It's the Most Wonderful Time For Beer: The 12 Beers Of Christmas (Part 2)

It's that time again: December has not yet hit and we decided to finish the Twelve Beers of Christmas. Snow is on the ground and did we mention that we like Christmas like beers? Well, anything is a decent excuse to drink the tasty beverages of the season. Once again we have our good friend Nick with us to help with the blind beer tasting and to make sure we wouldn't pass judgement on the brew because of the label on the bottle. Our choices of the night were: Magic Hat Roxy Rolles, Rogue Santa's Private Reserve, Thirsty Dog 12 Dogs of Christmas Ale, Troegs Mad Elf Ale and Breckenridge Christmas Ale.

The ratings and guesses:

Sample 1: Smells festive, starts well and finishes well but lacks body.
Oz Scale: 5.5 (Breckenridge)
Mike Scale: 5.5 (Breckenridge)
Nick Scale: 5.0

Sample 2: Strong smell, great head. Sweet but not overpowering. The light tingle to the tongue leads to a great finish.
Oz Scale: 7.2 (Corsendonk)
Mike Scale: 7.3 (Corsendonk)
Nick Scale: 7.2

Sample 3: Starts weak, finishes with a strong unsatisfactory aftertaste. Dark in color with hits of spices.
Oz Scale: 4.8 (Magic Hat)
Mike Scale: 5.1 (Thirsty Dog)
Nick Scale: 3.9

Sample 4: Strong smells, hint of pine in the taste. Strong hoppy flavor, finishes like an IPA but doesn't linger quite as long.
Oz Scale: 7.1 (Troegs)
Mike Scale: 6.7 (Troegs)

Sample 5: Well balanced beer: taste, smell and color come together well. Initially sweet, but when you get the actual flavor, it will appease most enthusiasts.
Oz Scale: 7.9 (Rogue)
Mike Scale: 7.4 (Corsendonk)
Nick Scale: 8.0

Sample 6: MMM hops, hop pa MMM hops dib it dat ta MMM hops. Whoah! Great smell, taste and finish. Would work well as a year round IPA.
Oz Scale: 8.2 (Rogue)
Mike Scale: 8.4 (Rogue)
Nick Scale: 9.11 ("There's an emergency in my mouth!-- Too soon?")

Actual Brews:
Sample 1: Thirsty Dog 12 Dogs of Christmas Ale (Averaged 5.3)
Sample 2: Corsendonk Christmas Ale (Averaged 7.2)
Sample 3: Breckenridge Christmas Ale (Averaged 4.6)
Sample 4: Magic Hat Roxy Rolles (Average 7.3)
Sample 5: Troegs Mad Elf Ale (Averaged 7.8)
Sample 6: Rogue Santa's Private Reserve (Averaged 8.6)

Oz and Mike did worse this round with only guessing correctly twice. Oh well, even the titans lose sometimes. Then again this is beer; you are always a winner when you drink good beer.

This finishes our Beers of Christmas blogs and leaves us with the final rankings:

12: Breckenridge Christmas Ale (Averaged 4.6)
11: Flying Dog K-9 Cruiser Winter Ale (Averaged 5.0)
10: Thirsty Dog 12 Dogs of Christmas Ale (Averaged 5.3)
9: Blue Moon Full Moon (Average 6.3)
8: Summit Winter Ale (Averaged 6.7)
7: Corsendonk Christmas Ale (Averaged 7.2)
6: Magic Hat Roxy Rolles (Average 7.3)
5: Troegs Mad Elf Ale (Averaged 7.8)
4: Bell's Christmas Ale (Averaged 8.0)
3: Great Lakes Christmas Ale (Averaged 8.1)
2: Rogue Santa's Private Reserve (Averaged 8.6)

and the best seasonal we have tried this year:

1: Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale (Averaged 8.8)

Here is another look at this blogs contestants:

It's the Most Wonderful Time For Beer: The 12 Beers Of Christmas (Part 1)

The first snow of the year and six
blind tasting beers sat before us. The colder it becomes outside, the better the seasonals seem to be. Ah, yes winter. Thicker, more robust ales come our way and we couldn't wait to share some with you. Being the label whores we are, we wanted to prove to our beer knowlege was up to snuff with a good old fashioned taste test- wine style. Our choices of the night were: Flying Dog K-9 Cruiser Ale, Blue Moon's Winter Ale, Great Lakes Brewing Co's Christmas Ale, Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale Summit Winter Ale and Bell's Christmas Ale. Our good friend and guest judge Nick helped us make sure we did not pass judgement because of the logo on the label.

The ratings and guesses:

Sample 1: Malty, Toffee flavor. Finishes average, taste does not linger.
Oz Scale: 6.0 (Summit)
Mike Scale: 6.7 (Summit)
Nick Scale: 7.5

Sample 2: Hints of ginger and cinnamon. Slight hops aftertaste. Swims down your throat.
Oz Scale: 7.9 (Great Lakes)
Mike Scale: 7.9 (Great Lakes)
Nick Scale: 8.4

Sample 3: It hits well but fails to finish close to expectations. It's a blue balls beer (you get all excited on the first sip but in the end you just find yourself holding yourself for comfort.) Could pass as a fall seasonal.
Oz Scale: 6.2 (Sierra Nevada)
Mike Scale: 5.4 (Blue Moon)
Nick Scale: 3.4

Sample 4: Sweet smell, average finish. Could pass as a spring seasonal or even a year long brew. Has a surprising slight kick. Slight malt finish.
Oz Scale: 6.8 (Blue Moon)
Mike Scale: 6.6 (Sierra Nevada)
Nick Scale: 5.4

Sample 5: Great kick, powerful finish. Sweet but sour. Malt and hops are balanced. Spices are subtle but welcomed.
Oz Scale: 7.7 (Flying Dog)
Mike Scale: 7.4 (Bell's)
Nick Scale: 9.0

Sample 6: Powerful taste in all the right ways. Hop aroma and taste. Slight sweetness.
Oz Scale: 8.2 (Flying Dog)
Mike Scale: 8.3 (Bell's)
Nick Scale: 10

Actual Brews:
Sample 1: Summit Winter Ale (Averaged 6.7)
Sample 2: Great Lakes Christmas Ale (Averaged 8.1)
Sample 3: Flying Dog K-9 Cruiser Winter Ale (Averaged 5)
Sample 4: Blue Moon Full Moon (Average 6.3)
Sample 5: Bell's Christmas Ale (Averaged 8.0)
Sample 6: Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale (Averaged 8.8)

Both Oz and Mike guess correctly on half the six beers. Surprisingly Flying Dog (being one of Oz and Mike's favorite brewing companies) did not live up the their standards.

Here is a look at the brews resting on the fresh snow:














And here is a look at them as the snow starts to melt (20 hours later, the next day and the following day)