Anchor Brewing Christmas Ale 2015. 5.5% abv. Black in color. Two fingers of foamy beige head. Outstanding retention and lacing. Nose of pine, caramel, sweet bread, tropical fruit, bright spice. Front taste of warm brown sugar, roasted chocolate malt, nutty on the back end. Aftertaste is botanical herbal, bready, malty, mild bitter herbal hops, dark chocolate on the sustain. Medium-full body. Mouthfeel is warm, rich, creamy, sweet finish.

Anchor completely changes the secret recipe of their annual Christmas beer, which offers an exciting time for lovers of winter warmers. When you're about to taste the latest Anchor Christmas Ale, chances are you will either love it or hate it. Regardless of what goes in it, it's always a big beer that swings for the fences, for better or worse. I'm pleased to tell you that I absolutely loved this year's offering. I found myself muttering "This is damnnnn good" as I was carefully tasting I for this review.

Simply put, this is an extraordinary beer, one of the better years of this always-changing series. The aroma is complex with a myriad of malty, bready, spicy, and herbal tones. The taste offers chocolate, notes of evergreen, tall malt and bright spice such as cloves and nutmeg. The mouthfeel is rich and creamy, largely from a lacey head that accompanies you to the end. A world class brew, and another winner in this legendary series. Strongly recommended.

From the brewery:

"This is the forty-first annual Christmas Ale from the brewers at Anchor. It is sold only from early November to mid–January. The Ale's recipe is different every year—as is the tree on the label—but the intent with which we offer it remains the same: joy and celebration of the newness of life. Since ancient times, trees have symbolized the winter solstice when the earth, with its seasons, appears born anew. Our tree for 2015 is the Deodar Cedar (Cedrus deodara), better known as the California Christmas Tree. Native of the Himalayas, it takes its name from the ancient Sanskrit devadaru, meaning timber of the gods. This coniferous evergreen, with its gracefully droopy branches and blue-green needles, has been a San Francisco favorite for over 150 years."

[source: anchorbrewing.com]

Coronado Brewing 'Stupid Stout 2015' Imperial Stout. Crown Series. 9% abv. 42 IBU. Black in color with a finger of thick rich mocha head. Excellent retention and lace. Nose of coffee, dark chocolate, earth. Front taste of bittersweet chocolate, dark fruit, vanilla on the back. Aftertaste of cocoa powder, bitter plum, raisins, dank earthy hops on the sustain, with a dry finish. Medium-full body. Mouthfeel is hot, creamy, sticky, silky.

This is an outstanding imperial stout that sits firmly and shiny in its category. The aroma promises chocolate and coffee, delivering with deep rich flavors all the way through. Ribbons of bitter fruit and vanilla sit under each sip, helping to create a round taste and feel that can only improve with age if you choose to sit on a bottle. Wonderful brew. Highly recommended.

From the brewery:

"This deep, dark, viscous brew stands up to other imperial stouts as well as the test of time, delivering defined, robust, chocolaty notes with a hint of hop freshness. As this beer ages, those big flavors mellow, leaving behind a smooth, balanced sipper. It's the perfect beer to warm up with as winter cold sets in, or as part of a vertical tasting session many years from now."

[source: bottle]

Stone Brewing 'w00tstout 2015' Imperial Stout. 13% abv. 45 IBU. Dark brown, almost black in color. Thin tan collar head. Nose of raisins, bourbon, chocolate, almond. Front taste of sweet milk chocolate, plum, molasses, black coffee. Aftertaste is rich chocolate, nutty notes, pecans, toffee, faint licorice, dark fruit, vanilla notes on the back. Full body. Mouthfeel is hot, thick, almost syrupy, creamy, clingy, with an alcoholic sustain.

This is an outstanding beer. The aroma and taste are complex, with lots of cocoa, dark fruit, and nutty flavors mingling about. The aftertaste is equally playful, giving you a varied flavor profile from nose to sustain. This is one of those exclusive big beers not to be missed, worthy of the hype. Strong recommended.

From the brewery:

"This righteously flavorful imperial stout has been a favorite among our fans—and us—since its inception in 2013. In celebration of its third brewing, we’ve upped the barrel-aging quotient for 2015, adding to the mix a version of last year’s vintage that we aged in bourbon barrels for a year. This whopping, complex stout will cellar beautifully—if you can wait that long. Eisner Award-winning comic-book cover artist Dave “The Reverend” Johnson created the fine art for the bottle in exchange for our donation to The Hero Initiative (heroinitiative.org), a charity organization that provides retirement funds for golden-age comic book artists."

