It is that time of year, and if you haven’t finished (or started) your holiday shopping it is time to get crackin’! I had an incredible stroke of luck yesterday. I had everyone bought for except my wife. See she is a bit of a tough one this time of year because she also has a birthday on the 11th, just two weeks before Christmas. So inevitably what happens is I buy for her birthday, and then get wiped out and have to start all over again. Holding true to form the same thing happened this year. But yesterday was a good day. I was actually able to finish up all my shopping in one afternoon! Actually it was more like just a couple of hours! That never happens.
So I’m sitting here feeling relatively prepared and ready for the holiday over a week in advance! I actually have some time to enjoy the season. That will be very nice. Another thing I am doing this year is I am taking the week between Christmas and New Years off. I haven’t done that for around 15 years. So with my extra time this season, I certainly will be partaking in the festivities of the season, as well as the spirits that embody that season…
Merry Christmas to ME!
I recently came into a bottle of Bourbon County Rare! I’m not sure when to open that. It has to be a very special occasion. Here is a picture of me with my new best friend in the whole wide world! I also picked up a bottle of Sam Adams Infinium and a bottle of Uinta’s Labyrinth Black Ale. This one is brewed with licorice in the barrel that it ages in, and I have heard to a person that it is amazing. Really looking forward to that one too.
Then I have a lot of other brews that I will be opening during the season. I actually have a Flying Dog Winter Ale from 2009. I’m getting afraid to open it. Would you drink it? From everything I’ve heard it wasn’t the best, and now it is a year old. What would you do?
So where are you at? Do you have holiday shopping to finish, or are you one of those people that wait until the very last minute and will be hitting the mall on Friday to get what you need?
Will you be drinking anything interesting? Do you have any holiday parties?
OH, YEAH…I forgot to tell you all that I won an Apple iPad at my company Christmas party and it is driving my brother Jim nuts! He is so jealous. It was beautiful.
So share your stories in the comments below, and have a great weekend everyone.
-Don
Beer & Whiskey Brothers 
Holiday party tonight, although hoping to hit a beer bar or two beforehand. Had a quality night last night though. Dark Beer Night at my local place. Blue Point Sour Cherry Stout, HaandBryggeriet Dark Force, Weyerbacher November, Anchor Our Special Ale 2008, and everyone’s favorite Founders Breakfast Stout. Getting up for work this morning? Not fun.
Yeah..to say the least. Hopefully you were cabbing it back to your place last night! Enjoy the holiday party, and let us know if they had any good brews, or if it was all fizzy yellow Macro stuff. Have a great weekend!
Hah, it’ll definitely be the fizzy yellow stuff. Same place as our party last year. I think they had Amstel Light though. That’ll have to suffice.
You know I must say that for a light fizzy yellow brew Amstel Light is a pretty flavorful beer. I had one this summer while I was cutting wood, and it was quite delicious and refreshing. Remarkably so. See I wasn’t expecting anything but a little bit of thirst quenching but I actually got a mouth full of flavor too. So it was a win win. Thanks for making me remember that, and you could do a lot worse than Amstel Light.
Oh most definitely, I’ll take Amstel all day over Bud Light, Miller Lite, or Coors Light
You’re on a heck of a roll, there, Don. iPad, Infinium, Bourbon County Rare…
I’m done shopping but now I have to mail a big fat package with all the gifts to Wisconsin. It’s a great feeling to have it all wrapped up (no pun intended; no, really, it wasn’t). I missed my office holiday party (which is probably a good thing), but I’m going to score a bottle or two of Leffe Brune soon because my British friend is going back to England next week. She promised me she’d bring back some bottles for me. Considering that I get to drink it once every three years, this makes me very happy.
So with all the gifts you sent to Wisconsin, do they just have a direct line to New Glarus for shipping your Christmas packages? That would be a hell of a trade. If my mom would do that, She’d get much better presents! jus sayin’ 🙂
Never heard of Leffe Brune. What is it? Obviously its good. Do they not import to the States?
Funny you mention that- every time I see my brother, he’s got a sixer of either the Spotted Cow or Fat Squirrel. My appreciation knows no bounds. Unfortunately, I only see him once or twice a year.
