Microbrew Review of Thirsty Dog Brewing 12 Dogs of Christmas Ale

Microbrew Review of Thirsty Dog Brewing 12 Dogs of Christmas Ale

by Microbrew Review

As I mentioned the other day, from here on in for the next month or so I'm going to be sampling and focusing on microbrew and craft beer reviews of the Christmas Ale, Winter Warmer and winter-style ilk. Tonight's offering by Thirsty Dog Brewing Company falls perfectly in line with that theme, and I for one am glad that it does.

First of all, I dig the label on this 12 ounce chilled brown bottle. It's a little different but plain enough, cartoonish in a way but almost like an artist's rendering of what could have been a real actual photo of 12 dogs of all varieties decked out in their Christmas best on and around an old flatbed delivery pickup truck(I'm guessing an actual brewery-owned pickup used long ago for local beer deliveries...but I'm just guessing).

Here are the vital stats on this beer right from the label...
IBU's = 21.5
O.G. = 18.5 degrees Plato
8.3% alcohol by volume
12 fluid oz. bottle (355 mL)
Recommended best serving temp 43 - 49 degrees F.

Thirsty Dog Brewing 12 Dogs of Christmas Ale is a celebratory ale and pours into my pint glass as such. This ale pours fairly thick and rich and looks sticky as it cascades into my glass vessel. A crystal clear body boasts a beautiful ruby red/copper appearance graced with just enough carbonation activity to make it pretty. A creamy, butterscotch one finger head glazes the surface just for a few brief minutes and quickly subsides.

The aroma of this craft beer is of chocolately rich malt and very, very sweet. Figs and honey are present in the smell and those scents clog the nostrils along with that somewhat fiery alcoholic burn. A bit of clove hovers in the background but none of the cinnamon the bottle label proclaims.

Sipping down the first few swigs, I can't help but notice I may be drinking this beer just a bit too cold. While the label gives an actual ideal serving temp, I've not gone too technical with checking if this beer's got a fever yet but am guessing probably not, so I waited a while longer. It was just too cold to experience the full flavor.

So fifteen minutes go by and I try the Thirsty Dog Christmas Ale again. This time is better. Spilling the brew over my tongue, it's a little warmer and rich as heck. Sweet, sticky with some very nice nuances of that cinnamon (so boasted on the bottle label) but also with some creamy bakery flavors that go so nicely in beer this season of the year. Gingerbread and sugar cookies came to mind and a hint of cloves became more evident in the nose. While the alcohol was always present through sipping the entire glass, it was nothing more than a pleasant warming sensation and not the burn that was a bit more evident in the nose of this Christmas Ale.

One special point of note I'll make is that, while the beer had a reasonably respectable head of foam initially (that didn't last long), Thirsty Dog Brewing Company's 12 Dogs of Christmas Ale presented an intriguing set of legs down the side of my 16 ounce pint glass very reminiscent of a nice wine. Kind of unique and interesting and not something I often experience in my microbrew and craft beer reviews.

All in all, I really really like Thirsty Dog Brewing Company 12 Dogs of Christmas Ale. It's a well-put-together seasonal ale that, while not standing out as totally unique or extreme in any one area, it is an enjoyable and warming sipping style of beer that does bring to mind this wonderful Christmas season time of year. You could try this craft beer blindfolded in August and you'd definitely get the feeling that 12 Dogs of Christmas Ale is a winter/Christmastime style of beer.

I'll give Thirsty Dog Brewing Co 12 Dogs of Christmas Ale a 7.75 out of 10.00 points on my microbrew rating scale. It's definitely one I'd like to get my hands on a few more bottles of. With the 8.3% ABV though, don't get too carried away. Respect the beer and happy holidays!

P.S. Thirsty Dog Brewing Company cannot do too much wrong apparently. These folks from the Akron, Ohio-based microbrewery have never really disappointed me yet to date with their nicely crafted beers. I'm going to be on the lookout for more beers to try from Thirsty Dog Brewing and I recommend you should too if you see any of their ales locally. Cheers!

Are your a beer lover? Did you enjoy reading this microbrew beer review? If you love beer and craft beers & microbrews in particular, you'll find many more craft beer reviews of both new and old microbrews and also fun microbrew and craft beer-related meanderings at the
===>beer review blog
or =====>Craft Beer Reviews.

Enjoy, and always remember to drink responsibly!

Thirsty Dog Brewing
Ohio breweries
winter warmer
microbrew
craft beer
beer blog

A Microbrew Review of Anchor Brewing Company's "Our Special Ale"

I was lucky to find and procure several bottles of Anchor Brewing Company's "Our Special Ale" tonight. Anchor Brewing Company craft beer products are not easily found in my locale (here in Western Pennsylvania) and a special find like Anchor Brewing Company's Christmas Ale 2007 seasonal beer is not one to just take for granted.

I've heard and read quite a lot about Anchor Brewing Company (based way, way out in California as a San Francisco-oriented craft beer brewery)and have had the opportunity only to try a couple of their lovingly produced ales. I know of one gentleman who frequents my local bottle shop who always seems to be grabbing a 12 pack of Anchor Steam Ale every time I'm there. I'm guessing it's "his beer" and perhaps he possibly drinks nothing else. Maybe that's a strong indicator of Anchor Brewing's cult type following nationally. Who knows for sure?

