Advent Calendar - 9th December 2014

Beer Advent Calendar
Chapel Down Winery - Curious Porter 5.0%
9th December 2014

Today is the 343rd day of the year, meaning that there are only 22 days left of 2014, and what a beery year it's been.

The television listings start to show retrospectives, looking back on the year with various 'highlights' shows and records of achievements. The BBC's annual Sports Personality of the Year show will be on this Sunday, although I'm old enough to remember when it was called Sports Review of the Year, and is the perfect example of this sort of celebration of excellence.

We, in the beer world, (note: that is beer world as in those of us who drink and think about beer, not Beer World which sounds like a fabulous drunken theme park) like to celebrate our personal favourites in the form of the Golden Pints. Now in their fifth year, having been started in 2009 by Andy Mogg and Mark Dredge, inviting "anyone and everyone to share their favourite beers and pubs from the last year". You can write a sentence, a blog post, a list, whatever you like really, these are your choices, nobody else's and you have free reign to choose what and whom deserves recognition. Put it up on twitter with the #GoldenPints though so that people can see who floated your beery boat this year. You can even list runners-up, have joint winners or no winners at tall, it's completely up to you.  Some 2014 nominations have already started to pop up here and there, and I encourage you to give it a go.

You'll need to know the categories of course, and even though they have expanded over the years they currently are:
Best UK Cask Beer, Best UK Keg Beer, Best UK Bottled or Canned Beer, Best Overseas Draught Beer, Best Overseas Bottled or Canned Beer, Best Collaboration Brew, Best Overall Beer, Best Branding or Pump Clip or Label, Best UK Brewery, Best Overseas Brewery, Best New Brewery Opening in 2014, Bar/Pub of the Year, Best New Pub/Bar opening in 2014, Best Festival of the Year, Supermarket of the Year, Independent Retailer of the Year, Online Retailer of the Year, Best Beer Book or Magazine, Best Beer Blog or Website, Best Beer App, Simon Johnson Award for Best Beer Twitterer, Best Brewery Website/Social Media, Food and Beer Pairing of the Year.
And if you're still unsure of what to do, here are my nominations for 2013 just to get you in the mood.

Now I'm sure that many of you are already familiar with the Golden Pints and wondering where all this is going, well there's a new kid on the blog. The Golden Posts.

Chris Hall (for it is his brainchild) wanted to be able to recognise what he thought was the best in beer blogging over the last twelve months. In a similar vein to the Golden Pints he has devised seven distinct categories in order to encompass what he feels are the separate themes of most beer writing, they are:
Best History Post, Best Impassioned Rant/Op-Ed, Best Pub Post, Best Palate Post, Best Beer Travel Post, Funniest Post, and an Open Category.
I'm particularly delighted to have won his Best Palate Post category, and feel rather honoured that he had me in mind when he came up with it as it's always nice to find out that your writing is appreciated.

So if you've enjoyed a particular piece of beery blogging that you'd like to acknowledge why not write your own #GoldenPosts nominations? Not only will the recipient feel appreciated and encouraged you'll also be bringing their writing to a wider audience.

In fact why not do both Golden Pints and Golden Posts, I'd love to read them.

I'm sure by now your wanting to know the answers to yesterdays quiz questions, but before that I'd like to congratulate Martin Oates and Clayton Chisholm on a quite outstanding collaboration which sure them being the first to come back to me with the correct answers to all the questions. Well done chaps!
Here are those answers:

1. Amsterdam

2. Ben Truman

3. Mark Tranter (Burning Sky Brewery)

4. Les Miserables

5. Pasteurisation

Well done if you got those, and now it's time for todays beer from my Ales By Mail Advent Calendar.

Chapel Down Winery, near Tenterden in Kent, is a drinks company predominantly known for it's sparkling wine as their name might suggest. They started brewing beer under the Curious name in 2010, winning a prestigious International Beer Challenge Award for their Curious Brew lager in 2012.

Todays beer is their Curious Porter, which along with their Curious IPA makes up their range. Let's see what it tastes like.

