Beery Christmas Day 24

The final day is here.  Have Beer Hawk saved their best for last?  I think I will cry if it's another IPA...

The final beer is Cortigiana from Birra del Borgo in Italy in a really eyecatching and unusual shaped bottle.  Beer Hawk do call it a pale ale but Birra del Borgo call it a golden ale so I'll let them off with this one.

Birra del Borgo's website describes Cortigiana as:

Just like a lady from bygone days, Cortigiana makes the most of her arts of seduction to conquer every palate. First she entices with her bewitching freshness, then she reveals its determined attitude that promptly leads you to the second sip. It's hard to resist her charming aroma, where the citrus and floral scents given by the hop melt with the malt's honey notes; an intriguing spicy note in the finish adds a certain je ne sais quoi to this easy drinkable beer. You can betray her, but never say farewell to her!

5% in a 330ml bottle

Buy it from Beer Gonzo for £3.50 or Beer Hawk for £2.99

Well that's all the doors of the advent calendar open...so all that's left to do now is try all of the beers!  Keep an eye on my blog as I review all the beers in the calendar over the next few weeks.

Beery Christmas Day 23

Only 2 more sleeps and unfortunately only 1 more door to open after this one.  So don't forget to join me tomorrow for the final beer revelation.

Today's beer is Anchor Dry-Hopped Steam Beer from San Francisco - it's not an IPA hurrah!

From Anchor Brewing's website:

San Francisco’s famous Anchor Steam® Beer is unique, for our brewing process has evolved over many decades and is like no other in the world. To give this classic beer a radically traditional twist, we created Anchor Dry-Hopped Steam Beer™. Made with its own special recipe, this brew is dry-hopped with a blend of new and traditional hops. The result weds the rich maltiness of Anchor Steam with the alluring fragrant hoppiness of our ales. 

California Commons are a unique American style of beer created by fermenting lager yeast at warmer temperatures similar to ales. This creates a hybrid between the two beer styles, though lager yeast is always used. Anchor Steam Beer is the original California Common made in San Francisco since 1896.

The original Anchor Steam Beer has rich caramel malt flavors balanced by an herbal hop spiciness. Anchor Dry-Hopped Steam Beer, on the other hand, has flavors of light malty sweetness and a lingering, bitter hop finish with distinct aromas of citrus and pine with hints of ripe fruit and subtle maltiness. Brilliant amber in color with a tight, tan head, Anchor Dry-Hopped Steam Beer is moderately full in body, smooth and velvety. Dry-hopping since 1975, Anchor was the first craft brewery in modern times to revive this century old brewing method in America. The same radically traditional techniques are still being used today.

5.4% in a 355ml bottle

Found for sale on The Beer Boutique for £3.00 or The Beer Shack for £2.75

Beery Christmas Day 22

Pretty coloured lightbulbs on the door of Day 22, but what colour beer is inside?  Pale, perchance?

Well you could knock me over with a feather, it's another IPA but cunningly disguised as a lager from Camden Town Brewery.  IHL is an abbreviation for India Hells Lager.

IHL is described on Camden Town Brewery's website as:

So this is the IPA, resurrected as lager. Sounds almost spiritual, right? In our office, this is known as “the brewers’ beer”. All the flavour of an IPA. Minus the heavy sweetness. Amen to that, brother.

6.2% in a 330ml can

Buy it from Ales by Mail for £2.65 or from Honest Brew for £2.59

Beery Christmas Day 21

There's an angel on the door of Day 21, bringing glad tidings in the shape of a bottle of beer.

Another IPA (surprise), this time from Flying Dog Brewery in Maryland, USA.

From Flying Dog's website:

Aromas of grapefruit and subtle spice meld into lemon and pine hop notes balanced with crisp cracker malt. Pair this with tailgates, mowing the lawn, and anything else that calls for a light, yet flavorful, beer.

Easy IPA is the first beer in our Brewhouse Rarities series of staff-pitched and elected limited releases to become a part of our regular portfolio.

4.7% in a 330ml bottle

Buy it from Honest Brew for £2.59 or from Beers of Europe for £2.19

Beery Christmas Day 20

It's day 20 of the Beer Hawk advent calendar so let's hope I can give a big gold star to whatever's hiding behind the door.

Today's beer is Vital IPA from Victory Brewing Company, Pennsylvania, USA.

From Victory Brewing Company's website:

This American-hopped IPA marries a bold and complex hop character of pine, citrus and spice with fruity notes and a crisp finish created by our German Kölsch yeast.

A slightly hazed blonde IPA with fantastic aromas of spicy pine, resinous hop character, and citrus fruit. Balanced flavor between the American hops and our German Kolsch yeast strain provides a very unique backdrop for the hops to interact.

6.5% in a 330ml can

Found for sale on Honest Brew for £2.89 or Beer Hawk for £2.49

Beery Christmas Day 19

6 more sleeps until Christmas and there's a cute little penguin on the door of Day 19 - I can't wait to to see what is hiding behind him. 

Day 1 introduced me to the Two Roads Brewing Company in Stratford, Connecticut, so I was rather excited when I opened the Penguin Door.  I was even more excited when I saw that it was a dark ale, namely Espressway Cold Brew Coffee Stout.  Again, I'll not knock it until I try it and some ales have a hint of chocolate, so why not coffee?

From Two Roads Brewing Company's website:

In a process unique to Two Roads, we mixed a locally-roasted Ethiopian/Sumatra blend of beans with a rich oatmeal stout under pressure (like espresso but without the steam) using our German-built “Brewnik” device. The mixture is steeped for several days resulting in a true, cold-brewed coffee stout. Hop on the Two Roads Espressway!

6.5% in a 355ml bottle

Found for sale on Beer Heroes for £2.65

Beery Christmas Day 18

One week to go until the big day - it's Day 18 of the Beer Hawk advent calendar and Frosty the Snowman is pictured on the door.  It might not be too cold outside but there's sure to be something hidden behind that door that requires chilling.

It's almost like a work of art - I've never seen a more detailed intricate can of beer and you can just about see the subtle hops engraving in my photograph.  Today's beer is Nor'Hop from Moor Beer Company in Bristol.  I absolutely love the strapline - Drink Moor Beer!

From Moor Beer Company's website, Nor'Hop is described as:

This ultra-pale ale is brewed with a limited availability hop from America to impart a pronounced floral and citric quality to the beer, with honey and elderflower in the nose.  This beer had been so anticipated that in less than two weeks of release it had won a beer festival and sold out.  Not wanting to disappoint its many fans, we have rebrewed it and added it to our list of permanent beers where it continues to be the benchmark for the style around the world.

4.1% in a 330ml can

Found for sale on Honest Brew for £2.19 or from Moor Beer's own online shop for £2.00.