Anyway, on to Anchor Brewing Co.'s Christmas Ale. This Christmastime seasonal beer is only offered from November to January each year and the recipe differs each year as well. I've discovered that the "tree" on the front of the label is an actual unique tree also. Very ketchy. I like the marketing already. The label lists the 2007 vintage as well as "Merry Christmas & Happy New Year"! Nice, especially nowadays where everywhere you turn, people seem to go out of their way to be politically correct in leaving the word "Christmas" out of anything they print or portray.

Pouring the 12 ounce brown, glass bottle of ale into my trusty 14 ounce glass mug, this beer pours an almost opaque dark ruby with an abundance of carbonation (bubbles firing everywhere) and a huge billowing head of fluffy carmel frost on top. Very visually inviting this beer is.

Aroma is spicy, scents of mild carmel, sweet fruits (dates?!?) and a slight twinge of what I perceived as cloves. Hmmm, very interesting so far.

Tipping the mug back to my lips, Anchor's "Our Special Ale" does not disappoint or let down in the slightest. This craft beer is crisp and refreshing and lively in every sense of the word. I could very much just describe this seasonal beer in one simple word, "festive". It's very smooth and gives a sweet malty coating on the palate. Very chewy, almost a meal in itself. I tasted a nice balance of hop backbone to offset the sweet, malt characters and the spice made its presence felt just enough to not be too overbearing. I really like the balance and it's just hard to describe the equilibrium between the beer feeling heavy but still alive and zesty at the same time. If a craft beer could be judged on its ability to seem like a living organism, Anchor Brewing Company's 2007 vintage of "Our Special Ale" would be that beer for me.

In brief summary, I personally would highly recommend Anchor Brewing Co.'s "Our Special Ale" for your next holiday meal or festive gathering. I'd recommend this one to my dearest of friends. Anchor Christmas Ale is rich, robust, refreshing, pleasing to the eye and boasts loads and loads of character. It's an interesting ale that I could personally enjoy more than 2 or 3 of at a sitting without getting bored even in the slightest. In a nutshell, this is one great craft beer any time of the year, let alone as a special Christmas Ale. I guess that just lends a little more to its mystique, being that there's only just a small window of time for you to pick some up for your beer refrigerator before it's all gone until the 2008 edition is released next Christmas. I will give Anchor Brewing Company's Christmas Ale a big 8.75 out of 10.00 points in my ratings as an excellent representation of what a celebratory Christmas time, holiday ale should be. It's a winner!

If you experienced any slight fun or enjoyment in perusing this microbrew beer review and, if you love craft beers in particular, you'll find more reviews of both new and old microbrews, craft beers of all kinds, and also fun microbrew and craft beer-related info at Microbrew Review or Microbrew and Craft Beer Reviews. Click through on the links above and please take a second to let me know what you liked or didn't like and also note any beers that you might like to see me review next time! Hey, I'm new at this beer review thing. I need to know what I should be trying out!

A Microbrew Review of Abita Christmas Ale

I have to admit, I picked up a couple 12 ounce bottles of Abita Brewing Company Christmas Ale this evening just solely because of the shiny silver foil printed labels. Something about the appearance of the bottle just shouted "festive". I had to give it a try. And being the holiday season, this beer fit right in. I'll be blunt by saying I'd trying a couple of the year round offerings from Abita Brewing Company (a microbrewery based in Abita Springs, Louisiana) and at least with those microbrews was not the most impressed. I was hoping Christmas Ale might be a little different.

Pouring Abita Christmas Ale into a standard unchilled 12 ounce beer mug, I was presented with an amber, reddish vibrant hue. The beer looked "zesty" so to speak with a bold bright color and energetic bubbles abound everywhere. There was no notable head to point out and despite it's bubbly appearance, the beer gave off a "thin" image.

Taking the first couple sips of Abita Christmas Ale was where it really got going for me. The nose was sweet and bready. A little bit of clove mixed in. Not a whole lot of out of the box going on here but the flavor was respectable. It was a little thin for my taste, but still with a bit of Christmas Ale type spice and bite. Abita Christmas Ale was clean, crisp and refreshing. It gave off a little bit of holiday-esque sensation through it's spiciness but kept it drinkable with the balance of hops throughout. It didn't go over the top.

I actually could imagine myself enjoying several of these regularly during a typical microbrew session throughout the year regardless of the season. Abita Brewing Company Christmas Ale was just that darned drinkable and easy to put down. Now, if only all the Abita Brewing Company offerings were in the same ballpark of flavor, I'd be more and more on the lookout for Abita Brewing offerings in my local microbrew bottleshop haunt and at the beer distributor as well.

As a quick wrap up, I'd have to say that I do recommend the Abita Brewing Company Christmas Ale to anyone who's asking. It's not all that complex of a brew and certainly not as sweet, thick, or spicy as a lot of Christmas craft beers are know for, but Abita Christmas Ale holds it's own, is very drinkable and is at least interesting enough to make you pay attention to the beer throughout the entire bottle consumption process. I noticed a little more flavor as the beer warmed and a little more warmth from the milder levels of alcohol by volume included in this beer as well.

I'd recommend going out and picking up a bottle or two of Abita Brewing Company's Christmas Ale if you do get an opportunity to this holiday season. The festive label will make it look a little more exciting than it is, but the beer will not disappoint and would be a nice, "lighter" craft beer addition to any holiday gathering throughout this Christmas beer drinking season.

If you had any fun or enjoyment in reading this microbrew beer review and love craft beers in particular, you'll find more reviews of both new and old microbrews and also fun microbrew and craft beer-related info at Microbrew Review or Microbrew and Craft Beer Reviews. Click through on the links above and please do let me know what you liked or didn't like and also any beers that you might like to see me review next time!