Pouring a dark brown with no discernable highlights when held up to the light and a thin beige head, the initial aroma on pouring the beer is heavily accented with proving bread dough but this quickly becomes overtaken with some dark roasty black coffee, some burnt toast and even some caramelised meat juices, it's most certainly robust. There's a prickle of carbonation on the tip of the tongue heralding the arrival of coffee and a little cola nut mixed in with some thin milky chocolate and a hit of beechwood smoke. In fact the whole thing is a little thin but as it warms in my glass I'm beginning to find a hint of raisin and a some cranberry notes as well, it's more complex than I first thought and leads gracefully to a finish that is all coffee, wreathed in a little smoke and splashed with a few drops of beefy gravy. This is a big beer in a thin body, and it really is very good indeed.

So after that delicious porter, I'll just pop another beer in the fridge whilst you peruse todays quiz questions.

1. Which variety of hop shares its name with a native North American tribe and a heavy-duty US military helicopter?

2. Once there were 150 Altbier breweries in this German town but now there's only one, and this one prides itself on being the worlds oldest organic brewery. Name the brewery and the town.

3. What do you call the stage of brewing where the simple sugars in the wort are converted to alcohol and carbon dioxide?

4. What German word is used for the traditional ceramic mugs with a pewter lid traditionally used in Bavaria?

5. The beer labels for Flying Dog brewery beer are designed by which cartoonist, famed as the co-inventor of Gonzo journalism?

Good luck with those.

And so, we draw to a close for another day, but not before the inevitable Christmas cracker joke.

Here it is:

Which author steals train sets from under the Christmas tree?

Nick Hornby

Advent Calendar - 8th December 2014

Beer Advent Calendar
Cervesa Artesenal de Xativa - Er Boquerón 4.8%
8th December 2014

The tree is up and the Big Day looms. We're not a third of the way there, and the days have started to fly past. I'd better do some Christmas shopping I suppose.

Brace yourselves. I'm about to reveal something that may surprise, stun and shock you. A revelation that is so unnerving you may want to read the next sentence twice, just to be sure you actually understood it correctly and it's not some peculiar trick or play on words, so here we go. I like shopping. That's stopped you in your tracks hasn't it, or perhaps it hasn't, you see if you've ever been shopping with me then you'll know that I see revelling in seasonal consumerism as a necessary evil and one that must be tempered with a visit to a bar or pub or two, purely for sanity's sake of course.

What is particularly fortuitous is that the places I like to shop this time of year all coincidently happen to be located close to some of London's best beer spots. It's a tough job shopping this time of year, a hazardous mission that planned with the utmost precision down to the last detail, so knowing the location of the nearest bolt-hole in which to regroup when it all starts to go belly-up is essential. Great beer and shopping (obviously using public transport), going together like turkey and brussel sprouts at Christmastime, just as long as you remember that the beer is the reward and not the reason for your visit you'll get through it. Trust me on this one.

Before I get to the answers to yesterdays questions and of course the beer itself, I just want to draw your attention to a couple of beery Advent Calendar blogs, the first of which was brought to my attention by Matt Curtis.

Over at Beer Compurgation, Mark Johnson is spending the run up to the 25th December by drinking and blogging about a different Christmas themed beer each day. This is the third year he's done this, and he hasn't reviewed the same one twice so if, like me, you're a sucker for a festive beer then you could do a lot worse than read his blog. I've also enjoyed guessing the Christmas songs from the lyrics that he's posted over the last few posts, see how well you do.

The second is from another Johnson, Glenn Johnson and is more a blog in parts rather than a daily post. Part one can be found here in which Glenn has decided to have a 'Dark December' and it's well worth a read, I even get a mention!

So before my head gets too big for the Santa hat I have to wear as I write this seasonal blog, here are the answers to yesterdays questions:

1. Alsace

2. Framboise or frambozen

3. Tulip

4. Radler

5. Spontaneous fermentation

I hope you got them, not too bad were they? I have to congratulate Andy Parker for being the first person to tweet me the answers to that one, and in fact he's the first person to tweet me the answers to any of the quiz questions. Come on the rest of you!

So onto today's beer ..

Well, I can't actually tell you a lot more about today's beer than I did about the beer I had on the 5th December, as Er Boquerón is brewed by the same brewery as La Soccarada, Cervesa Artesanal de Xativa. Whilst that beer was brewed with rosemary and rosemary honey, this one has a different 'unusual ingredient', it's brewed with sea water. Let's see what it tastes like.

