six nests of flame

On the sixth day of Beermas I went and bought for me

Six phoenixes rising

Five photographic plates

Four flying saucers

Three sunny toucans

Two dogs in costume

And a lone eagle flying free

Have I mentioned that there are a lot of birds in this song?  Because there are a lot of birds in this song.  Fortunately there are ever more beery birds too.  I thought I could find something more literal, but the Phoenix caught my eye and I could not let it pass.  It's Basqueland, so not a single worry about whether it's a good beer, and it's a triple IPA, so definitely something to warm you up on a cold winter night.  Yep, 9.5%.  That's quite a kick, even in times like this.

The piney, tropical odor of hops slips out immediately on opening the can.  It looks like a pretty light colored beer just peeking in, although it has somewhat more optical presence in the glass.  It's a good orangey shade, although very cloudy.  It's quite a mouthful; first there's a punch of bitter, with a quick slide into almost malty sweetness, and a rich thick texture to boot.  It feels like it should be fresh-squeezed orange juice, although it's just thick, not pulpy.  More like peach or mango maybe.  Although it's a little astringent at first, you get used to it very quickly.  It has an appearance that might make you think it's more suitable for summer, but there's a weight and a feeling of warmth that also give this beer a wintery quality.  All year round for this one, with food, stand-alone drink, meeting friends, or solitary contemplation of life.

five little sparkles

On the fifth day of Beermas I went and bought for me

Five photographic plates

Four flying saucers

Three sunny toucans

Two dogs in costume

And a lone eagle flying free

Well, very nearly the end of the year of retrospective.  Somehow, the same things happen over and over, although they always seem unexpected.  Looking for fitting names and labels?  You never know what you'll find.  Instead of gold, silver, instead of rings, a cylinder.  At least Basqueland is pretty predictable, always enjoyable and high quality.  Silver Halide DDH IPA should follow the pattern, even in such a bizarre year as this.

It's on the lighter side of colors for an IPA, but cloudy, something like a lot of NEIPAs.  The aroma is bright and hoppy, of the modern styles.  It starts out fizzy and heady, but the head dies back pretty quickly, leaving only a light fuzz on top.  It's an odd fruit salad blend, with citrus, pineapple and a little melon too.  The flavors kind of ebb and flow, but there's a bitter base that they all sit on.  The beer itself is not very reflective, not especially shiny.  The foam is bright, but not light-giving.  I guess this is just a picture perfect product, a representative of new old creations, a beer that would have been worth waiting for after the minutes of exposure for an old-timey photo.

four sightings called out

On the fourth day of Beermas I went and bought for me

Four flying saucers

Three sunny toucans

Two dogs in costume

And a lone eagle flying free 

Yeah, not even an animal this time, but the name is almost perfect.  WTF Is That? you cry out as the UFO streaks across the sky.  And if nobody else sees it, well you're just Chicken Little.  See?  Bird references all over.  This is a NEIPA from Wylie, one of those breweries based in Spain but started by people not from Spain.  If I remember correctly the guy is a Brit, although who knows what he'll be now.

This is about what I saw in my first NEIPA (don't remember the maker, but it was at Craft 19) with that very light yellow and very cloudy appearance.  There's kind of a spicy aroma, and not sweet spices either.  I want to say caraway?  I don't quite know what to make of the flavor, it's sweet and tart and almost bitter.  It's like a natural orange juice, but much easier to drink without all the pulp.  Also, slightly sweetened.  There's also something a little rubbery scooting around when you take a sip, which I just don't know what to blame for.  It's not super noticeable, but with no other distractions it is there.  It makes me think of vehicle parts and rubber bits on camping equipment for the woods where you happen to come across the UFO.  At least it's fitting for this beer in particular.

