Melon Cart - Golden Road Brewing

The Tenth Beer of Christmas 2018 is Melon Cart from Golden Road Brewing in Los Angeles, California. It smells and tastes like the melon tray on a breakfast buffet.

Summary

• Appearance: Hazy yellow, half a finger of foam which quickly disappeared
• Aroma: Atrong cantaloupe and honeydew. Smells like the melon tray on a buffet line.
• Taste: Lots of cantaloupes and some watermelon. A bit of yeast. Medium sweet.
• Feel: Dry finish. Smooth. Light carbonation. Light to medium body. 

Stats

• Brewer: Golden Road Brewing
• Location: Los Angeles, California
• Website: http://goldenroad.la
• Fruit: Watermelon, Honeydew, and Cantelope
• Style: Wheat Beer
• Alcohol Content: 4.0%

Pyramid Breweries - Pyramid Hefeweizen

The Fourth Beer of Christmas for 2016 is Pyramid Breweries Pyramid Hefeweizen:

Summary
A middle of the road hefeweizen with a strong bread dough aroma but lacking in the spices and banana I expected in the aroma. The flavors are present in the taste but are not as clear and sharp as I'd hoped for.

Stats
Brewer: Pyramid Breweries
Location: Seattle, Washington
Website: http://www.PyramidBrew.com/
Style: Hefeweizen
Alcohol Content: 5.20% ABV

Boston Beer Company - Samuel Adams White Christmas

For the Seventh Beer of Christmas, we had a repeat of Christmas Day ... a white Christmas! OK, at least it was a repeat of the weather we had in Lubbock.

Boston Beer Company (aka, Sam Adams) is a regular brewer in The Twelve Beers of Christmas.  But this time we remembered not to review the Winter Lager again as we did in 2010 and 2011.  Oops.  :)

Walking through Sam's Club back around Thanksgiving, I ran across a case of Samuel Adams Winter Classics.  Along with the flagship Boston Lager, five other delicious varieties are packed into that box.  The White Christmas is new to the Sam Adams line up.

The glass filled with a slightly hazy but deep gold beer that formed a small white head.  The haze is common to wheat beers (which witbier is a variety of).  The head quickly dissipated to a light ring.

The scent is all fruit and spice.   Bananas and grapefruit mixed with cinnamon, pepper, and big dose of coriander.   The carbonation is aggressive and crisp, leaving a tingle on the tongue and a medium-bodied mouthful.

I know I say this sort of thing a lot, but I really enjoyed this beer.  The best thing is that I have three more in the refrigerator along with some Sam Adams Chocolate Bock, Holiday Porter, Old Fezziwig Ale, and, yes, Winter Lager.  Happy New Year to me and the rest of the guys!

Aaron & Brandon tasted strong nutmeg with a hint of citrus.  But they didn't feel there was any cinnamon in the flavor.

Rating:

Aaron: 7
Brandon: 7
Wyatt: (out partying for New Years)
Tracy: 8

Stats
Brewer: Boston Beer Company
Location: Boston, MA
Website: http://www.SamuelAdams.com
Style: Witbier
Alcohol Content: 5.8% ABV
Interesting Note: Founder Jim Koch created Samuel Adams Boston Lager grew from a 110 year old Koch family recipe.

Breckenridge Brewery – Agave Wheat

For the Ninth Beer of Christmas, we combined beer with another of my favorite ingredients: agave (aka … the source of Sammy Hagar’s Cabo Wabo Tequila).

Before we get started, let’s disclose a little fact.  The agave in this is (agave salmiana) not quite the same as the agave that is used in tequila (agave tequilana or agave azul).  But let’s not worry too much about that …

We’ve already had one wheat beer (see Style below) on the list this Christmas, Napa Smith’s Wheat Beer.  The nice thing about wheat (IMHO) is that it’s a nice pallet to color upon.  Some of my homebrew friends have made wheats with peach, raspberry, and even jalapenos.  It makes for a nice backdrop for an additional flavoring.

The difference between this wheat and Napa Smith’s is that Napa went with a straight forward what while Breckenridge experimented a little.  And their experimentation paid off.

The beer pours out in an attractive hazy golden.  The head builds up to a medium height and rapidly dissipates.  But it sheds an enticing floral smell that’s laced with lemon and what I can only describe as a “backyard sweetness.”  I’m going to call it honeysuckle.  When I was young, my mom had two giant honeysuckle plants in her backyard.  At the height of summer, the yard smelled so good.  That’s what this beer brings to the table.

Now, the taste is less exciting than the smell, but it’s still very good.  The wheat base comes through along with a light fruit zest that seems to be from a combination of melon and lemon.  And, of course, there’s an extra layer of sweet from the agave. Hops plays little to no part in this brew’s palate.

Definitely a summer backyard BBQ beer.  This would go great with hot wings on the grill, basketball on the driveway, and the smell of freshly cut grass wafting through the air.

Stats
Brewer: Breckenridge Brewery
Location: Denver, CO
Website: http://www.BreckenridgeBrewery.com
Style: Wheat Beer
Alcohol Content: 4.2% ABV
Interesting Note: Chalk up another one for the home brewers. In 1980, Breckenridge founder Richard Squire just wanted to ski and drink great beer. Skiing was easy in Breckenridge, but great beer was in short supply so he began home brewing his own. Unfortunately (not really), his beers were so good that he was soon spending more time brewing than skiing.