Pouring a faintly peculiar murky golden orange and a thin white head, it has a strong aroma of melon with an underlying peachiness however covering both of these is a definite salinity, it's really rather odd. Initially quite full in the mouth with a sparkle of carbonation bringing a fruity rush of peach and ripe cantaloupe melon lifted with a little lemon juice, but this all falls away a little too quickly, as though a little embarrassed by it's sudden outburst, leaving the rest of the liquid to hurry through with barely a murmur. It does leave a pleasant melony aftertaste, if a little oily and a bit salty too, but then it's all over, and I'm left wondering if I really want to go through it all again. I do of course, but it's ultimately disappointing. Don't get me wrong I think this is a good beer and, although this is just my personal opinion, I don't think it's as good as it should be and I'm not sure that I'm entirely happy with that.

In yesterdays post I asked if you readers would like me continue with these quiz questions. The responses were all positive so I'll carry on with them. If you get the answers right I'll mention you in tomorrows blog just like I congratulated Andy today. Go on, give them a go. Here they are:

1. The Heineken Experience is the name of the brewery museum and visitors centre at the former Heineken Brewery in which European city?

2. Complete this famous old advertising slogan that was once used by a brewery that has recently been resurrected "You can taste the hops in ....."?

3. Who won the 'Brewer of the Year' award at this years British Guild of Beer Writers dinner in London last week?

4. The French brewery Brasserie St-Sylvestre brews a beer called Gavroche, named a Parisian rogue from which novel?

5. What do you call the method of heating beer after fermentation to kill residual yeast and bacteria and thus reduce the risk of contamination or spoilage?

As always, the very best of luck with those. I look forward to getting some more answers through (he wrote hopefully...).

And now.

You know what's coming, don't you?

I thought you did.

Here's todays Christmas cracker joke:

Why did nobody bid for Rudolph and Blitzen on eBay?

Because they were two deer (too dear)

Advent Calendar - 7th December 2014

Beer Advent Calendar
Fyne Ales - Holly Daze 5.0%
7th December 2014

Todays beer marks a week of daily blogging, something I haven't done in quite some time. Today is also the day we are going to put our decorations up, the day our house becomes officially Christmassy.

Every year however, this job becomes a little harder as a few extra ornaments appear on the shelves. Whether it's something that the children have brought proudly home from school to show us or, as is more often the case a few more beer glasses are taking up the space.

As I look at these glasses now I am reminded of some of the festivals, and places I've been to this year. There's one from Craft Beer Rising that got home remarkably unscathed considering that I didn't, and a cool Pilsner Urquell half pinter that immediately brings to mind the time I brewed a 'Citron Pilsner' with Martyn Cornell and Andy Parker. What an experience and one I'd particularly like to thank Pilsner Urquell UK and Mark Dredge for. Then there's the BeerBods glass that I use every Thursday at 9.00pm, my GBBF third glass, one from Summer Brew Fest, some Teku glasses, one from the Hanging Bat in Edinburgh (one that I bought, I didn't steal it before you ask), and finally, at the end of the line, one from my favourite festival this year, the Indy Man Brew Con in Manchester this past October.

Great times with some lovely friendly people and some fantastic beer, all instantly recalled by a fragile memento. Here's to even less space on those shelves next Christmas.

So, as I reflect on a wonderful year and retrieve todays beer from my Ales by Mail Advent Calendar, I'll give you the answers to yesterdays quiz questions.

1. Ehringsdorfer Urbrau

2. Gerard Adriaan Heineken

3. Ur- (such as in Einbecker Urbock or Pilsner Urquell)

4. Humulus Lupulus

5. Reinheitsgebot

I'm sure all you Beer Geeks got the last two easily but very well done if you got any or all of the other three, I'm tremendously impressed.

So, beer retrieved, I'll carry on as before.

Today's beer is from Fyne Ales, a brewery I whose beer I have drunk for many years and had plenty of on our recent trip to Edinburgh and even though it is a Christmas beer, it's a Christmas beer with a difference. There's no Christmas spice, no figs or nuts, spruce or holly just, they say, a 'really good stronger beer'. So let's see if it's any good.

