2016 – Jouluoluet

Beer Style Notes
Schlenkerla: Urbock Rauchbier 4.5: A constant companion to smoked ham in the christmas table. Strong buy!
Schneider: Aventinus Eisbock Eisbock 4.5: Another german winter classic, a hearty eisbock. Another strong recommendation.
Ayinger: Winterbock Doppelbock 3.5: probably a lowball score, since I do recall this being a fine doppelbock indeed. Probably needs a second round.
Humalove: Winter Moo Milk stout 4: Better than expected, and the built-in chocoBeer
Ridgeway: Insanely Bad Elf Imperial red ale N/A: Haven’t tasted it, and based on previous vintages, there isn’t much of a need to (though I have omitted logging any of the tastings).
Kulmbacher: Kapuziner Winter-weißbier Hefeweizen 3: Mild, and somewhat seasonally inappropriate.
Liefman: Glühkriek Fruit beer N/A: Bottle still in the cellar. Maybe next winter I’ll actually get around to tasting it.
Malmgård: Arctic Circle Ale Spiced beer 4: pleasantly constant member of the christmas selection, spiced but not annoyingly so.
Mikkeller: Santa’s Little Helper 4.25: this, too, ought to be permanently featured in the selection – strong and tasty, with plenty of seasonally correct spicing in the mix.
Beer Hunter’s: Mufloni Talviporter Porter 4: probably overshot the mark a little in the original review, as I recall this to be a decent but in no way special porter.
Nøgne Ø: Rød Jul Imperial red ale 3.5: turned out disappointing, the promised stony fruits were nowhere to be tasted. Not bad, and evidence of the brewery’s continued slide.
Flying Dutchman: Nomad Nuts Freezing Frost Biting Tongue on Frozen Pole Winter IPA IPA 4: a spotless IPA, though without any obvious christmasness to it.
Vakka-Suomen Panimo: Prykmestar Talvibock Doppelbock 3.75: malty, dryish bock, very wintry as a contrast to the couple of preceding entries. Appreciated the decrease in bottle size as well.
Põhjala: Jõuluöö Imperial porter 4.25: Sweet and complex taste that steadily improves as the beer warms up. The most interesting entry in the roster beforehand turned out to be the top dog
Samuel Adams: Winter Lager Lager N/A: Tasted before, didn’t log any details (and the original score is surprisingly high). Skipped a re-run this time around.
Shepherd Neame: Christmas Ale Winter ale N/A: managed to miss this in the shop, but according to reviews this was not a mortal sin.
Stadin Panimo: Belle Saison d’Hiver Saison 2.75: spices rubbed me the wrong way, and the maltiness was thinner than would be appropriate in a winter saison.
Stallhagen: Brewdolf the Reinbeer Amber ale 4: This was one of the top entries of the 2015 christmas selection, and fit the fish table really well.
St. Feuillien: Cuvée de Noël Belgian strong ale 4.25: The sweet maltiness worked really well with the smoked ham on the christmas eve.
St. Peters: Winter Ale Winter ale N/A: missed this, too. This year wasn’t very good with me and the british entries.
Weltenburger Kloster: Winter-Traum Winter lager N/A: tasted before, wasn’t too impressed. Skipped a re-run.
Sinebrychoff Jouluolut Winter lager 3: better than the common Koff. A bit.