224. Moylan's White Christmas Spiced Winter Lager

"It's the most wonderful time of the year, with the kids jingle-belling and everyone yelling "brew us new beers!".  And so we did.  In celebration of the season, Moylan's presents our White Christmas Spiced Winter Lager.  Malty and smooth with a light tart and zesty finish, this year's Lager contains holiday spices, Curacao, Mace, Cinnamon, Coriander and White Pepper.  This Holiday Lager will warm you and your sweetie inside and out.  Share the love and make it a White Christmas.  You'll get a kick out of it.  Happy Holidays, and Slainte'!"

I'm not sure if I explained how I got my hands on this one.  Went into Total Wine, found it steeply discounted, decided to pick it up.  Since it was steeply discounted, I figured it had to do with the fact that this had Christmas on the label and we were in February.  I cracked it open a couple of days later.  The beer was poured into a pilsner glass.  It had a pale yellow color (not like the picture I used).  I got about three fingers of white head that had medium retention and little lacing on the sides of the glass.  I get aromas of baked bread, orange peel, peppercorn, clove, cinnamon.  

The combination of aromas do not play well in the taste.  The base seems rather uninspiring, but likely consistent with what I'd expect from a lager.  There's a light hop presence that goes with the orange, pepper, and Christmas spices.  I'm finding the flavors to clash instead of harmonize.  It's light bodied, a little watery, with moderate carbonation.  At 6.0% ABV, it's not difficult to hide the alcohol.

Overall, the beer lacks balance and something else to tie all the flavors together.  I'm not sure if the beer gets worse as it ages and needs to be consumed fresh.  Even at a steep discounted price, I think I'd pass on trying this one again.  I barely finished drinking the entire bottle.

Grade: C-

Price Paid: $2.99 (22 oz bomber)

169. Dogfish Head Midas Touch

Wow, it's been almost a month.  It's been harder and harder to get out here and blog.  It's not that I don't like doing this, because I do, it just gets overwhelming trying to keep up with this backlog.  Either way, I get to enjoy a Saturday, sample 2 or 3 different beers, and will do what I can to play catch up a bit.  King Midas was that guy who had the golden touch, if you don't remember his "story".  Not entirely sure if it plays into the beer, aside from the fact that it uses ingredients that would have been around thousands of years ago.  It's labeled as an "Ancient Ale".  If you look at Beer Advocate, it's labeled as a Spiced Beer and I'm going to go with that.  No special occasion for this one, just decided to enjoy with dinner.

The beer was poured into a snifter glass.  It has a nice hazy orange color to it.  Not a lot of head, maybe half a finger.  Average retention, not a lot of lacing.  I could detect aromas of citrus, grape, malt, honey, maybe some butter.  Reminiscent of a chardonnay.  The ingredients mention saffron, but I don't know what it smells like and couldn't discern it in this beer.

As expected, the taste is reminds me of a sweet chardonnay mixed with some beer notes.  There's a sweetness that comes from the honey and the grape..maybe the grape isn't naturally sweet, but a muscat grape definitely is.  A buttery taste lingers from a taste and mouthfeel standpoint.  Again, not sure if I can tell where the saffron is.  It's a complex taste, but it's not bad at all.  The beer doesn't seem strong as first, but it will definitely feel strong in the end.  The mouthfeel is medium to heavy bodied with moderate carbonation.  

This was a refreshingly different beer from some of the others I've tried.  I've noticed that Dogfish Head does a lot of creative beers and I'm slowly but surely starting to take notice.  That said, creativity doesn't mean great beer, so I'm interested to see how well they're able to incorporate some of these creative flavors.  Give it a try, I think you'll like it.  

Grade: B

Price Paid: $2.29 (12 oz bottle)

144. Bison Organic Honey Basil

After enjoying Sullivan's for restaurant week, I was slated to go another restaurant the following day.  Didn't happen.  Ended up staying home and ordering some Chinese food (Crispy honey chicken).  I had the honey basil in the fridge and I figured it would pair well with my food.  

The beer poured a dark amber color with a finger and a half of white head into a pilsner glass.  Light retention, no lacing.  Not attractive so far.  I detected aromas of malt, biscuit, and basil.  The basil is really faint with this one.  

The taste was comparable to the aroma, but came off a little sweeter, probably because of the honey.  The basil was easier to taste, but I'm not quite sure if I liked it.  I like basil, but in my beer?  I know there are breweries that are being even more experimental with flavors, so I don't want to write it off.  It does provide this refreshing feel to it, similar to mint or cucumber in water.  The beer was light bodied with average carbonation.  I do think that this could be better balanced.  I had it before in the past, and now that I've had it again, I'm not all that interested in having it again.  Too many other beers to drink.  Agree or disagree?  Let me know!

Grade: C-

Price Paid: $2.40 (12 oz bottle)

116. Bison Organic Gingerbread Ale

If you couldn't tell, Bison Gingerbread is a holiday/Christmas beer, that I'm finally getting around to drinking here in early April.  No special occasion, just wanted to have a beer with my dinner.

The beer poured a very dark brown into a pilsner glass.  Cappuccino colored head, about a finger worth.  Light retention, decent lacing.  Aromas of gingerbread stand out the most, per the name, which is a good thing.  I could also discern some coffee and cinnamon notes.  

The taste is mostly roasted malts, with some spice characteristics added in.  It's a little disappointing that it's not as complex.  No bitter finish.  Light bodied, maybe even a little watery.  Moderate to high carbonation which was actually offputting for this type of beer.  This might qualify as a decent holiday brew, but I've certainly had better.  I wonder if it has anything to do with being organic.  Agree, disagree?  Let me know!

Grade: C-

Price Paid: $2.19 (12 oz bottle)