three beaks a-poking

On the third day of Beermas I went and bought for me

Three sunny toucans

Two dogs in costume

And a lone eagle flying free 

I don't know if it's going to get harder every year to find birds to go with this song, but it does seem like there's enough new beers to keep things going for a while.  Birds might not always be so popular though.  At least this year we got a toucan, one of the sillier ones, to keep our spirits up.  What about French hens you ask?  Well, the toucan has a big beak and we all know what French noses are like...OK, sorry, shouldn't make those kinds of generalizations.  But that's what happens when you have to find less obvious connections.  It's a DDH Hazy IPA, from Medina and Speranto, with a rather tropical name: Kailua.  It's the kind of beer you might drink if you want to look back on times of free travel to far-off places, or dream about that future possibility returning to us. 

Well, it's not as hazy as other IPAs I've known, but it is hops scented, spicy and piny, and with a good amount of head.  It starts out on the sweet side, although there's a strong undercurrent of bitter.  There's the hops snap, a few tropical notes, but overall it's a light-bodied beer to go with the color.  Although it does have an outdoorsy aroma, and would probably be quite refreshing after a hot afternoon of lying around in the sun, it's not so thin or uninteresting that it can't come inside for a meal and a conversation.

two cuddly doggies

On the second day of Beermas I went and bought for me

Two dogs in costume

And a lone eagle flying free 

And right away I have to make some twists to labels and lyrics: turtle doves are supposed to be snuggly love-birds, dogs like to snuggle with you, it's a flying dog on the bottle, there!  OK, so it's just one dog, but you can't have everything.  Flying Dog is good bet for a good beer at least.  I'll get something out of Doggy Style for sure.

For a pale ale it's awfully colorful.  Deep gold, off-white head, light and mandarinish aroma, it's a damn appetizing beer.  The flavor isn't as tropical as a lot of craft ales, although there is a little orange to it.  It's more like more traditional IPAs with just a touch of new hops.  There's also a dusty quality to the texture, which is a little strange.  It's pretty clear, not an unfiltered beer that I'm aware of.  It grows in sweetness although maintains a clean feeling, so I would call it a good all-rounder.  Not lacking in flavor on its own, and not so wild that food would ruin it, that's good for the beginning of a long line of beer.

one little birdie

On the first day of Beermas I went and bought for me

A lone eagle flying free

 

And now it's time for Beermas!  The only way to celebrate is with a beer every night, so here we go with DouGall's Leyenda.  It's an Extra Special Bitter, so there should be no disappointment.

It's one of those dark golden beers, and while there's a little foam on top, it's not much.  There isn't a whole lot of aroma either, just a slightly grainy, typically beer scent.  It's bitter for sure, with a woody background, a fresh and mouthfilling beverage.  It's a pretty simple flavor, not a lot of layers of fruit or spices, just a solid and rather traditional sort of beerishness.  In the space between holidays some might be looking for more exotic or complicated drinks, but there's nothing wrong with a simple and uncomplicated beer.  As long as it's a good one, of course.  Certain tasteless products need not apply.

Door #24

So, the last day of the calendar, the last beer I don't have to make up a connection for.  Beermas is going to have some interesting twists this year.  I guess Norn could have told me it would happen, if it had been earlier in the list.  This is a Swedish pale ale, perhaps made attractive by its name.  Everybody wants to know something about the future, after all.  Will we be allowed to wander freely, will we have to keep our distance from strangers (no complaints about that here), will we ever be able to fill a room again without worrying about every cough and sniffle that could kill us the next week?  The Norns aren't as forthcoming as they could be.  Haven't made the proper sacrifices, I guess.

Wow, it's an explosion of hoppy goodness opening up that can!  Otherwise, it's the very picture of a pale ale, light straw color, fluffy white head.  The aroma is a little heavy for the appearance I'd say.  The taste is oddly unbitter, with a touch of sweetness in fact, but mostly a melon-like flavor that I did not expect at all.  It's actually quite nice, although perhaps a little summery for the season.  It's a very smooth-drinking beer, in spite of the weighty hops perfume, very much a pale ale without the extras of IPAs.  Although there's a little bitter at the end of the swallow, it's rather subtle, and the overall feeling is one of a filling but refreshing summertime beer.  It's just flavorful enough to be perfectly fine on its own, although it wouldn't be bad to have some nice pretzels or salty, fatty snacks along with it.

