This is it...

This is a perfect example of why winter beers are so exciting. Crystal, Chocolate and smoked malts with Challenger hops, it's going to be great! http://www.sierranevada.com/beers/tumbler.html

Cheers!

Hot time, summer in the city....

So, I have decided to join the legions of thirty-somethings spewing their life experiences into the digital ether. I have not, however, decided what this blog will be about. If you guessed, by the title, that it will contain musings about being an "Anglophile", you would be correct. But that's for another time.

Let's talk beer!

I was looking for some "bathroom" reading material earlier and a book that Mr. and Mrs. Ferret gave me a couple of Christmases ago caught my eye from the bookshelf. I have read this book at least twice, cover to cover, and use it as a reference every now and then. However, today, the topic of the book is what attracted my attention. The book, Christmas Beer, by Don Russell, is all about the beers of the winter holiday season. You may think this a weird read for the middle of summer but it was the perfect mental antidote to the 90°+ temps we have been subjected to recently. I always look forward to the cooler months of the year and the beers that they bring. They seem to carry a magical, dare I say mystical, quality that summer beers seem to be missing. I feel that I should state that some of my favorite beers are summer beers, but they don't carry the same emotions for me that winter brews do. Some seem to promise snow, the minute you pop the cap. Others, are more coy and don't divulge their intentions until you have opened your third bottle. Samuel Adams Old Fezziwig, I'm looking at you! Take for instance Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome Ale, with it's scrolling text and Old World winter scene on the front of the bottle, it practically begs you to build a fire and plop down on the couch with the missus and the dogs! And what better way to spend a cold winter's eve?

Here are a few of my favorite winter brews:
Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome
Young's Winter Warmer
Ridgeway Brewing The Elf Series
St. Bernardus Christmas Ale
Bell's Winter White Ale
Rogue Santa's Private Reserve
And it wouldn't be Christmas without a bottle of Corsendonk Christmas Ale.
I'm sure that I have forgotten some but I will rediscover them in a couple of months and I can't wait
'Til next time, Cheers