Pouring a reddish brown with a fine creamy near-white head, there's an aroma of plums, cherries and raspberries, a twist of black pepper and shortcake biscuit. Full, rich and feeling silky decadent as it flows gracefully over the tongue before flavours of cherry, raspberry and even a little liquorice emerge and bloom in the mouth like a flower in the springtime. An initial sharp bitterness transforms into a deep red fruitiness with all the flavours incredibly clean and precise. The finish dries very quickly, gently drawing the moisture from the tongue leaving a flavour like a you've just finished sucking a cherry boiled sweet behind. This is a wonderful beer and truly lives up to it's billing as an antidote to sometimes overly sweet Christmas spiciness, so if you want a well made beer with a Christmas label but no obvious festive leanings save luxury, then this could well be the beer for you.

It is now time, as has become customary, well for the last week anyway, for todays five questions.

1. From which historically disputed region in Europe did Augustus Kuentzmann Damm emigrate before establishing the Damm brewery in Barcelona in 1876?

2. What is the generic term for a raspberry-infused Belgian Lambic?

3. The classic glass for a stout is often referred to by the name of a flower. Which flower?

4. According to German legend, the mixing of beer and lemonade was invented at a roadside inn by a barman catering to a large group of passing cyclists. What is the term often used by German breweries to brand such a mixture?

5. What is the common term for the kind of fermentation that relies on either wild yeast of residual yeast in cask dregs without the addition of fresh yeast?

Best of luck with those, let me know how you get on, or if you're enjoying these questions on twitter at @1970sBoy. If you're starting to get a bit fed up with them then I may leave them out next week just to mix it up a bit, so your feedback is very much appreciated.

One thing that I won't be leaving out, although some might wish I did (yes, I'm looking at you BeerOClockShow Steve), is the groan-inducing Christmas cracker joke. And here's todays:

What do you give the man or woman who has everything?

Antibiotics!

Advent Calendar - 6th December 2014

Beer Advent Calendar
Freedom Brewery - Organic Dark Lager 4.7%
6th December 2014

Today is the 6th of December, St Nicholas' Day.

Saint Nicholas, also known as Nikolaos of Myra and Nicholas the Wonderworker, was the 4th century Greek Bishop of Myra, a place that is now called Demre in modern day Turkey. He had a reputation for gift giving, and it is the figure associated with corruption of his name, Santa Claus, that we now associate with giving gifts at Christmas time. He is also one of the patron saints of brewing as legend has it that he invoked Gods help to raise three visiting clerics from the dead after they had been slain for their money by an innkeeper in whose inn they were staying while visiting the town. He is also known as a protector of travellers for that reason. In modern times children in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg leave their shoes in the foyer of their home at bedtime in the hope that St Nicholas will leave a few coins in them.

I hope you enjoyed that brief history lesson as I thought it merited a mention due St Nicholas somewhat tenuous association with brewers but, before today's beer, here are the answers to yesterdays quiz questions:

1. Esters

2. Myrrh

3. South African Breweries

4. The Goat (although I will accept Billy Goat or Ram)

5. Maltose

How did you get on? Too easy? Maybe. I hope you got them all.

So on to today's beer from my Ales by Mail calendar.

Freedom Brewery's Organic Dark Lager, is  a beer in a style commonly known as a Dunkel, which means dark in German, so, translating back to English, it's a dark lager, which is exactly what Freedom have called it. As a general rule it has to be said that Freedom don't go in for fancy names, with other beers called Pilsner, Organic Lager and Stout, you know exactly what you're going to be getting in your glass. Founded in Fulham in 1995 by Alistair Hook, the brewery moved to Staffordshire in 1997 and Alistair moved on to found Meantime in Greenwich in 2000. It prides itself on it's water, it's ingredients and it's adherence to proper lagering technique, and claims to be the longest microbrewer of craft lager in the UK. It's time to open that bottle.

Pouring more of a deep ruby red than the dark brown you often see with a Dunkel the aroma is absolutely stunning, full of fruitcake and glace cherries, strawberry bootlaces and soft brown bread crusts, figs and sultanas, I could happily sit for some time pulling out the fruity, cakey nuances coming from this glass. A little rough over the tongue, the carbonation scrubbing noticeably away as it releases some cherry flavoured caramel backed by some plump Vimto-soaked raisins that quickly come to the fore, I'm really really enjoying this. The finish is suitably arid but with some wonderful echoes of cherry and blackcurrant that carry through for longer than I was I was expecting, and I'm following it's journey through to it's lingering death with much delight before diving back in for my next sip. This is lovely, and even though I drank this at a measured pace I could have happily drunk it down quickly and gone back for another. If only I had one (or more) in the fridge. I plan to remedy that situation soon.