Door #23

 The season is full of treats, although this year it's harder than usual to find some of them.  I think transportation just isn't what it normally is, either because a lot more people or shipping things or because some products aren't being made in their normal quantities.  Hardly any marzipan!  Unbelievable.  I would say it's good there are plenty of good beers made right around the metaphorical corner because it's true, but it's also true that some imports are making their way to us.  Hungarian imports, of all things.  Candy Man Imperial Stout looks the part for the holiday feast.  Cthulu's wearing his suit and everything.

Off to the Weihnachtsmarkt, I guess

The look is perfect, all super chocolatey dark brown, and just a thin cap of dark beige head.  Although fine in texture, it seems pretty resistant.  It's not as strongly sweet smelling as you might fear, although that little cloud of candy is there.  The candy flavor is, to my misfortune, more licorice than anything else.  There's a dark chocolate whisper that comes towards the end, but otherwise it's just licorice.  I think there might be some coffee candy lurking here and there, but the overpowering sweetness of cotton candy or marshmallows themselves is not thundering through.  Eventually the almost bitter of the dark chocolate overcomes the licorice, and leaves a pretty nice stout for a chilly almost Christmas evening.

Door #22

Oh, what kind of treat are we waiting for?  There are so many sour and fruity beers at the moment, with a lot of fans, but it's not what I tend to look for.  Every once in a while it is a nice change, though.  Beer Hut Brewing has a special looking sour, although I might think it's more of a summer time kind of beer.  

I was expecting Strawberry Daiquiri to have more of a ruddy look to it, but it looks very much like a lot of sours; light yellow, somewhat cloudy, very foamy.  There is a little bit of snap in the aroma,also a grinding bitter underneath.  It's just what you think from a sour.  There is some strawberry in the flavor, although not a whole lot.  It's pleasantly bitter-sour.  I'm trying to find a wintery connection, but it's not an especially heavy or thick kind of beer.  At the same time, it's substantial, as much or even more than a lot of sours.  This style of beer is not as easy for me to just down like others, I do tend to get sort of a knot in my throat.  I don't know if it's the style of beer or if it has something to do with the flavors, since it's not a simple case of beer taste.  It gives me an odd sensation of both fullness and hunger for more.  Take that as you will.  I just wish I had this beer for, like, July.

Organization coming soon, I hope.

Door #21

After a couple of splendidly seasonal stouts, I'll try something a little more colorful.  Nib Brewing is a local gypsy brewer, connected to our friends at La Tienda de la Cerveza.  Their Berliner Weisse Cherry Bomb certainly has the look of a Christmas beer.  Well, maybe only halfway since it's only red.  But, it is a light, fun, and different beer to try, one that I was told would be a very easy drink and pleasant to hang with.  It's maybe less flexible than Glotona, the beer for every single activity, but as a refreshing weisse it won't weigh you down or fill you up before food or another beer.  Let's see how it goes.

It's just like a glass of cherry 7-Up, although it's probably less bubbly.  Also, it doesn't smell at all like 7-Up, or any other soda that I'm aware of.  I was expecting something with a fruity kick, but it's really more of a bready aroma.  There is sort of a heavy sweetness in the background, not like candied cherries might be.  It is quite dry, neither especially sour or especially sweet, but with a roundness to the flavor.  It's kind of like a cranberry muffin.  A very organic one.

Patience, patience, something will happen eventually...

