Skip to main content

Advent Calendar Windows Fourteen and Fifteen

This weekend was a rather frantic affair that saw me in my house, awake, for a total of around two hours, so I've fallen a little behind again. Despite big social sessions on Friday and Saturday, I did manage to sneak in the Advent Calendar beers in quickly before each event, but simply didn't have time to do the write up. So here they are.
 

 It's another Nøgne seasonal behind Window 14 and another I’ve been looking forward to having had it stashed for many a month now. The God Jul that I had in Window 8 was good, but lacked that Christmassy edge I’d expected from this brewery. It’s lowered my expectations of the Underlig Jul 6.5% but, as I’m drinking this whilst preparing for a night out, just a terrific beer will do right now.
My enjoyment of this was almost immediately soured by its incredible liveliness which saw me lose half of the bottle to my (luckily wooden) bedroom floor. Cheers Nøgne. The plus side was this meaning a lovely, sustained head throughout the drink to contrast the darkness of the beer. It smells florally sweet but with a spicy warming sensation to it. And the taste is pretty special for me. It’s certainly sweet, but not in a sickly manner. It’s more orange peel than syrup and a spicy hop flavour balances it beautifully. Cloves and Vanillas battling against each other in a Scandinavian Christmas duel.  It’s similar in style and taste to the Gouden Carolus in many ways, but it’s reduced strength actually only increases its appeal. I could drink a lot of this and it’s over all too quickly. I know I can’t blame the brewery for this overly lively bottle, but this may have been my favourite Advent beer so far if more of it had made its way into my glass rather than on my toes. Frustrating.
Enjoy with: Maybe this Christmas by Ron Sexsmith, a delightful and overlooked Christmas song over all too quickly.
I was rather looking forward to getting the chance to try Hook Norton’s Twelve Days 5.5% again for the first time since 2010. I really enjoyed a spicy, warming, tinsel fuelled bauble of an ale that I thought may well make it to the top of the pile this Advent. And here it is behind Window 15.
I’m going to make comparisons based on a distant memory so I may as well get straight to it. This isn’t as good as the beer I enjoyed two years ago. It’s still deliciously dark, well balanced and has Christmas spiced undertones. It balances malts and hops in a traditionalist way only Hook Norton can. But the cinnamon, clove and ginger seem really toned down. Maybe last time I wasn’t accustomed to such a style so was blown away by those spices. Like when we all first tried Jaipur and thought it was the hoppiest beer that would ever be created and now it almost feels comparable to Landlord when placed alongside more recent efforts. I have a bottle of Twelve Days from 2010 somewhere, maybe I’ll crack that open just to check
Enjoy with: The Snowman, at one time a classic that truly made Christmas for me but nowadays I find a little tedious.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THE STATE OF CASK part 2: The Cask Consumers

In what has become one of the most written about subjects amongst beer communicators for a long while I am going to follow on with my own thoughts about cask beer. Yet these ideas are formulated from potential posts I've been writing the odd paragraph about for around 18 months but never managed to construct into something relevant.  I have much to say on the subject; so much so that rather than making this into one enormous read I've split it into three sections regarding the current trends and effects on cask beer as I see it.  Today I look at the problem with consumer's and the immunity of one Timothy Taylor's Landlord. Part 1 can be read here . On the first Saturday morning of June 2016 I travelled to Stockport Beer Festival with my Aunt Marie and Uncle David; famously more traditional beer drinkers. They enjoy a day out in Stockport as, coming from Dewsbury way, they don’t actually see much beer from my side of the Pennines, incl...
16 comments
Read more

BEER INDUSTRY PERSONNEL - COME TO DADDY!

Around 7 months ago I started dating a pub manager. It was inevitable in many ways. Amongst the perks that come with being involved with somebody on the other side of the bar, came the dread of how to react in future to the interactions involved in bar work.    It isn’t a situation I’ve been in before so it has required adjustment. I’ve never had a partner pull up a chair in the office and stare at me through part of the working day whilst occasionally ordering goods from me. So you don’t want to interfere in your partner’s work whilst still getting to enjoy the pub.   You don’t want to suddenly take up a spot on the bar where you make gooey eyes at each other with every pull on a hand pump. You don’t want to be one of those possessive teenagers, watching like a bar hawk and scowling at any intimidatingly handsome pair of arms that makes your other half roar with laughter. You want to separate their work from your social life and allow everything to sti...
11 comments
Read more

National Winter Ales Festival 2013 - A Reasonable Farewell

Perhaps if this had been three years ago I would really have lamented the loss of the National Winter Ales Festival in Manchester . Not only has it long been held in my home city, but it was also my first ever beer festival, signifying a special place in my heart. That first visit was in 2006 and the event was then held in a co–operative building near Victoria station. At the time, my young ale loving mind was rather gobsmacked by the wondrous multi roomed, multi floored experience as barrels and casks of the good stuff stood waiting for me to try at no more than 90p for a generous half pint. Breweries and beer styles I had never heard of were present. It was also where I had my first taste of rauchbier, an encounter I have never regretted. I paid £3 to enter that day as a non CAMRA member. The organisations members that did travel with me on the occasion entered the festival for free (so they say, I’m inclined to believe they paid at least £1.) “They’re not a money making ...
20 comments
Read more