What a delicious beer that was and so, suitably refreshed, it's time for today's questions.

1. The German brewery Weimar-Ehringsdorf in the city of Weimar has had a troubled past to say the least. Ransacked by the Red Army, socialised during the Communist era, and bankrupted in the 1990s, it has since be revived and now brews according to its original recipe. What is the name of the brand?

2. In 1864 a 22 year old brewer purchased a 300 year old brewery in Amsterdam called De Hooiberg and started his own brewery. What was this brewers name?

3. Which prefix is often used in German to signify that a beer is brewed according to an original recipe or is the first batch of a new style of beer?

4. What is the Latin name for the common hop plant?

5. What, in German, is the name of the Bavarian Purity Law of 1516 stating that beer must only be produced with malt, water, hops and no other additives?

As always, the very best of luck with those.

And finally, or firstly as I know some of you check out this part before reading the rest of the post, here is today's corny cracker joke:

Why are horse-drawn carriages so unpopular?

Because horses are rubbish at drawing.

Advent Calendar - 5th December 2014

Beer Advent Calendar
La Soccarada Cervesa Artesanal de Xativa - La Soccarada 6.0%
5th December 2014

It's day five of my Ales by Mail Advent Calendar, but I'm certainly not the only one doing this. There's more options if you'd like to see what a couple of other folk are drinking daily this Yuletide.

The most obvious place to start would be with Mr. Beer Advent Calendar himself, Eddie Grace, who has been blogging about his seasonal advent calendar every day in December for several years. He managed to fund this years venture via a KickStarter campaign, and with a no nonsense approach to beer reviews exhibiting a dry sense of humour it's well worth a read. You can also find him on twitter at @Beeradventcal.

Someone else who has also got the beery calendar bug is my good friend and Beer East Anglia's Norfolk correspondent, the one and only Nathaniel Southwood. His advent calendar is also typically no-nonsense, and his reviews sometimes Spartan but he sure knows his beer, and he knows good beer when he drinks it. You can follow his exploits daily on his BoozeBeatsBites blog, but then again you probably already do.

These are the only other beer advent calendars that I know of, however if you are aware of any others or indeed if one of them is yours then be sure to let me know and I'll feature it in a future post. Now however it's time for the answers to yesterdays quiz questions. They are:

1. Kriek

2. Isinglass

3. Kalnapilis

4. Ceres

5. 2009, in Maltby Street, Bermondsey

A good mix there I though, but I wonder how many of you got the last one right without cheating. Bonus point if you did!

But now it's time for the beer.

La Soccarada is brewed with rosemary and rosemary honey in small batches (a maximum of 2,500 litres) once a fortnight in the town of Xativa, in Valencia in Spain. Normally I'd put a link to the website in here but there seems to be a problem when I try to access the English version so here instead is a link to their twitter page which although in Spanish has plenty of photographs of the brewery and the brewers.

It pours a deep amber with a thin white head and the heady aroma of thick sticky honey, ginger and woody rosemary. Thin and sweet as you might well expect, the rosemary infusion is a pleasant surprise in that it really works, enhancing its sweetness whilst at the same time being distinct and readily identifiable. It is in the finish however that the rosemary is at it's most potent, with some pear notes and some finely ground black pepper meaning it lasts for a fair while. It is actually making me want to have a slice or two of freshly sliced hot roast lamb such is the effect of the rosemary in this beer, it really is quite intoxicating.

I have to confess that I've not had a beer quite like this before, and if it sounds like your thing then you'll find that Ales by Mail still have some on their website.

A smaller than usual review tonight because this beer is really all about the herb, and before I get to that corny joke you've all been waiting for (ok probably not) here are today's five questions.

1. In brewing, what do you call the volatile flavour compounds that give beer a fruity taste similar to bananas, raspberries, apples, etc.?

2. (Linking in with tonight's Beer O'Clock Show! episode) Nora, the wife of the brewer at La Baladin Brewery in Italy, lends her name to a beer which is infused with which natural festival appropriate bittering agent?