Door #20

While browsing stouts I happened to see an offering from Península, which made me think of how lucky I am to have so many local and regional breweries makin' the good shit.  If we had had a pandemic 10 years ago I think I wouldn't have fared as well.  The man in the shop really talked up Glotona; it's a maple syrup infused stout, with cinnamon and cookie flavors, mild but flavorful, good for drinking hot or cold, even for cooking with.  I wonder about cooking with some of these special beers, I think I might kill off their presence.  I better cook than me would know how to highlight them instead, I imagine.

Blacker than yesterdays', a little more head, with a dark beige hue.  It's almost like the Moose Moss or whatever stout I had a couple of years ago, that was absolutely divine.  There's a wafting maple syrup whiff that comes up from the glass, but not as much spice as Oso's stout.  The syrup is really lying in wait for the sip, though, easily flattening any other ingredient.  It's not exceptionally heavy, though, a sweet but easily sipped drink.  It's not the wallop that the other one was, but Glotona is quite a nice stout, and with just that touch of sweetness rather than a whole barrelful.

Things still on the way, stockings to be stuffed.

Door #19

So, I had a ginger beer, like a ginger "ale", but this is a more mature choice: You Can't Catch Me, a - get this - gingerbread latte imperial stout from Oso Brew.  They had been advertising it through their Instagram, drumming up expectations and desires to get down to the beer stores.  While Oso does have a bar downtown, they have also been selling cans through other outlets, so I still haven't actually made an appearance at the place.  If this one is worth catching I might have to make plans.  Look out, gingerbread man!

Now this is a nice black beer, so dark it has a reddish tint.  Not a whole lot of head, though.  There's a tiny whiff of ginger in the aroma, backed by cinnamon and vanilla, so very Christmas cookie-like.  The taste is almost exactly what the scent promises, although there's a bit more beery malt in it, so it's kind of on the bitter side for gingerbread.  It's a mouthful, too, one of the thicker beers that I've had for a while.  Despite the abundance of flavors and meaty texture, it's not very hard to swallow at all.  I find that the maltiness tends to increase over time, giving it something of a sharper edge, although the tastes of ginger and cinnamon are never too far away.

No results yet.  Wait til Christmas, dammit!

Door #18

We seem to be at sort of an equilibrium with the virus of the year.  That still means hand sanitizer and masks in public, but maybe we'll develop a new normal after all.  Got some places to visit for Beermas acquisitions.  It was on a Beermas jaunt that I picked up a Calenbeer, actually, since I couldn't think of how to fit Wychwood's Ginger Beard ginger beer into the song.  I was at Más Que Cervezas, and the people there were doing their best to help me find what I needed, as they always do, but Beermas is a little tricky.  Moreso, in a foreign language.  I guess that's all up to me, but Calenbeers don't have a lot of prerequisites.

It is definitely a beer rather than a ginger ale, what with the dark golden color and slight head.  It has an interesting aroma, with a clear smell of ginger and also that sugary hint that comes with ginger ale, and other sodas.  The taste is kind of a battle between the beer part, with a little lagery bittersweet and grain, and the ginger sugar soda.  It's something like a beer based cocktail, one that would probably come with a candy cane as a novelty stirrer.

Looking at some unorganized days coming up.  Really ought to organize myself.

Door #17

Oh boy, more Schlenkerla!  This one fooled me for a minute, since it is the Rauchbier but blended with a pale lager.  According to the back of the bottle, the lager is aged and livened up (kräusened) with the rauchbier just before bottling.  The effect is supposed to be one of effervescence and happy little bubbles in the rejuvenated beer, besides giving it a darker color and more complex flavor profile.  We shall see just how well it works in this case.

The overwhelming sense of the aroma is rauchbier, with that distinctive bacony scent.  I struggle to identify anything else, any kind of lager graininess or hoppy bitter/fruit.  The fruit would be a surprise, since that's not traditional at all.  The flavor is also pretty much all rauchbier.  Although the color is lightened somewhat, the lager doesn't seem to have much effect on the taste.  It's the kind of beer that I don't like much on its own, but is a very good match for food, especially meaty food.  I might have to warm up some chili.

