This review is brought to you as part of the Beer Advent Calendar over at The Brew Site – check it out for some great holiday brews, one reviewed each day until Christmas!
With three men on camels riding into an orange sunset, who could resist this for a whimsical holiday drink? A collaborative effort between Nogne O (Sorry, I don’t know how to make the special characters!), Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales and Stone Brewing Company, I first spotted this on the bottle list at Novare Res in Portland, and vowed to try it again. Another year passed, and it has finally made it into my hands again.
It pours with a really creamy head that stays for a while and seeped out of the bottle when I was first trying to open it (though that also could have been the result of me man-handling it while trying to get it open without an opener available). The smell was at first vaguely reminiscent of cookies baking. There is definitely “spice” in this beer – and the sage, caraway and juniper leap right out at you. Put your nose in deep and you’d swear it was a ginger snap cookie – but there’s no ginger to be found in this brew. There is some maltiness there, but the spices certainly are the overwhelming smell here.
The first sip is almost shockingly spiced – the sage and juniper leave the tongue feeling dry and it opens up your nose a bit. It does smell and taste a bit like a mushed-up cookie – in a really good way. Each sip grew on me a bit more – and revealed some complexity. Not too thick (I expected thicker considering the head and the dark brown color) the primary characteristics here are not the malt backbone but the added ingredients. I can admit that I have not had any chestnuts in my lifetime, so this ingredient is eluding me, though maybe it is the source of the bready or starchy part of this brew? I’ll have to go get some in NYC when I’m down there for the holidays to compare.
As far as this beer’s place on the advent calendar, I’d say it is solid. It reminds me of the incense they used to burn at Midnight mass in the church I attended in my youth, and the yeast+spice combination does make me think of baking cookies. With each sip I liked it more and more, and I think I could only have topped off the experience if I were sitting with a bottle of it while watching new December snow fall.
On my first relaxing evening in a long time, I decided to open up the fridge and pull out something fun. Not willing to break into something really heavy or high in alcohol, I pawed through the bottles and saw the Apricot Wheat beer from Ithaca Brewing.
When visiting the now epic craft beer section of Wegmans in my hometown of Dewitt, NY I took the opportunity that they offered to create a “mixed six” pack of beer (well, ok, I made 3 six packs). This one was from a brewery that I have never heard of – Sackets Harbor Brewing – from Sackets Harbor NY, a coastal town on the shore of Lake Ontario near Watertown. I bet they get a lot of snow there.
This one is named Luciernaga which means Firefly – and it is a Grand Cru style ale brewed with spices. The label appears to be a masthead of a beautiful woman holding a glowing beacon to guide a ship into port. The labels on all Jolly Pumpkin brews are beautiful, but I almost wish I had this in poster-size to frame (it reminds me of the old Absynthe ads).
In Maine, there are lots of things that mark the change of seasons from fall to winter. The geese finally travel south seeking warmer climates, the fountain is removed from the pond in the park and the vibrant leaves that have fallen become duller yellow mushy piles under the late autumn rains. Another cue – especially for the beer geeks among us – is the release of several key Maine-brewed seasonal beers, most notably the appearance of the Shipyard Prelude.
At the American Craft Beer Festival in Boston, MA, there was a huge line at the booth for the Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project – an artisnal brewery out of Massachusetts. I got swept up in the crowd psychology and got in line, not knowing anything about these guys. At the front of the line, I hastily chose their “Jack D’Or” and enjoyed it. Though every beer geek I talked to later said, “What? You didn’t get the Baby Tree? Too bad.” So, though I enjoyed the Jack D’Or, I was saddened that I probably wouldn’t run into Baby Tree again soon. Then, at my new favorite Massachusetts beer stop (Acton Wine & Liquors) I saw it and just snagged it without pause.