3. SABMiller is a global player in the brewing industry, but what do the initials SAB stand for?

4. Which animal is traditionally featured on Bock beer labels?

5. What is the name of the fermentable sugar which is derived from malt?

As always, best of luck.

And so as this blog draws to a close here is todays corny cracker joke ...

What is ET short for?

Because he's only got little legs!

Advent Calendar - 4th December 2014

Beer Advent Calendar
Hardknott - Figgy Pudding 7.0%
4th December 2014

Three weeks to go!

Just think, three weeks today, right around this time,  you'll probably have unwrapped all your presents, finished the washing up, know who's been killed off in this years EastEnders cliff hanger, and, despite consuming enough food to fill a three yard skip you'll still be wondering if you can squeeze in another mince pie. After all, it is Christmas!

I'm assuming that, as you're reading this blog, that you may well have a glass of beer in your hand, and I expect it will be a special one. Will it be a big IPA packing a hoppy punch, scouring the palate, seeking out and cutting through the fattiness of the food you've been eating, enhancing a salty snack or maybe highlighting the caramel side of a milk chocolate dessert? Or maybe like me you'll be having a stout, rich luxurious and creamy, a dessert in itself, barrel aged or not, it's a really good stout that helps me unwind. It's a drink to sip, to contemplate, and let all the stresses of the day and the preceding weeks melt away. And then you remember that you've got to do it all over again tomorrow!

Nonetheless, whatever you have in your glass on Christmas night, I hope it's a cracker.

Before I get to open the window of my Ales By Mail Advent Calendar I'd better give you the answers to yesterdays quiz questions. They are:

1. 6th December

2. Alcohol By Volume

3. Abbey of Saint Sixtus (Westvleteren is the name of the brewery, and that beer is of course the fabled Westvleteren 12)

4. Rye (Roggen is German for rye)

5. Adjuncts

They were a bit easier I thought, I hope you got them all.

Moving on to the beer of the day, Figgy Pudding from West Cumbrian brewers Hardknott is brewed, unsurprisingly with figs, as well as being infused with ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg. I'd recommend taking a look at their website as there's a lot of information about their beer, much of it in video form. If you have a bottle of this beer, actually even if you haven't, click this link to take you to a video of ... well you'll just have to click on the link to find out, but it's guaranteed to make you feel festive and thirsty courtesy of the Hardknott team.

Feeling good now? Excellent! Time to open that bottle.

Pouring a thin dark brown with little carbonation and consequently very little head the initial aroma gives you a head full of Christmas spice, predominantly cinnamon, but there's also room for the ginger and nutmeg as well as twist of liquorice wood coming through. Crashing over the tongue with a touch of bitterness is an enormous rush of fig, black treacle and liquorice lightly interwoven with the cinnamon, nutmeg and a good crack of black pepper. I was worried that the spice would overwhelm this beer but it compliments the dark fruitiness rather well, taking it into a slightly sticky fig-like finish, with the warmth of the ginger adding a welcome touch of heat right at the end and this rounds out the beer very nicely indeed. This doesn't taste its seven per cent at all, and if you can get past the heavily spiced aroma you'll be rewarded with a very good beer, I only wish it had more of a presence in the mouth. I'd like a beer with these flavours to be a bit more chewy, but having said that I'd certainly buy another bottle. If you like a spicy Christmas beer then you won't be disappointed and as this is Hardknott's first ever Christmas beer, new for this year, you might want to be there at the beginning of a regular event. You never know, they may not brew it again.

So, while I finish off this beer I'll give you your five questions for today. Best of luck!

1. What do you call a Lambic to which macerated cherries have been added, resulting in a fruity taste and often a burgundy colour?

2. What is the name of the fining agent used to clarify beer which consists of a semi-transparent substance obtained from the swim bladders of fish?

3. In 2004 a Lithuanian brewery was awarded two Gold Medals at the World Beer Cup. The brewery was established in 1902 by the German brewer Albertas Foigtas and was originally called Bergsclosschen. What is this brewery now called?

4. Name the Danish dark lager brand which shares its name with the Roman goddess of farming.

5. What year did Evin O'Riordan set up the Kernel Brewery, and what was its original location?

Best of luck with those!

