REVIEW: Mikkeller Santa's Little Helper & Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Ah, Mikkeler, purveyors of all beers weird, wild, and most importantly, delicious. It's been too long since I've checked out one of their brews. Today I'm taking a look at Santa's Little Helper, a Belgian style strong dark ale aged in cognac barrels. And to pair with it, the Rankin Bass classic, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

REVIEW: Sun King Bourbon Barrel Wee Mac

More Sun King! Hooray! Now this beer came in a rather unique packaging. A two pack. I don't believe I've ever seen that before. But I do suppose that this is a special beer. From some quick research online this King's Reserve is a banner under which they package a lot of their limited, specialty releases. What we have here is a version of their Wee Mac Scottish ale that has spent a year in bourbon barrels. Sounds tasty to me! To the beer!

GUEST REVIEW: Mikkeller Funky E Star

We're wrapping up this week with something special, another guest review! Today we get the thoughts of the lovely and talented Meredith Johns on quite a wild beer, Mikkeller's Funky E Star. A Belgian stong pale ale aged in chardonnay barrels. I'm just going to step aside here and let Meredith take it away. To the beer!

REVIEW: Revolution Very Mad Cow

More beer from Revolution Brewing. I know, I'm getting to be a bit of a broken record at this point. These guys are good and I really like their stuff. Their Third year Beer, the rum barrel aged barleywine that I looked at a few weeks ago was one of the best beers I've had in a good long while. Today's beer, Very Mad Cow is another entry in the same Deep Woods series of barrel aged beers that brought us the lovely Third Year Beer. I had to give this one a try. Very mad Cow is a 9.7% ABV, 30 IBU milk stout aged in Woodford Reserve barrels. Sounds delightful, right? To the beer!

REVIEW: Revolution 3rd Year Beer

Here we are, at the end of my little barleywine week. But we're going out with a bang. The first two barleywines I looked at this week were a little bit similar, both very hop forward. This one breaks the mold. 3rd Year Beer from Revolution Brewing is a rum barrel aged wheat barleywine. Honestly, how could I walk past this beer and leave it on the shelf? It came in a box and everything! I've been excited to get to this beer from the instant I bought it so let's not waste any more time. To the beer!

REVIEW: Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Stout

I'm sure many of you are familiar with Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale. It's all over the place around here and in Kentucky. It's a good beer, I enjoy it whenever I have it, which is not very often. But I don't really love it. I think my biggest problem with it is that those bourbony notes of vanilla, caramel, and oak seem out of place in such a light beer. When a beer goes into a bourbon barrel I think it works better with a big hearty beer. So when they announced that they were going to barrel age a stout I was pretty excited. Also, one more note on this beer. This was actually a Christmas present! Thanks, Meredith! After almost a month I'm finally getting to it. To the beer!

REVIEW: Listermann White Death

Merry Christmas!! I know Christmas falls on a Tuesday and Tuesday isn't one of my usual days to post content on here. But in the spirit of the season here is my gift to you, my dear readers, extra content! I'll be honest, as much as I do appreciate all of you folks who do check in here and check out my rambling thoughts on beer, and I really do, it's awesome. But this is just as much for me as it is for you guys. I have had too much fun talking about Christmas beers and I'm not quite ready to give them up just yet. So, you guys get more stuff to read and I get to drink and talk about more Christmas ales. It's a win win for everybody. A Christmas miracle! As I sit here writing this it's currently Christmas Eve and I'm watching It's A Wonderful Life and drinking a beer. Life doesn't get much better. Adding to the lovely evening is the fact that the beer I'm currently drinking comes from Listermann. Careful followers of this blog will recognize that name as the name of the shop I get my homebrew supplies from. The beer is called White Death and is brewed with Saigon cinnamon and fermented in Kentucky bourbon barrels. Now that sounds right up my alley. To the beer!

REVIEW: Flying Dog Barrel-Aged Gonzo Imperial Porter

If you'll remember, both my last encounters with barrel-aged beers and my last encounter with a beer from Flying Dog left a lot to be desired. I didn't much care for Flying Dog's Wildeman Farmhouse IPA, and Great Crescent's Bourbon Barrel Stout was cloyingly sweet to the point of being undrinkable. Here's hoping this beer can erase the bad taste of those two less than perfect experiences. I actually bought this beer a while ago. I've been excited to drink it but I've been waiting for weather that's a bit more appropriate. The recent drop in temperatures has had me looking for beers that are a bit heartier so this beer has been called up from the back of the fridge. Time to finally give this bad boy a look. to the beer!

REVIEW: Great Crescent Bourbon Barrel Stout

So it's been months since I've taken a look at a stout. Mostly because of the weather. As much as I enjoy a big malty, roasty, dark beer, it just doesn't sound super appetizing when it's 95 degrees outside. But there are times when my desire for a stout outweighs the influence of the weather. This is one of those times. Also this particular stout is aged in old bourbon barrels. There's a Ron Swanson bacon wrapped shrimp joke somewhere in there but I can't quite put my finger on it. So anyways, it's been a very long time since I've looked at a stout and what better way to get back on the horse than with one aged in Maker's Mark barrels? To the beer!

REVIEW: Great Divide Espresso Oak Aged Yeti

Great Divide's Yeti is a damn good Imperial Stout. Big, hoppy, bold, I love it. I had their Belgian style Yeti at the beerfest and really liked it too. This one though, the espresso oak aged variety, has eluded me. I knew I had to try it as soon as I saw it. Take Yeti, which is already an intense brew, and throw in coffee and age it on oak chips? That's a recipe this guy can get behind. To the beer!

REVIEW: Goose Island Bourbon County (2011)

This is an elusive beer. It's in a class with beers like Russian River's Pliny the Younger, Three Floyd's Dark Lord, and Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout. These beers are produced in extremely limited quantities and therefore demand is incredibly high. Fans of these beers will wait in line for hours to grab a bottle. My girlfriend, Meredith, was able to track down a bottle of the Bourbon County for me and gave it to me for Valentine's Day. Who needs Chocolates?! So yes, she is awesome, and now I have this insane bourbon barrel aged imperial stout to review. Will it live up to the hype? To the beer!

REVIEW: New Holland Dragon's Milk

Dragon's Milk, the official brew of House Targaryen. Hey, let it never be said that I am only a beer nerd. My nerdiness knows no bounds. Unfortunately however, (or maybe very fortunately) there's no Fire and Blood here, just barrel aged stout. This is my first review of a barrel aged beer, a brewing trend that I am a huge fan of. Barrel aging can impart some really great complexity and new and interesting flavors. I've had beers aged in bourbon barrels, rum barrels, and wine barrels. This beer, however,  is aged in oak barrels. Alright, to the beer!