Try a Belgian!

For New Years this year, keep one thing in mind. Champagne is sparkly and bubbly, but so are the giant bottles of Belgian beer!

Give something like Unibroue or Duvel a try this year and see how it goes.

This works great for those who don't like Champagne and just want a little something different.

Happy Early New Years!

Spice

Of course I am not talking about Sand Worms and Melange, but of the massive artillery of spice we have at our disposal to make our carbonated malt beverages festive.

Many Belgian beers use spices and herbs to flavor their beer, especially in the Wit styles. Coriander and orange peel are common, but there are many other additions in festive beers.

Ever pick up a Holiday brew and feel like you were just face punched with mulling spices? It is not unusual, and many people enjoy it.

I prefer to have a good lightly spiced Christmas beer where you can still tell it is beer.

Some good examples of spiced Christmas beer are Karbach's Yule Shoot Your Eye Out, which is strong in ABV and in spice content, and Anchor Christmas Ale (although it is a little different each year).

I discovered a good lightly spiced beer this year, the Ebenezer by Bridgport. It had a good malty backbone but enough hops to consider it a well balanced beer and just spicy enough not to make me need water afterwards.

Either way, enjoy some good brews on this cold ass Xmas day!

Brooklyn Concoction

The consumption of delicious and enticing brews is what being a beer aficionado is all about. Broadening one's horizons and expanding one's palate is something any beer explorer should be open to.

Condemning a beer just because it is not the kind you enjoy, is just plain ignorant.

If you are looking to expand your taste buds, don't just limit yourself to beer, but taste wine and spirits, and also any foods that you have never had. These things will allow you to understand better the flavors you experience in your beer.

I bring all this up because I was enjoying some good ol' Brooklyn beer recently when I saw The Concoction on tap. Not knowing what it was I ordered it.

The smell was like extremely tart hops. I was a little confused by this but took a sip anyways. I felt at first like I was licking vapor rub... the flavors of menthol and camphor were off the wall.

After a few more sips I started realizing what I was tasting. Peated malts and lemon at first, followed by the honey. This recipe mimics the famous Scotch based cocktail "Penicillin".

I went to Anvil, the well-known cocktail bar in Houston, and did a side-by-side tasting of The Concoction and Penicillin. After a couple sips, they seemed almost identical.

Way to go Brooklyn!

Don't be afraid to try new things. If you are, you are just holding yourself back. Step over your own boundaries and show up when you would rather just sit around.