New thoughts on future presentations, will be checking things out in a couple of days.

Door #16

It's an odd kind of day, almost looks like it'll rain.  But then it doesn't.  All we get is overcast skies.  Not fog either, but it's still a good situation for Fog Breaker IPA from Anchor.  One would suppose that San Francisco would know how to deal with fog.

Now, that's a sinus clearing beer!  I can't quite put my finger on what it is, but there's a definite feeling of cleanser.  There's also the expected citrus and tropical fruit aromas, being an American IPA.  It's a very bright and glowing yellow-orange; perhaps enough to clear away the fog, although I might expect a white light to do better.  If the head was a little more penetrating it might do the job.  The taste is an odd blend of many things at once: orange, grain, lemon, something bitter, something sour.  It doesn't really evolve like some do, you get hit with everything in the first moments of your sip.

(Dammit, the piney cleaner cleaned out my picture taking memory again!)

Christmas and vacations are coming, although it seems like this whole year has been a vacation.

Door #15

"The Doom Series" - that's how you start a week!  And Russian Imperial Stout?  That's how you offer me a beer!  This is Laugar's Funeralopolis.  I'm not sure what deep and dark has to do with psychedelic.  Maybe this?  Or this?

While the beer has that dark and magical color, and even looks a little like it has some extra heft to it, I can't get much foam to come out on top.  Oh well.  The aroma is delicate, with notes of chocolate, but not much coffee, earth or smoke.  I'm disappointed at the amount of licorice in this flavor.  I was hoping for a little chocolate, or even latte, but it's licorice immediately and that sticks around.  The beer feels a little heavier than most too, maybe with some melted licorice in it.  It starts to develop a more complex flavor, with some almost cinnamon notes coming out, although I still can't get over the licorice in the beginning.

It seems nobody has the flu this year.  Guess that's what happens when everybody washes their hands and does as much through a screen as possible.  Maybe we can all drink together through our screens.

Door #14

Oh dear, a lambic.  Beer from the north, a reminder of the cold season...if only it was a beer I liked better.  They've been picking up in popularity for a few years now, certainly benefiting from their history, a retro, hipster choice, and one that a lot of people are happy to make anyway, considering the proliferation of sours in the craft world today.  Oude Geuze Boon has the name to back up the style, if that's what you're into.  Well, maybe my tastebuds will die off someday.

It has that lambic champagne color, and something of a champagne aroma.  I might have let it sit in the refrigerator a little too long, as it's more active and bubbly than it probably should be.  The taste is surprisingly bland, with just a hint of sour and wood.  Even though it feels like it should be a mouthful of water, it's not very easy to drink.  It grabs at the throat a little, kicking on the way down.  Although the sourness makes it feel like a summer drink, something to cool you off and perk up, that roughness gives it a more wintery coat.  I don't know if I would like a mild cheese or something to go with it, something fatty does seem like it would pair well.

Building possibilities for the new year is exciting, but not always easy to keep up optimism about.  Good thing there's a beer more to my tastes waiting for me.

Door #13

Preparing for another week, with a bottle of märzen at the ready.  It's a genuine German one, Oktoberfest Märzen, in one of those old-fashioned kind of bottles with a pop top.  Even though we're coming close to Christmas, there's something about a märzen style beer that seems to fit the season.  Maybe it's that sweetness that they often have, or the spiciness.  Maybe it's just that it looks like it had chestnuts soaking in it.

There's a malty aroma that wafts out after popping that bottle top, and the beer pours out clear and only lightly topped with foam.  It's a little lighter in color than I expected, sort of a dark apple juice.  Maybe that influences me to pick up on an apple scent in there too.  It's surprisingly tart in taste, not sweet exactly, and a little rough around the edges.  Really not very strong on the bitter.  While it coats the tongue, it's more of a physical sensation and not a taste that sticks around.  Flavorwise it actually finishes quite dry.

