12 Beers of Christmas: Founders Backwoods Bastard Bourbon Ale

On the 11th day of Christmas, Frank About Beer drank for me - Backwoods Bastard from the Founders brewery.

As you may recall (take a look through our last few posts), we tried a barrel-aged ale a few days ago that was really underwhelming. 

Today's beer is another barrel-aged ale that's really everything the other one wasn't. 

Backwoods Bastard pours out a dark reddish brown with good carbonation. Founders starts with roasted malt, making for an already great beer, then ages it in used bourbon barrels. The result is that you get an aroma of bourbon, which gives you a heads-up about its high, 11.6% ABV alcohol content.

But it's the taste that's going to make you fall in love with this one. Sure, you get a not-too-heavy bourbon flavor, but you also get a slightly smokey, sweet flavor from the malts. Combine that with some big vanilla (and maybe a little coconut) and subtle raisin flavors, and this easily becomes one if the top beers in this category. 

You really want this one. I mean, you REALLY want this one. Beer geeks will love it, but even casual craft beer fans will find all kinds of things to like about it. Plus, it's really smooth and drinkable.

Check back tomorrow for the next beer in our #12BeersofXmas series.

Cheers!

Christian & Eric

12 Beers of Christmas: Heavy Seas and Stone Partner Ships Brown IPA

On the 10th day of Christmas, Frank About Beer drank for me - Brown IPA  from the Heavy Seas and Stone breweries.

Despite what you may think, collaborations between breweries is a fairly common occurrence. In the case of the Partner Ships series from Heavy Seas (Baltimore), they regularly collaborate on a variety of really special beers with other well-known breweries. 

For this Brown IPA, they collaborated with Stone Brewing (San Diego) to make a beer that is not only a great brown ale, but a great twist on a strong India Pale Ale, too.

This one pours an opaque brown with good carbonation. It's a big 9% ABV, so the alcohol content is more similar to this beer's Imperial IPA-ness, than to its brown ale side.

The taste, however, is a very intriguing cross of the two styles. You get a lot of sweetness from the malt and molasses used in the brewing, but then are hit with a BIG, hoppy flavor from a myriad of east- and west-coast style hops. You end up with a bit of citrus, with some pine, and a lot of that great bitterness that's seen in Double IPAs. You even get some mild coffee in the aftertaste. 

Bottom line? This is a really cool beer from two amazing breweries. If you don't care for overly-hopped beers, you'll want to skip this one. You hop-heads, however, should beat a path to find this beer ASAP. It's in very limited production, so if you find it, try it now. Trust us.

Check back tomorrow for the next beer in our #12BeersofXmas series.

Cheers!

Christian and Eric

12 Beers of Christmas: Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale

On the 9th day of Christmas, Frank About Beer drank for me - well, uh, something not so great.

So today's selection has greatness written all over it - Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale. I mean, it's from Kentucky, the state which is renowned for bourbon, and an ale that's aged in used, oak bourbon barrels for six weeks while it leeches every ounce of distilled goodness leftover in those barrels.

Except it's not.

This pours a light gold with okay carbonation, and smells really boozy. The taste has a very slight vanilla hint to it, but is a very light, thin beer with a dry finish. Overall, though, it simply tastes like watered-down bourbon. The one positive is it's high, 8.7% ABV alcohol content (typical of barrel-aged beers).

Look, I like bourbon with a little water, but this was too thin to keep a good flavor. I'm not sure if it's the particular distillery they're sourcing from, or a change in the recipe, but this one just isn't what it used to be. 

We definitely respect the hard work and love that goes into making craft beers, but this one, unfortunately, is a miss.

Check back tomorrow for the next beer in our #12BeersofXmas series.

Cheers!

Christian & Eric

12 Beers of Christmas: Flying Dog Sea Salt Caramel Brown

On the 8th day of Christmas, Frank About Beer drank for me - Sea Salt Caramel Brown from Flying Dog brewery.

