Beer & Cookie Pairings: Brown Ale & Peanut Butter Cookies

The Ninth Beer of Christmas 2022

Beer: Nut Brown Ale Brewer: Samuel Smith Old Brewery Location: Tadcaster, England Website: https://www.samuelsmithsbrewery.co.uk/ Style: Brown Ale ABV: 5% Cookies: Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip from Curby's (https://curbys.com/)

Beer & Cookie Pairings: Scotch Ale & Caramel Delights

The Third Beer of Christmas 2022

Beer: McEwan's Scotch Ale Brewer: Eagle Brewery Location: Bedford, England Website: https://eaglebrewery.co.uk/ Style: Scotch Ale ABV: 8% Cookies: Coconut Dreams from Keebler and Chocolate Chip from United Supermarkets

The Eighth Beer of Christmas 2019 - Fuller's ESB

Fuller's ESB is a style icon and the original Extra Special Bitter.

Summary

• Appearance: Deep brassy amber with a minimal head
• Aroma: Yogurtsweet malt, a fancy toffee
• Taste: Sweet & rich caramel malt, a bit earthy, and a touch of berry fruitiness. The aftertaste is a bit like orange marmalade.
• Feel: Smooth with low carbonation and a medium body

Stats

• Brewer: Fuller Smith & Turner
• Location:  London, England
• Website: https://www.fullers.co.uk/
• Style: Extra Special Bitter
• Alcohol Content: 5.9%

Samuel Smith Old Brewery - Winter Welcome Ale

For the Sixth Beer of Christmas, we hop the pond and discover something new - "stone Yorkshire squares" ... more on that below.

Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout is a mainstay of the imports section of most beer stores.  Every craft/import beer drinker has noticed the gold foil top and distinctively tall bottle.  And being noticed means being purchased. Other than the Nut Brown Ale, I've never seen another offering from Samuel Smith's and was excited to see this on several beer store shelves this year.

The bright copper brew produces a finely bubbled, off-white head that evaporates off to a thin cap within a couple of drinks. A light lacing remained at the top of the glass from when the head was full, but didn't chase the beer down the sides the way last night's Jubelale did.

Light fruity esters chased stronger aromas of butterscotch, caramel, and toasted malt with a touch of honey laying over the entire mix. The bouquet was light but very pleasant, only filling my nose when the glass was close.

The taste is smooth and crisp. Fully of fruity ale goodness, the medium carbonation and body provide a very pleasant drinking experience. It starts sweet and finishes with an ever-so-light warming, a touch of pepper, and a mild bittering on the back of the tongue. It reminds me of a Redhook ESB (Extra Special Bitter) but with a higher malt profile.

This is a nice Winter Warmer. The lower alcohol content makes it slightly more sessionable and would be a great any-time-of-year drink.

Brandon got specific with the fruit flavor, expressing it as an apricot flavor.

Ratings

Aaron: 8
Brandon: 9
Wyatt: 8
Tracy: 8

Stats
Brewer: Samuel Smith Old Brewery
Location: Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, UK
Website: http://www.SamuelSmithsBrewery.co.uk/
Style: Winter Warmer
Alcohol Content: 6.0% ABV
Interesting Note: Samuel Smith Old Brewery uses traditional stone Yorkshire squares when brewing their beer.  I found this to be a very interesting approach to fermentation.  Click the link to read more about it at Wikipedia.

Wychwood Brewery – Hobgoblin

For the Tenth Beer of Christmas, we travel 225 miles south east of Dublin to the Wychwood Forest and the brewery that shares its name.

I’ve heard a number of people say that Hobgoblin is a good beer. But looking at the label (click the image to see the full size photo), my first thought was that this must be the official beer of Dungeons and Dragons. Don’t get your knickers in a knot, though, I can tease about it since I spent so many years playing it.

The half liter (16.9 oz) bottle poured out with a quickly growing head. I had to be careful not to overflow the glass. The head dissipated slowly with a light, lush smell. Chocolate, toffee, and coffee with a bit of malty sweetness. I sat here for a long time just inhaling the scent. The best description I can give is that it was as welcoming as the smell of my grandmother’s kitchen when she wasn’t cooking. My grandmother was the best cook I’ve ever known. When she was cooking, the kitchen smelled like heaven. In between meals, the lingering aroma whispered a promise of bliss. Hobgoblin whispers, too. Pour a glass, hold it to your nose with both hands, inhale, enjoy, repeat.

The ruby brown ale delivered on that promise. Full bodied, with a silk smooth feel, Hobgoblin carries the chocolate and coffee into the taste, along with a clean, almost subdued bitterness from the hops. One thing I found particularly interesting was that the pleasant bitter aftertaste came as an echo, several seconds after the swallow.

The Fourth Beer of Christmas, Flying Dog’s Classic Pale Ale, was dubbed “my favorite so far.” While very different in taste and structure, Hobgoblin just surpassed it in this year’s list. But the great news for Flying Dog is that Hobgoblin is $4 per bottle while Flying Dog is about $1.50. Ounce to ounce, Hobgoblin (in a bigger bottle) is twice as much.

If you get a hankering, grab your 20-sided dice and head over to my house. We’ll break out the Hobgoblin and storm the gates of Mordor. I get to be the ranger.

Stats
Brewer: Wychwood Brewery
Location: Whitney, Oxfordshire, UK
Website: http://www.Wychwood.co.uk
Style: English Brown Ale
Alcohol Content: 5.2% ABV
Interesting Note: The website includes a fun and highly interactive design. Animated hobgoblins (the larger cousins of goblins, of course) and page turning spell books full of lore and history dominate the site.  However, the odd “forest sounds” coming from your computer speakers might drive your dogs a little crazy.

Black Sheep Brewery – Monty Python’s Holy Grail Ale

For the Third Beer of Christmas, we hopped the pond (by going to our local World Market) and picked up a bottle with a label that’s been intriguing me for while.

Opening the bottle there was a very faint aroma, like a light apple juice scent. The bad news is, I’m not a big fan of apple juice, so this got a quirked eyebrow from me. After taking the photo, Aubrey and I raised our glasses and drank.

Aubrey’s first reaction? “Oh God, not my favorite.”

For me, it was about the same. I was just glad we’d bought it at World Market where we could build our own six pack.* But as I sat down to mull over my thoughts and continued to drink, the taste grew on me … a little. The whiff of apple in the nose translated to a light apple taste and then an aftertaste that left me scraping my tongue against the roof of my mouth. The label states that the beer was “tempered over burning witches.” I’m thinking that tempering might be the cause of the aftertaste. Cut the aftertaste and this would still not be a great beer, but it would be better than it is.

For the Monty Python fan, buy the bottle and keep it capped on the shelf along with your plush killer rabbit (even Aubrey owns one).

But for everyone else, if you’re offered this beer, just say “Ni!” Yes, I really went there.

Stats
Brewer: Black Sheep Brewery
Location: Masham, North Yorkshire, England
Website: http://www.BlackSheepBrewery.com
Style: English Pale Ale
Alcohol Content: 4.7% ABV
Interesting Note: The ale was specially commissioned to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Monty Python in 1999.
* For those of you who have never visited a World Market, they have a cool feature in that you can build you own six pack. Just grab a container and mix & match your own six pack. It’s a little more expensive than buying a six pack at your local beer store, but you can try out several beers that you’re not sure of without having a refrigerator full of something you won’t drink and then you have to pawn them off on your friends (who don’t appreciate it …trust me).