It's a little scary how fast time flies, but at least there's no reason to worry about thirteen.

Door #12

It's a cavalcade of familiar names, now it's Hoegaarden.  This witbier has been found at taps all around town, usually as a sort of representative of the Belgians styles not in the bottle.  Cloudy and light orange, a fruit basket in scent dispersion, but without the throat grabbing aftertaste that so many Belgian beers, and some non-Belgian wheat beers I might add, tend to show me.  Although it should be a little spicey, not hot but a complex ball of flavors, it's not quite a winter beer for me.  I think of it as a light and gentle summer kind of beer, but maybe the bottle will add some weight to it.

While it looks just like I remember, there is a surprising sourness to the aroma, and even a little something like pear.  The flavor is immediately wheat beerish, a little sweet and tangy, crisp and light.  I keep waiting for some bitterness to kick in, but it it's a while before it becomes barely detectable.  There's kind of a grapefruit sensation, like a soda in fact.  I'm a little disappointed in this bottle version, though, the flavor is not as strong as I recall the tap beer being.  It takes until the very end for a little banana bread to make its appearance, smoothing out the citrus sharpness.  It would be nice to have a little cheese plate or something, since the acidity would cut through any lingering dairy in the mouth.

Halfway through the calendar, halfway to Beermas!

Door #11

Oh danger, more Belgian beers coming in!  This one at least is oak aged, so I expect a pretty good kick.  As a red ale, it's fitting for the time of year.  It's not very cold these days, though, so I guess I don't any serious alcoholic insulation.  Rodenbach Grand Cru, let's see what you can do.

It starts out with a puff of syrupy aroma, promising to be one of the sweeter red ales.  Seems in keeping with a Belgian one, to be honest.  It's a deep ruddy color, not a whole of head, but there is a fine sliver of it that hangs around on top.  I find it hard to distinguish anything but a grapey, winey sort of scent.  It's not as harsh as a lot of red wines, say, but there's a lot of fermented fruit in there.  It's also rather wine-ish in taste, although definitely a sweeter one.  It's a pretty heavy feeling beer, with a smooth but powerful sensation in the mouth.  It builds up a little at the back of the tongue, not with a strong aftertaste exactly, but there's a feeling of coating.  This is a jolly beer, warming and seasonally sweet.  This coincidence works for Calenbeer!

What kind of coincidences await for Beermas?  They all are, really, with the abundance of names and labels and everything.  Can't hardly plan anything.

Door #10

Now, this one I know I've seen before.  Not so often in the bottle, although I think it's lurking around there too, but on tap every other Sunday.  I don't always get Founders Dirty Bastard, since it has a pretty heavy sweetness which is a little much for me most days, but sometimes it's nice.  It's especially nice on colder days, but still the porter is my go-to when I'm down there.

As always, it's heavy and sweet from the start, with good slather of licorice.  There's a little twitch of sour candy in there, and a slightly smokey finish.  The wood from the aging comes through after a while, adding another dimension to the flavor.  It has kind of an odd mouthfeel, being on the thicker side, but it's not quite syrupy.  It also isn't a super smooth kind of beer; maybe that should be obvious from the name.  You don't have to fight it down exactly, but it's certainly a proud and unswerving drink.

Although cloudy and chilly, it's not enough to be snowy.  No Christmas weather here, but where I come from we only have 30% chances of a white Christmas on any given year.  Stick with beer foam, that's a lot more reliable.

Door #9

I guess you can't have an Advent Beer Calendar without a Belgian beer, unless you are specifically not doing Belgian beers.  When people think of Christmas ales, those are the breweries that tend to come to mind.  It's not really at the top of my list, but I guess I'll accept it.  Sometimes you find a surprisingly good one, and we need to keep trying things in life anyway.  Dupont's Saison is something different for me.