[source: stonebrewing.com]

"Wil Wheaton first called us in 2004 to ask whether it’d be OK for him to put the Arrogant Bastard logo on his blog’s website (back when people still asked permission to do such things), and I just so happened to answer the phone (back when I still answered the main line sometimes). Since he was so damn enthusiastic about our beers, I said, “Sure, no problem,” all while thinking, “Hmmm…this guy’s name sounds familiar. • Months later, in a serendipitous turn of fate, I reached out to our 10,000th email newsletter subscriber…drumroll…Wil Wheaton. Turned out that since his gigs in the iconic “Stand By Me” and “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” Will had become quite the renaissance man, adding author, w00stock innovator and homebrewer to his resume. His enthusiasm for the fermentable arts and our beer was such that after many occasions of sharing grog over the years, we decided it was time to brew in collaboration. • It was a no-brainer for us to choose Drew Curtis – known by many as the twisted mind behind Fark.com – as our third cohort. Drew was an old friend of Wil’s whom I had serendipitously met (when he saw me and told me, “Dude, I love your beer!”) and enjoyed many beers with at the famous TED conference three years in a row. The beer you hold before you is an Imperial Stout made with wheat (Wil pretty much insisted), and we also paid tribute to Drew’s Kentucky roots by adding rye and pecans to the mix and partially aging the beer in bourbon barrels. The result? Nothing short of serendipitous. • In celebration of the third brewing of this annual offering, we added a mix of the version of last year’s vintage that we aged in bourbon barrels for a year. Consider it a superhero version of this sudsy staple of Hop-Con, our imaginatively titled annual July w00tstout release event! • Brought in to put a personalized stamp on this year’s edition of w00tstout was famed comic-book cover artist Dave “The Reverend” Johnson. The Elsner Award winner, known for his work for DC Comics and the Vertigo series “100 Bullets,” created the fine art for this bottle in exchange for our donation to The Hero Initiative (heroinitiative.org), a charity organization that provides retirement funds for golden-age comic book artists."
[source: bottle]

Firestone Walker 'Stickee Monkee 2015' Central Coast Quad. Bourbon barrel aged. 13.4%. 45 IBU. Black in color. No head, retention, or lace. Nose of rich, sweet malt, dark fruit, caramel. Nose becomes more complex as the temp drops, with emerging port wine grapes and green herbal notes. Front taste of caramel, oak, brown sugar, plums, molasses. Aftertaste of sweet dried fruit, raisins, plums, sweet wine, wood notes, sweet coconut husk in the sustain. Full body. Mouthfeel is warm-hot, rich, sticky, thick.

This is an extraordinary, world-class beer. It's very rich, sweet, malty, fruity, and at times is herbal, botanical, woodsy. A complex myriad of flavors dances in the aroma, the first sips, on though the aftertaste and sustain. The barrel aging is expressed throughout, always in the background, with flavors of toasted oak and port wine. Outstanding. Strongly recommended.

From the brewery:

"A Belgian Quad by recipe, but aging it in spirits barrels garners its own category: Central Coast Quad.  A beer formulated to sit on the sweeter and malty side so that we could utilize it for blending.  Turbinado brown sugar from Mexico and Belgian candi sugar add wonderful molasses flavors.  It has a full body and lush texture with barrel expression all over this beer: toasted oak, coconut, leather and cigar tobacco."

[source: firestonebeer.com]

“Since founding our brewery in 1996, we have specialized in the rare art of fermenting beer in oak barrels. In the Fall of 2006, we embarked on a program to barrel age a series of vintage strong ales that would later be used as components of a blended beer. That blend would become our first Anniversary Ale, ’10’. After the release of ’10’, we released limited amounts of the components beers on draft only. Many of these beers gained a cult following that craft beer fans raved about and begged for us to put in bottle. Stickee Monkee was one of these beers. We present the 2015 vintage of Stickee Monkee, a barrel-aged Quad. It has been said that the only constant is change and the same is true for barrel-aged beers. Cut from a similar recipe, this barrel-aged Quad evolved and shows a different face each year; a result of time spent aging in the barrel. Turbinado brown sugar from Mexico adds wonderful molasses flavors that are reminiscent of Belgian candi sugar. It has a full body and lush texture with barrel expression all over; toasted oak, coconut, leather and rich cigar tobacco. This Central Coast Quad is a one-of-a-kind sipping beer built to last and will reward careful aging for years to come.”
[source: box]

This big beer is best shared with friends

My friends and fellow beer enthusiasts Patrick and Michelle shared their Stickee Monkee with me and some friends for my birthday. Cheers!

Sierra Nevada 'Beer Camp 2015' Hoppy Lager. 7% abv. 55 IBU. Orange-honey color. Thick bubbly white head. Excellent retention and lace. Nose of citrus, bread, light malt. Front taste of ample bright hops, light malt, slightly sweet. Aftertaste of bitter floral hops, fresh herbal, smooth back end. Medium body. Mouthfeel is warm, carby, hop bite.

This is an excellent beer, with its fresh hoppy profile and light fruit notes. The hop bitter taste pops, yet is smooth, easy drinking, on through the aftertaste sustain. Grab one of these limited-release brews while you can. Recommended.

From the brewery:

"This hop-heavy beer combines intense citrus and floral hop flavors with the clean, classic malt body of a hearty blonde lager for a crisp but aggressive take on the India Style Pale Lager... Last summer we teamed up with San Diego's Ballast Point for a hop-head twist on a crisp lager. We remixed this encore which is loaded with whole-cone hops in the brew kettle and in our Hop Torpedo to deliver a bold aroma backed by smooth malt flavor... Beer Camp is the ultimate brewing experience. We bring beer fans into our brewery nearly every week to create their own beer with us—the more daring the better—and each spring we’ll highlight one of the small-batch standouts. Last year, Beer Camp worked overtime. Along with our fan brews, we made 12 additional beers with 12 exceptional breweries. Choosing one for an encore wasn’t easy. Ever drawn to hops, we decided to reimagine our hoppy lager collaboration with Ballast Point."

[source: sierranevada.com]