Holiday beer tour of the Fred Meyer beer section: Thanksgiving edition

In honor of Katie's surprise day off for Thanksgiving, we decided to ramp up our tastings a bit.  Here are the beers we tried on Thanksgiving Eve and Thanksgiving day:

Alaskan

Winter Ale brewed with spruce tips

6.4% ABV

Scotty: appreciated the holiday spruce flavor but did not really like the creamy finish.  Wouldn't necessarily order it again, but thought it was decent.  6.5/10

Katie: felt the opposite way about the aftertaste; the spruce-brewed flavor was refreshing, and the creamy aftertaste lent a comforting note.  8/10

Average score: 7.25

Pyramid Brewery

Snow Cap Winter Warmer

7.0% ABV

Scotty: Would order it again.  Really liked the holiday flavor of this beer.  Solid holiday beer but nothing too special and did not leave a strong flavor impression.  Still, enjoyed it more than the Alaskan. 7/10

Katie: Thought it was a nice beer, but it didn't stand out from the pack for me.  Couldn't remember too much about the flavor the next day (not because we were drinking!) 6/10

Average score: 6.5

Rogue

Santa's Private Reserve Ale

6% ABV/65 IBU

Scotty: can smell the spruce, can taste it a bit but not as strongly as the Alaskan giving it a better balance with the other flavors. Malty finish but maybe a little too much.  7/10

Katie: nice balance of spruce and hops with a caramelized coffee malty flavor.  A little bitter at the end for me.  7/10

Average score: 7/10

We will be steadily working through the remainder of the beers so check back in for more, and happy Thanksgiving!

Holiday beer tour of the Fred Meyer beer section day #1

We were grocery shopping yesterday. We always check out the better-than-average beer section at Fred Meyer, mostly so Scotty can search for Pliny the Elder (he's such an optimist). We always like to try seasonals, so we decided to do a little taste test comparison. We grabbed all the big bottles of winter seasonals that we could find and brought them home. This is the first one we decided to try (it was closest to the front of the fridge):

 Full Sail Brewery

Wreck the Halls
American IPA/Winter Warmer hybrid

6.5 ABV/68 IBUs

Scotty's take: hoppy, less hoppy than Pliny but a solid single hop.  Has a great initial crispness with a nice aftertaste; however, disappointed by the lack of an identifiable holiday flavor compared to something like the Anchor Christmas Ale.  It tastes more like a nice IPA than a winter ale. 8/10

Katie's take: it's a nice IPA, smooth without overpowering bitterness but still a solid dose of hops.   Could be enjoyed with some spicy food, easy to drink and pleasantly refreshing.  Maybe a subtle taste of spruce in the background somewhere.  Would definitely drink it again! 7/10

Overall 7.5/10

Tune in soon for our next selection (it will be whichever is easiest to get out of the fridge).