Karbach Yule Shoot Your Eye Out

Yeah, yeah, yeah, i realize Christmas was a few days ago, but there are still plenty of Christmas ales to be found on the shelves and enjoyed all the same.  Karbach's offering is the tasty and festive Yule Shoot Your Eye Out.  The brew pours dark with a decent head and plenty of carbonation, and smells of malts and spices.  The taste is pure winter holidays, with notes of cocoa, orange, nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger.  It's an easy drinker, but also weighs in at 8% ABV, so make sure you're not going anywhere.  Happy Holidays!

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Cigar City Good Gourd Imperial Pumpkin Ale

I thought is should do one more beer from Tampa Bay's Cigar City Brewing, a wonderful brewery and taproom i visited last week.  It may be a little out of season, but their Good Gourd Imperial Pumpkin Ale (on nitro no less) was as amazing a pumpkin brew as i've ever had.  Creamy and thick and 9.4% ABV, the beer was a beautiful dark brownish amber with a tremendous frothy head.  It was probably one of the prettiest beers i've ever seen.  Aromas of pumpkin and nutmeg spices were prevalent and not overpowering on the tongue.  Combined with some strong alcohol notes, the Good Gourd should not be nearly as smooth as it is.  I would love to have another.

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Cigar City Sugar Plum

I made a visit to Tampa Bay over the weekend to visit with an old friend, catch a football game, and of course drink some local beers.  I don't usually think of craft beer when i think of Florida, but Tampa's Cigar City Brewing totally won me over with their excellent brews and comfy, relaxed atmosphere.  While there, i was able to try a handful of different beers, all of which were great, but i think my favorite was the Sugar Plum, a winter ale brewed with coffee, chocolate, and plums.  It's hard to describe the Sugar Plum.  It's one of the most complex brews i've ever had the pleasure of imbibing.  Pouring amber with a white head and stellar lacing, the coffee and chocolate notes are heavily prevalent in the aroma.  Upon drinking, the beer hits you first with those same coffee and chocolate notes, followed by the sweetness from the plums, and finally a kind of spicy, bitter finish like you would get with a winter or Christmas ale.  Each taste got better and better.  At 7% ABV, i would have kept drinking these all night, but there were other avenues to explore, and eventually places close for the night.  I would have stayed if they'd let me.

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Shannon Chocolate Stout

Another day, another beer from a new craft brewery i had never heard of before.  From the Dallas/Fort Worth area, Shannon Brewing's Chocolate Stout might just become a holiday season staple around these parts from now on.  It's a tasty brew.  Pouring dark black with a light tan head, the beer smells predominantly of roasted malts, with some cocoa and coffee notes in the mix.  Tasting mildly sweet at first, with hints of chocolate, caramel, and a general roastiness, the beer finishes more on the dry end with some light hops added to keep things grounded.  I thoroughly enjoyed drinking this wonderful stout all afternoon watching college football, and at 5.7% ABV, it's an easy drinker.  Would love to have a nitro version of this some day.

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