Sorry I haven’t done any updating on this thing myself lately, but I just gotta share the fact that one of my fave ales just hit the shores here in the States.  It’s called “Double Dragon Ale”, from the Felinfoel brewery in Wales, and I plan on getting a few cases for our first ever St. David’s Day celebration this coming March 1st.  I first tried this ale in a public house in Cardiff, and man was it good.  ANd I’m not just saying that because I am descended from Welsh heritage, it really is good.  So, will try to get some to the Gookin dude so he can confirm when it arrives. 

“Would you like to taste Santa’s Butt?” I just asked my wife. Of course, I tasted Santa’s Butt before she did. Yes, sometimes I’m so juvenile that I make Beavis and Butthead look mature. Huh. Huh-huh.

Just like Bad Elf, this beer is brewed in the UK by Ridgeway Brewery, and imported by Shelton Brothers. Also, like Bad Elf, this beer has been the subject of controversy in years past due to attempts to ban it because of its label. Also, like Bad Elf, the best thing going for it is the label.

I was kind of disappointed in this one. I was expecting something full-bodied and flavorful, and it turns out that Santa’s Butt just doesn’t taste that good. Huh. Huh-huh. Santa’s Butt is a deep brown with hints of red. Huh-huh. The aroma of Sant’s Butt is sweet and a little grape-y, but the mouthfeel of Santa’s Butt is kind of thin.

Its just a very average beer that could have easily been produced by an American macrobrewery. That’s not to say it’s bad…it’s just not anything special. It’s not really worth the price just to make obnoxious jokes about the name.

The Hook Norton Brewery in Oxfordshire, England was founded in 1849 and is still going strong today. It is the only brewery in the UK that remains powered by a steam-engine.

The twelve days ale pours a clear brown and has a sweet aroma. It starts with a sweet malt flavor and a definite nuttiness, with a hint of what tasted to me like plums. The bitterness of the hops that follows even seems to have a sweet quality. It is a very smooth and easy-drinking ale, especially considering its 5.5% ABV, and it gets even smoother as it warms. I wish I had twelve more bottles of Twelve Days. Highly recommended.

The Christmas season always tends to get me in a bad mood. Dealing with all the idiots in the stores and out on the streets just gets to me and makes me grumpy. I tend to be a bit of a scrooge and go around using my own combination of four-letter words as my personal way of saying “bah humbug”

This beer is not something that should make anyone grumpy, though. Brewed by Wychwood Brewery in Oxfordshire, England, this beer is welcome in my stocking anytime. It pours an orangish brown with a head that dissipates quickly. The flavor is very pleasant. It starts with a slightly sweet malt flavor with what seemed to me like a hint of cherries. It isn’t real bitter, and and not overly hoppy. It’s a lighter bodied ale, and is very drinkable. A very good Christmas ale.

Bad Elf is brewed in the UK by the Ridgeway Brewery. This ale made the news in 2005 when the state of Connecticut tried to ban its sale because they claimed the label appealed to children. Luckily, we’re not quite that uptight here in Iowa, so I was able to get some of this for the holiday season.

However, the label might be the best part of this beer. It pours a golden yellow with a slight haze. The aroma is strongly of alcohol, and reminded by of a white wine. The alcohol taste is also evident right up front. This is followed by a sweet maltiness, before the bitterness creeps in. The bitter taste, however, is somewhat nondescript. It’s bitter, but without a particular hop flavor. As the bitterness fades, the alcohol presence returns.

I didn’t really care much for this brew, which is supposed to be an IPA. The alcohol content is 6%, which is somewhat high, but not unusual. However, the alcohol presence was just too much, and seemed to overtake everything else. Bad Elf is going on my naughty list.

The Barley Blog has announced a new brewery search site, BrewerySearch.com. It looks pretty cool. Not only can you search by location, but by beer styles, or even specific beer names. They’ve also set up a mobile version so you can access it from your cell phone or other web-enabled wireless device. This would be great for finding breweries while traveling. The site’s just been launched, so data entry has only been done (alphabetically) through New Mexico, but the complete database should be available soon.

This would be a really great beer if it were a Pale Ale. As an IPA, it lacks pop.Everything is muted, the nose, the hops, the malt. It’s not a bad beer, just not what I’m looking for in an IPA.

This NY brewed ale is the very definition of average. It pours light coppery color with a thin head that sticks around. The nose is nondescript. Maybe a little malt there but not a whole lot going on. It’s nicely balanced, with a light malty flavor offset by not very aggressive hopping. It’s a good beer, one could easily knock back a few in a session, but it’s not something to write home about.

Kegerators.net is giving away a kegerator. All you have to do is write a short essay on how you would put the kegerator to good use. The contest is open until January 1. If anyone I know wins, you have to have me over for the inaugural use. Good luck!

Hat tip: Hail the Ale!