I have yet to find Leffe Brune in the states, although you can find Leffe Blonde if you know where to look. It broke my heart a bit when I found out that it’s owned by InBev. But I still love the Brune. It was sort of the “star” of my trip to Europe a few years back, along with Pelforth (apparently Rate Beer thinks I’m nuts for enjoying Pelforth but I don’t care).
You should ask for two four packs of Enigma. I could eat that stuff on my corn flakes!
I did a little shopping last night, stopping by three different beer stores on my way home. It’s the first time I’ve done it, but won’t be the last because I found some goodies!
I picked up a Brooklyn Black Ops (just posted a review), Sam Adams Infinium, four bombers of Dragon’s Milk (!), another Schlafly’s Reserve Imperial Stout, and a handful of other goodies that will be keeping me nice and warm this weekend.
That’s always fun. Whenever I make a drive out to Boonton, I always wind up stopping at all the other stores on the way (Rutherford Wine Shoppe, Stew Leonards, Totowa). Gets expensive!
Sure does. I did the Wine & Beverage Outlet / Gary’s / Bottle King run and wound up buying something in each place.
Great minds think alike! I did the same tonight. Went to a place near work that my regular liquor store recommended. They had Dragon’s Milk (picked up a bottle, although they were well stocked), the Sam Smith’s Winter Ale, and after a bit of poking around, 2 six packs of the Rude Elf’s Reserve!
I am a happy man tonight.
My lineup tonight – the Rude Elf’s Reserve, then the Avery Old Jubilation, then maybe a Spaten Dunkel as a night cap. Gotta pay tribute to my roots!
Sounds like you did well. I’m curious to see what you think of the Dragon’s Milk. It’s been a while since I’ve had it, and the bottle I opened recently didn’t have the magical flavor I remember. I don’t think it’s me, I think it’s the beer.
La Fin du Monde
Enjoy that Tex. I have not branched out there yet, but I keep hearing good things. I need to just bite the bullet and make it happen. They actually sell a holiday 3 pack with three bombers of different beers from that brewery for like $27. That might be the best way in.
It’s not like it’s the end of the world, Tex. 😉
Bite the bullet, Don. Unibroue puts out great stuff. Trois Pistoles and Maudite are good as well. If you have Trader Joe’s near you, pick up their Vintage 2010. It too is from Unibroue. All are good interpretations of Belgian classics with a French Canadian twist.
Jim, it may not be, but it just might be the beer to drink when that time comes.
And my lovely bride just picked up a bottle of Trois Pistoles. Did I ever mention that I married up?
Wow a Bourbon County Rare. I so wanted to get my hands on that. I guess I will have to open abottle of Black Tuesday from the Bruery and wash my tears away.
Ahhh…Touche Randy! Sounds like you have a great alternative there! And that is the great thing about craft beer, there are so many great ones out there, there is always a great alternative to what you don’t have. Welcome to our blog and enjoy your Black Tuesday!
Settling in tonite to watch Amar’e crush Lebum James. We should have had the Celts 2 nights ago. Bringing up from the cellar a Rodenbach grand cru and Satan Ale.
Careful Mark, the Satan Ale might just jinx your team and LeBum will turn into LeBurn and set your Celts ABLAZE with his Heat from Miami! Mowahahah… NBA Promo over.
He’s a Knicks fan, Don. Calling them “his” Celtics probably burns more than whatever LeBum/LeBurn might do to the Knicks (who are for real this year thanks to Amar’e).
Yeah, that’s just sour grapes from Knicks fans that were hoping to win the LeBron lottery last spring.
I (hopefully) will finally be getting my hands on some bells expedition stout this weekend. Going to a Bells event called ’12 bells of christmas’ then my wife will be drivin me to a coworkers holiday party.
Sounds like a good start to the weekend Justin. 12 Bells of Christmas, I think I feel a song coming on…
I just picked up my allotment of Deschutes’ The Abyss from my local liquor store, so I’ll be having one of those. I also picked up some Odell Mountain Standard Double Black IPA, made with Colorado hops, which should be interesting. Other than that, I’ll have whatever my friends pick up to share . . . hopefully something new and unexpected. And I’m jealous about that Bourbon County Rare. Hopefully you didn’t have to do anything too unspeakable to get it. Enjoy the Labyrinth, it’s awesome.