I once knew a girl who was so sweet that she couldn't taste sugar. This beer, however, would definitely have tickled her tastebuds. 

Brown ales tend to be sweet to begin with. Add to that BIG flavors of caramel and vanilla, and this 7% ABV ale feels like dessert in a glass. We actually didn't get much saltiness in it, but the overall effect was something similar to brown sugar. 

By itself, this one can be a bit heavy, but I think it would work well with something like almond cake, or go crazy with a saucy plate of barbecue. Oddly enough, a cigar-aficionado friend who was with us commented that this would go great with a stronger cigar. 

Definitely a fun one to try, particularly if you love sweets. There's not a lot of beer taste to it, so it's even good to share with a casual beer fan.

Check back tomorrow for the next beer in our #12BeersofXmas series.

Cheers!

Christian and Eric

12 Beers of Christmas: DuClaw Guilty Filthy Soul Porter

On the 7th day of Christmas, Frank About Beer drank for me - Guilty Filthy Soul imperial chocolate rye porter from DuClaw brewery.

That's a mouthful. Fortunately, you'll want a mouthful of this rich beer. Imperial Chocolate Rye Porter is really not something you see often, but "imperial" suggests extra hops flavor, chocolate flavor, some spice flavors from the rye, and a dry, bready finish.

Sure enough, this dark brown porter has all of that, including lots of dark chocolate in the aroma (and aftertaste), with slight hoppiness up front. You get a bit of coffee going on, too, and all of this comes with a solid alcohol content of 7.7% ABV. 

This one is definitely one for chocolate lovers, and its dry character makes for a great beer to pair with dessert. Definitely worth a try if you're into that style. 

Check back tomorrow for the next beer in our #12BeersofXmas series.

Cheers!

Christian and Eric

12 Beers of Christmas: New Belgium Trippel Belgian Ale

On the 6th day of Christmas, Frank About Beer drank for me - Trippel Belgian ale from the New Belgium brewery.

If you're a fan of Belgian-style beers, you may be aware of one known as a, "Tripel". They're named for the huge amounts of extra malt that is used (sometimes triple the amount) which creates a heavier, usually sweeter beer with all the great things about Belgian beers cranked up a few notches. You also tend to get much higher alcohol content (because of the extra sugar).

In the case of New Belgium's "Trippel", you get all of the above! It pours a dark good color with good carbonation, albeit with a high alcohol of 8.5% ABV, which is actually less than the typical 9-12% you tend to find in a tripel.

The taste is wonderfully Belgian - aromas of banana and bubble gum, along with the typical cloves and smokiness you often get with them. One surprising thing is that it tastes deceptively smooth, and you'd never guess it was that high in alcohol.

Overall, this is an excellent beer that's easy to find (and affordable) that you could line up against much higher-end tripels. Definitely one for Belgian beer fans.

Check back tomorrow for the next beer in our #12BeersofXmas series.

Cheers!

Christian and Eric

Day 5

On the 5th day of Christmas, Frank About Beer drank for me - Peg Leg imperial stout from Heavy Seas brewery.

Imperial stouts (sometimes also called Russian Imperial stouts) tend to be boozy, English-style stouts with a more pronounced hops flavor. They were originally brewed for the Russian monarchs who, at the time, preferred the British beers, but also wanted a higher alcohol content since they were used to distilled spirits like vodka. Because travel across Europe took a while, the Brits added extra hops, which helped keep the beer fresher for longer.

Peg Leg checks these boxes with a dark color, mild carbonation and a heavier alcohol content of 8% ABV.

The taste is mildly sweet from the malt, and there's not a lot of the chocolate or coffee flavors that show up in a lot of stouts these days. This is typical of an English stout, as is the dry finish and thin body that this beer has.

Bottom line? This one is spot-on for the style. I personally like a heavier stout with more pronounced coffee or cocoa flavors, but I'd recommend this one to anyone who typically enjoys something like Guinness. 

Check back tomorrow for the next beer in our #12BeersofXmas series.

Cheers!

Christian & Eric