So far I’ve been pleased with all of the brews I’ve tried from New Holland Brewery. The Mad Hatter IPA is an orangey-amber color with a foamy tan head. It’s very cloudy. It’s not just cloudy from yeast suspension, but because there are a lot of floaty chunks in it. BIG floaty chunks. I’m not really a fan of floaty chunks in my beer. For some beers, like Mad Hatter, this is normal, but it still sort of freaks me out. I will do my best to get over it and review this brew fairly.

The aroma has a nice spicy hopiness. Probably because there are big chunks of hops floating around in it. The flavor is also quite hoppy. It’s not even really bitter at first, but rather you can actually taste the spicy, flowery flavor of the hops. Probably because there are big chunks of hops floating around in it. The bitterness hits you in the aftertaste and lingers at the back of the tongue.

Although there are big chunks of hops floating around in it, the hop flavor is well balanced with malts that remind me a little bit of caramel. Caramel with a bunch of big chunks of hops floating around in it, that is.

Overall, a good IPA. Except for the floaty things.

After my disappointment with the Arcadia, I was ready for a really good amber ale, so I decided to try the Sundog Amber Ale from New Holland brewery.

Again, I was disappointed. Despite what the label says, this beer tasted neither like the sun, nor like a dog. Why would you name a beer Sundog, and then have neither of those flavors present?

OK, I’m kidding about that last part. I was not disappointed in this one at all. It pours a cloudy amber color (hence the name). The flavor was very pleasing. Sweet and malty with a little breadiness thrown in, and with a touch of hops at the end. It’s low in carbonation and is smooth and goes down easy. It’s not too heavy and not too light; a nicely balanced beer.

Another offering from Arcadia Ales. I was really looking forward to this one because I love the malty goodness of a well-made amber ale.

It pours a cloudy amber color with a thick, tan head. So far so good.

But then a whiff of it brings not a rich, malty aroma, but yeasty instead; foreshadowing further disappointment to come. Not one to let that stop me, I forged ahead and tasted it. It has somewhat of an alcohol bite right up front. That was followed by a flavor that I can’t really place, but which made me pucker up a little. It’s not sour like a lambic though, just sort of well, sour. It was also overcarbonated, and the fizziness was not particularly enjoyable.

My final verdict was that it reminded me a lot of a homebrew made from a kit in someone’s first attempt at homebrewing. Bummer.

As I mentioned before, Arcadia Ales of Battle Creek, Michigan focuses on English style ales. This beer however is a wheat ale, which is definitely not indigenous to England. Still, they don’t do a bad job with it.

I thought this looked a bit dark for a wheat beer. It’s a cloudy amber color, but is a darkish amber if that makes any sense. It pours with a very thin white head.

Yes that’s fine, but how does it taste? Well, its sweet with a slight sourness to it. I noticed a slight astringency which made it less smooth and not as easily drinkable as many other wheat beers. There is little to no hop flavor when it’s cold, but a slight hopiness does come out as it warms. Overall, it’s probably a slightly below average wheat beer.

Dogfish Head is another one of those east coast breweries that can generally do no wrong. I’m not so sure about this beer. When I think of “brown ale” I’m expecting something along the lines of a Newcastle. This poured a deep, dark brown that was almost black. I actually went back to the bottle after I poured it to make sure it wasn’t a stout. It sure looked like one.

The nose is a nutty chocolate with burnt caramel notes. Again, very stout like. The mouth feel is thin, more in line with an ale. The start and finish are built around chocolate malts, with a strong hop kick at the end.

It’s not a bad beer, it’s just very different from what I was expecting from a brown ale. Then again, Dogfish is sort of known for pushing the boundaries of brewing, so maybe the error is mine in expecting their brown ale to taste like a brown ale!

My love for all thing Troegs is well known. Mad Elf Ale is their Christmas seasonal. It’s brewed with Belgian yeast, honey, and cherries. It’s also 11% alcohol. I know that because the proprietor of my local gourmet beer and wine shop warned me when I was buying the beer. When the shopkeeper warns you about the strength of a beer, always add another to the cart. It’s an essential rule of beer shopping.

It pours a rich ruby red color with a thin head that dissipates almost instantly. The nose is deep and rich with cherry and spice notes. It definitely hints of a very complex brew. It starts almost Scottish Ale like, with the alcohol burning though just about everything else. However, that is only when the beer is fresh out of the fridge. As it warms the richness and complexity comes through. Once it warms a bit, and your palate acclimates to it, the start becomes a bounty of spice and cherry. It’s incredibly well balanced for such a complex beer. The spices, cherries, malts, and hops all compliment each other perfectly.

This is a sippin’ beer though. I can’t imagine drinking more than 2 in a session. But it one mighty fine sippin’ brew.

Did I mention that it’s 11% alcohol?