IPA with just the right amount of hoppiness. thanks flo for sharing this one with us! it was delicious.

december 4: anchor, merry christmas and happy new year ale (our special ale).
i enjoyed how dark it was. it was overly spicy and had subtle bitter notes. if it weren't for the advent, i probably would not have picked out this beer. i am glad i did.

december 5: dark horse, 4 elf, winter warmer spiced ale.
it is a typical winter spiced beer - dark, with cinnamon and nutmeg spices. it was very good for it's style. i wasn't in the mood for another spiced beer, especially after having one the night prior. i can only handle so many in a season. but this beer was complete with nachos, pizza, and the acc championship. so, i have no reason to complain. 

4 elf and nacho prep.

it has been fun so far. each day it is exciting to unwrap a beer to see what tasty treat awaits us. it has been especially inviting to taste brews that we have not had before. because we are sharing one beer, it has not been overwhelming with the feeling of, "oh gosh, i have to drink more beer? please no."

see you in five days with an update of the next batch!

xoxo,
ks