Beery Christmas Day 6

Woohoo!  Door number 6 has some frothy golden beers on the door giving a hint as to what might be lying hidden behind it.  Please be beer...please be beer...please be beer...

After a grapefruit pale ale on Day 3 that I think could be marketed as a breakfast ale, I now have a bottle of Dinner Ale from Ilkley Brewery in Yorkshire.  Although at a paltry 3.3% ABV, it seems more likely that I could drink this one for breakfast.

From Ilkley's website, it is labelled as a Victorian Pale ale and described as:

Using a recipe from 1884 found in the archives of the original brewery in Ilkley, this distinctive Victorian Pale Ale was designed as the perfect accompaniment to food, being light and crisp.  We have added our modern slant using all Kiwi hops and the result is a beer for any occasion.

3.3% ABV in a 330ml bottle

Priced at £2.59 on Honest Brew

Beery Christmas Day 5

Ding Dong!  What's behind the door of my Beer Hawk advent calendar on Day 5?  I'm crossing my fingers and hoping it's beer shaped.

My wish has been granted - it is indeed a bottle of beer!  A bottle of Proteus IPA from Siren Craft Brew in Berkshire at a whopping 6.9% ABV.  Proteus is a pale ale series that Siren have run in 2016, with this one being Volume II and reportedly less citrus than the first batch.

From the Siren website:

Proteus is a series devised to make the most of three hops, with this volume using Mosaic, Chinook and Cascade.  Siren have brewed three pale ales using the combination before creating this dialled-up IPA version, based on everything their brewers have learned about the hops and how they work together.

Found for sale on Hoptimism for £3.27 and on Honest Brew for £3.59

6.9% in a 330ml bottle

Beery Christmas Day 4

Striped candy canes adorn the door of Day 4 but there is sure to be something more tasty hidden behind it.  What could it be?

Do not adjust your set - it's a Hoptical Illusion, an east coast IPA from Blue Point Brewing in Patchogue, New York.  There's no magic involved here though, there really is a beer in my advent calendar and a strong one at that - this is a surprising 7% ABV.

From Blue Point Brewing's website:

What you're seeing is a hop lover's dream.

To brew this award-winning well balanced IPA, we add plenty of hops five different ways. Adding it five ways allows the "Essence of the Hop" to really shine through and give Hoptical Illusion its signature resiny, citrus-burst punch.  From aroma to first sip, this beer is sure to be one of your new favourites.

7% ABV in a 330ml bottle

Found for sale on Beer Hawk for £2.49

Beery Christmas Day 3

Day 3 has a green shiny bauble on the door, but I'm sure there's something more exciting than a bauble lurking behind this door.

High Wire Grapefruit Pale Ale is one crazy looking can of beer!  It reminds me of the ghosts in Pac Man and instantly put a smile on my face.  Of course, I did already have a smile on my face as I had a beer in my hand, but the design did give me a little chuckle.

Brewed by Magic Rock Brewery in Huddersfield, High Wire Grapefruit is described as:

High Wire Grapefruit is a fruit-infused version of our best-selling West Coast pale ale. We accentuated the original beer’s smoothly composed malt body and lip-smacking citrus character with the addition of 100% natural pink grapefruit flavour. Juicy, tart and deliciously refreshing, it’s High Wire the Same But Different!

5.5% ABV in a 330ml can

Found on Kwoff for £2.29, The Pip Stop for £2.59 or Hippo Beers for £2.70

Beery Christmas Day 2

It's Day 2 of the Beer Hawk advent calendar and I can't wait to see what's behind door number 2.  I know it will taste better than the Christmas pudding pictured on the door.

It's a can of Little Rock IPA from Harbour Brewing Company, Cornwall.  I love the lilac waves - it's such an unusual colour to find on a can of beer and purple is coincidentally my favourite colour.

I can't find it on the Harbour Brewing Co's website, but it is described as:

A "sessionable" IPA that marries hoppy bursts of tropical fruit flavours with a sweet and satisfying malty base.  An exceedingly 'smashable' beer from the North Cornwall-based Harbour Brewing Co.

5.5% ABV in a 330ml can

Found on Honest Brew and Ales By Mail for £2.50.

Beery Christmas Day 1

Beery Christmas!  Day 1 of December has arrived so I ran down the stairs like a kid on Christmas morning to opening the first door of my Beer Hawk advent calendar.

The first beer is Worker's Comp - Saison brewed by Two Roads Brewing Co in Connecticut.  I do have family in Connecticut so it's a rather fitting beer to find behind door number 1.

Worker's Comp - Saison is described on Two Roads' website as:

A traditional farmhouse ale made with a very expressive yeast strain that contributes an array of tropical fruit, spice flavours and aromatics.  Brewed with a variety of harvest grains including barley, wheat, oats and rye as was likely the case with farmhouse brewers of yore.  The result is a complex, refreshing and distinctive example of this esoteric style. Intensely fruity (passion fruit, pineapple, mango, lychee), slightly spicy (clove, white pepper).

4.8% ABV in a 355ml bottle

Found for sale on Honest Brew for £2.69

Beer Hawk 2016 Advent Calendar

To celebrate my first year of beer blogging, I decided to buy a beer advent calendar.  With more becoming available every year it was hard to choose which one to go for but, with an early bird offer of £10 off and a free tasting kit, I ordered the advent calendar from Beer Hawk for £65.

I don't think I'd quite grasped just how big and impressive these beer advent calendars are!

It was like Christmas had come early as I opened the taster kit and found a handy beer notebook, pen, bottle opener, £10 beer voucher and a really unusual chalice style glass.

I found a nice spot to store the calendar and did what I was told on the box, by opening one particular non-numbered door first.  The clue was on the door, so it was no surprise to find a lovely tulip shaped branded beer glass inside.

I don't think I'll be able to sample each beer every day, but I'll hopefully be able to post what surprise lies behind each door, so keep your eyes peeled for my evening posts throughout the advent period.