I had caught word that my local gym was going to be open for about a half day on Christmas. Generally, I’m of the opinion that businesses should be closed for Christmas, but because we were pitched a 24/365 gym, I was somewhat disheartened to hear that it was only open part day. Nothing like falling short of the expectations one sets. Oh well.

Having heard the gym closed early, I decided to head over there in the morning. No luck. The gym was closed. In reality, this is probably a good thing. Employees shouldn’t have to work Christmas - although some stores ask for volunteers and pay double time, which is a nice option. Still, the cheap side of me wants to march in there tomorrow and ask for a one day refund.

For lack of a 10k, I opted to open one of my few remaining bottles of Jubelale.

We can get the obvious out of the way - this is a great choice for many occasions. Although, the Deschutes’ website lists “Cheese Plate” as a good food pairing, which I would disagree with. If you have an expansive and rich grouping of cheese, it can mess with the taste of the ale. The website also lists meatballs, and this I agree with completely.

The taste of hops is immediately noticeable - but it is not overpowering, or as strong as in other Deschutes’ brews like Hop Trip. There is a small note of brown sugar, which complements the hops. I’ve noticed a handful of reviews proclaim tastes of citrus - I don’t pick up on that so much as I notice the taste of apples. Maybe there is some orange in there, though. There’s also some type of syrup taste that I can’t put a name too. Almost like one of those woeful flavored syrups at IHOP. Although the impact is anything but woeful for this beer.

Everything is pretty mellow, which is nice as there is also little to no bitter taste. I can see why this is viewed as a food beer - the taste is not so one-sided as to make it a meal in itself, although it does stand alone as something you could enjoy while enduring the 9th running of a Christmas Story. Eh, who am I kidding… everyone loves that movie.

Jubelale - better than a flag pole.

Was on a quick plane flight the other day - decided to give Southwest a try again after I heard about their new boarding procedure. Not half bad. And, I got a drink coupon out of the deal, so how am I to complain? In any event, I ordered a Jack Daniel’s - my only other option was Dewar’s, which I’m not a fan of. I ordered it neat. “Like a shot?” was the response from the stewardess, hostess, in-flight dancer, whatever the appropriate term is now. For lack of time allowing for an explanation, I just opted for a “Yes”. Sure enough, I was getting pot-shots from nearby passengers. “Bet your college days were fun.”

“Yes, asshole, they were amazing. Sorry yours must’ve sucked.”

In any event, I hadn’t had Jack Daniel’s in a while. And it was good. Really good. Strong fruit finish - not strictly citrus, more, dare I say, American fruits. Apples, pear, orange (ok, maybe that one is citrus). The moral of the story is that Jack Daniel’s is a great plane drink. Just enough to get one over the edge of the traveling public.

Upon my return, I was greeted with an unexciting email from my local liquor store manager. Don’t get me wrong, this manager is great - and their store generally has a great selection. But they are overpriced. Another overpriced store - separate from my more recent post. Turns out they received stock of Laphroaig 21, Balvenie 17 RumWood, and George T. Stagg. Usually this would be exciting, especially right around bonus season. Odd how things come in three’s though - this trio was released right after Saint’s Row 2, Gears of War 2, and Call of Duty World at War were released in a short period. But I digress. The email lacked excitement because of the pricing. They want $80 for the George T. Stagg! Maybe if I’m being fiscally imprudent, $55. So that is way over market. The Laphroaig 21? Over $550. Sure, this is the latest American gimmick from Laphroaig (of which I’m a Friend), but geez! The Laphroaig 30 sold for just over half of that! So you’re knocking off 9 years and raising the price by 40% give or take? Un-freakin-believable.

Finally, my Balvenie. The damned RumWood I’ve been waiting all too long for. Price? Just over $130. This one isn’t quite as offensive, though. The price was originally earmarked at $150 - still almost double the price of their 17 year series. But, the GBP has dropped about 25%, so I want 25% off of the $150 I was expecting. This would put pricing closer to $110. So I’m getting ripped for $20 a bottle. Pricing really should be at $80 to $90, especially considering that is where the Sherry Oak was priced, and scotch-aficionados seem to love Sherry way more than Rum finishing. So, I’ll have to decide on how many bottles to get now. I may consider only 2 instead of 3. Bummer.

I have a Christmas party to go to tomorrow - should be a great time. So while I was picking up a choice bottle of wine for the hosts (Wine Spectator’s Top 100 came in handy!), I decided to grab some fun brews.

Blitzen would be proud.

I picked up the Alaskan because a smoked beer sounds way too interesting. Could it be beer’s version of peated scotch? One can only hope. From there, I stayed true to Deschutes as if I were on the payroll. I picked up 3 bottles of the Abyss (I’m wondering if I should have grabbed more), 2 bottles of the Hop Trip, and a 6-pack of Jubelale. The first bottle of Abyss will be open tonight and I will return soon with notes.

Additional holiday tasting notes include St. Peter’s Cream Stout and Avery’s Mephistopheles Stout.

Starting with the Cream Stout -

Things start out on a good foot, with 16.9oz instead of 12oz. But that’s just sizing. The taste is a bit interesting being a milk stout. It reminds me of a very weak latte with a disproportionate amount of heavy creme. Almost as if the barista put in half of the recommended amount of grinds, and used a very mild breakfast blend. There is a mild bitter flavor overlay, slightly more bitter than the Obsidian Stout from Deschutes. Like the Obsidian Stout, it has a decent, lingering finish.

Next, the Mephistopheles Stout from Avery-

Ok, if you’re looking for bitter, this is the stop. The Mephistopheles is an exercise in bitter. The initial taste is bitter. The finish is bitter.

Spitzer’s Bitter Beer FaceOnce you get past the bitterness, there’s a range of flavors. There are notes of berries - dark berries like raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, etc. There is also a sweet flavor, much like black licorice or anise compounded by raw sugar. The sweetness of the berries and licorice stays through the finish, where there’s a hint of frosting, like vanilla frosting. Bitter vanilla frosting.

Overall, the Cream Stout is a great beverage, and would likely pair well with any carb-laden meal. Mashed potatoes with cheese, dinner pancakes, etc. The Mephistopheles is exceptionally complex, with great sweet notes. But the bitterness overpowers it, making it outside of my preferred palate.