It doesn't look bad, a nice mellow yellow and fluffy head.  But, oh man, there's a farty smell coming off it.  It didn't make any weird noises when I opened the bottle and it isn't expired, but this gives me pause.  If I hold my nose the flavor is that typical Belgian, less sour in the aftertaste in fact, with an edge of fruity sweetness around the mildly bitter core.  It has a fairly thick sensation to it too, although it's not especially cloudy.  There's kind of a smokey burned off quality to the aftertaste, not very unlike Schlenkerla.  I should investigate whether this brewery also makes rauchbiers or the like.

(Oops, forgot to get a picture of the beer in the glass.  

The sulfur fumes must have overwhelmed me.)

Long weekend over, was I as productive as I had hoped?  Of course not.  Got a lot of rest though, so lots of energy for the short week.

Door #8

Dougall's is a familiar name to me, and I thought maybe maybe this had been a Beermas beer in the past.  It wasn't.  I did have a regular Saturday beer of the same name, but not quite the same style it seems.  It's still in the same family, though, an APA, and with connections to the water.  I wonder if the Manzanares otters are as happy as Happy Otter.  Eh, probably not.

It's a slightly cloudy golden color, with a clean white head.  The head is particularly resistant, floating over the beer like a cloud for minutes on end.  It has the bright aroma of IPAs, very fruity and citrusy.  It's a little more like fruit candy than real fruit, though.  Interestingly, it's much more sour than the scent would lead you to believe.  There's a little touch of fruit in there, but it's a much weightier bitter and wood type flavor than other APAs.  There are background noises of orange candy, but it's mostly a simple and refreshing bitter ale, good for clearing the head after being out on a sunny afternoon...or warming up a little on a windy fall day, I guess.  Despite the sunny appearance, there's a good amount of body to this beer, enough so it stands up to end-of-year sentiments.  It's not just a pretty taste, is what I mean.  Although I always prefer to start with the heavyweights, this is a beer I could end my evening out with, in any season.

This might be a good candidate for an end of cycle tasting.  Hell, there are a thousand good candidates, who am I kidding?  It's going to be a little bit of chance, I'm afraid.

Door #7

What luck for me, a good stout on a good long weekend!  Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout looks promising, as those English stouts do tend to be what I like (oh, someday I'll pick up a Cream Stout again).

It's nearly black, although not quite, with a little beige fuzz for a head.  The fuzz does stick around, though.  It has a robust aroma, with deep, dark fruit in it, slightly chocolatey, hint of licorice, no coffee that I can detect.  The taste is surprisingly simple compared to the aroma, just a hint of sourness and ease of drinking.  A little bit of plumminess bubbles up after a while, but the beer remains uncorpulent, and quick to go down the throat.  There's a pleasant seasonalness to it, and a touch of dessert, making it a fine evening drink.

It might have been less of a hassle to just buy an advent calendar, although there is something kind of joyful in making choices yourself.  It is a little hard to explain to people in the beer stores just what I'm looking for though, since most people just don't pick out beers by how well they go with a song.  Going with the season is a little easier, just pick up a lot of ginger, chestnut and Belgian Christmas ales.  Maybe too easy?

Door #6

It would have been nice to have a chocolate stout or something for the day, but I don't care much about religious celebrations anyway so I guess I have no room to complain.  I do have an Irish beer, so there's that cultural connection to saints' days.  I don't think O'Hara's Irish Red has anything directly to do with St. Nicolas, though.

It's one of those nice ruddy Irish reds, not like some recent "red" ales I've seen.  Slightly dirty head, mostly disappears, but leaves a light foam on top.  At first I got a very strong caramel aroma, but it quickly vanished too, leaving hardly anything behind, not even a low bitter or graininess.  There is a strong amount of grain in the flavor, sort of wrapped around the bitter foundation.  It's not much of a lone drink for me, being a little harsh by itself and without a lot of layers of flavor to sift through.  It's a fairly standard beery beer though.  The best thing about it is its appropriately festive color.

Things are getting into shape, let's just hope they can be displayed like they deserve to be.