So here's today's joke, and go on, I want a show of hands to let me know who jumped to this bit first? I'm rather delighted by the response to this part of blog and I hope you like this one.

How does Good King Wenceslas like his pizzas?

Deep pan. crisp and even.

Advent Calendar - 3rd December 2014

Beer Advent Calendar
Tioga-Sequoia Brewing Co. - 99 Golden Ale
3rd December 2014

There are certain things that are obvious signs that Christmas is coming. Coloured lights start appearing in the high street, the shop windows are full of brightly coloured and often well thought out displays, designed to entice you in, there's a nip in the air, and you get to the final page on your calendar, but there are also quite personal things, things that mean it's Christmas to you. One of mine happened this morning when I turned on my iPod and the first track that greeted me was Low's 'Just Like Christmas', one of my all time favourite Christmas songs. Some people think that it's the Coca-Cola commercial on the television that means that the festive season is under way but for me this song is the real portent, with it's simple sleigh-bell driven rhythm and naïve expectation, initial disappointment but ultimate joy that makes it almost the perfect Yuletide track. I love it.

So now that Christmas has officially started for me it's time to get on with today's beer, but before that I'd better give you the answers to yesterdays questions.

1. Sunday (the first Sunday in October)

2. Cassissona

3. Kilning

4. Forbidden Fruit

5. Paulaner

I hope you got those ones. Not too bad were they? I'd be super impressed if you got the Italian beer name without having to look it up, so give yourself an extra pat on the back if you did.

So onto the beer.

When I put my hand into the Ales by Mail Advent Calendar and pulled out this bottle the first thing I thought of on seeing it was Rogue's Dead Guy Ale as the label has a certain similarity. Although not a common beer in the UK, or indeed a brewery whose beer is commonly found here, I have had this before, in fact I have had quite a few from Tioga-Sequoia before due to the Ales by Mail offices being close to my place of work. Based in Fresno, California, the brewery was founded in 2007 and donate part of their profits each year to help promote and preserve the area in and around the Southern Sierra Nevada mountains which run along the east side of the valley in which the brewery sits.

Pouring the colour of golden syrup with a faint white head, the aroma of honey-drizzled white toast with a hint of lemon citrus assaults the nostrils with a sweet zesty sensation. A big rush of carbonation over the tongue brings more honeyed lemon which is sweetly refreshing at first but quickly becomes cloyingly sticky as I proceed down the glass. Candied lemon caramel emerges in the finish, and whilst this is a flavoursome beer, tastier than the standard golden ale offering I'm afraid it's not for me, and I confess that I'm struggling to drink the last of it.

For me personally, this beer is too sweet and whilst admittedly a good example of a (honey) golden ale it is a style of which I'm not overly fond as anyone who has read this recent post by me will already know. I will say however that Tioga-Sequoia brew some excellent beer, and if you ever come across their Midnight Lightning Imperial Stout which is thick, luxurious and boozy or particularly their Joaquin Murrieta Chile Pepper Beer which seemingly has fresh green chilli in every mouthful, then make sure you get yourself some as you'll be in for a real treat. A quick look at their website shows that Ales By Mail have the latter beer in stock as well as 99 Golden Ale too.

Putting the beer to one side for a moment, it's time to get your thinking caps on as here come todays questions ...

1. The Saint Nicolo is an ale branded by the Cittavecchia brewery of the Italian town of Trieste, which is released in celebration of Saint Nicholas, one of the many patron saints of brewing, but which day of the year is St Nicholas' Day?

2. On beer labels the alcohol percentage is often followed by the letters ABV. What does ABV stand for?

3. Some Trappist abbeys happily pander to the ever-increasing demand for their coveted beers, yet one Belgian abbey sticks to its vows. The abbey info-line tells callers when the next batch of ale will be available, and people queue up to collect their strict ration of beer. Name the monastery.

4. What characteristic cereal goes into German and Austrian Roggen Bier?

5. What is the term for additional starch ingredients in brewing, such as rice and sugar cane, which add inexpensive, fermentable sugar to the wort?

Good luck with those.

... and ... you knew it was coming ... here's that Christmas cracker joke you've all been waiting for ...

What did one snowman say to the other snowman?

Can you smell carrots