All I had to do was write a check! I also have an Abyss from 2009. I picked it up last year and just never got around to drinking it. Not sure now when it might be appropriate to open it, as it is getting “special”. The Double Black IPA sounds interesting too. I’m waiting for my some to get home from college for Christmas before I pop the cork on the Labyrinth. Got plenty of good stuff to keep me busy until then however. Have a great weekend.
Cheers, Don! Enjoy your weekend too.
Forgot the Chocolate Yeti I scored yesterday, too. That one might be for tonight.
Is it the Oak Aged or just the Chocolate?
I hear the cayenne in Chocolate Yeti gets really strong with age. I’d be interested to hear what you think!
Alex I know it builds up as you drink it to a great crescendo of flavor towards the end, but you are really asking the worng guys this question. If ever a chocolate Yeti makes its way into my hands it is usually drank within the week!
Yeah, same here. But Chocolate Yeti usually comes out in April-May, so the bottle Jim has is at least 7 months old. I’ve only had it (somewhat) fresh, so I’m thinking Jim’s bottle may taste very different from what we’ve had, since the hops will have mellowed in the meantime, making the cayenne more prominent.
We’re having our Holiday Party tomorrow night which has turned into “kind of a big deal”. And since it’s KY we tend to work Bourbon into just about anything we can. On my menu? Smoked Crab and Bourbon Bacon Stuffed Mushrooms, Bourbon Pecan Chocolate Truffles, along with a few other treats and goodies. And, oh yeah, I don’t mess around with brandy and/or rum. When it’s time for eggnog I go straight for the Bourbon.
And then next week I will spend a few days baking my famous Mama’s Holiday Bourbon Cake to give to friends. Then at the end of the week all of our out-of-town family comes in and that, my friends, is when the REAL drinking starts. . .
That’s it – I’m moving to Kentucky, where Bourbon and bacon live in harmony. I’ll let diabetes and heart disease fight each other to be the thing that kills me.
Yo Don!
Way to get into the holiday spirit!
Let’s see… office lunch at a French bistro (Parc on Rittenhouse Square) in Philly yesterday. Great food and beer! Mushroom tart, roasted lamb sandwich with fries, all washed down with a wee bottle of Saison Dupont.
Christmas party tonight. Should be interesting. Bunch of craft beer geeks. Bringing a bottle of Prosecco and a bottle of Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Ale. I’m sure I’ll be having my fair share of brews this evening. The host (Dr. Bones) is a big Southern Tier fan and one of our mutual friends (The Alemonger) is a complete “Geeko Sapien” (with a smattering of Beerdouchicus for amusement’s sake).
Still some shopping to do, but mostly done. Headed out for a wine and beer run! The best kind of holiday shopping in my humble opinion. 🙂
Enjoy the iPad and enjoy the countdown to Christmas! Fa la la la la… la la la la!
Peace Yo!
G-LO
I wish I had beer geek friends with cool nicknames.
Instead I have Don. 😦
Hey, I could get a cool nick name. How about the Whiskeyinator, or Don Whiskey, or Whiskey Don, or Doc Whiskey, or Evan… 😉
Donnie Whiskey sounds like a great mafia name.
All I need is a Tommy Gun and a fedora and I’m set!
Tonight before going to the Blues game, I met my brother and sister in law at the Schlafly Tap Room for pickled herring, poutine, and beer cheese soup. I also had a Tripel and their Robust Porter. The Tripel is always a fine choice. This was my first time trying the Porter, and it didn’t really knock my socks off. But I also rushed it a bit because we were walking to Scottrade for the game and didn’t have a lot of time.
It was a great way to spend a city evening around the holidays.
I think I would have just stayed at the tap room. Drinking beer is my favorite winter sport!
Had the opportunity to try the Terrapin Moo Hoo Chocolate Milk Stout. Insanely drinkable beer. Loved it. Can’t wait to pick up more.
I have to try more Terrapin. Something about their labels turn me off, which is a stupid reason not to drink a beer.
I was the same way with Weyerbacher forever. Their labels look like they were made in MS Paint!