To celebrate the new year, I found some interesting beers that were either a recent release or new to me. Join me as I drink way too much beer in way too short a time and try to describe it for you.
First up is the Naughty List Dry Irish Charcoal Stout (4.8%) by Wildeye Brewing. The gimmick here feels like a lump of coal in my stocking. Activated charcoal is incorporated into the brewing process, and if you’ve ever savagely burnt a burger but ate it anyway, you’re familiar with the bitter, chalky flavour of coal, which ruins a decent stout.
Next is Taylight Brewing’s Eggnog White Stout (5.6%). A white stout uses pale malts instead of dark roasted malts to achieve a lighter flavour profile and the appearance of a golden blonde ale while retaining the typical stout flavours. This eggnog stout contains mild notes of cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla, but I struggled to find anything memorable about it, and at $6 a can, while the flavour is inoffensive, the price is not.
The most interesting taste experience was the North to Paradise Spiced Mango Dark Lager (5.3%) from Small Gods Brewing. The idea of a mango lager seemed pleasant, but that was before I had a sip, grimaced horribly, and read the ingredients. Look, I celebrate experimental flavours, but the person who thinks that putting allspice, cinnamon, habanero, and mango in a beer needs to check their privilege, because this tasted like cramming cloves and hot peppers into my mouth and chasing it with raw cinnamon. I was grateful to my friend Joel for allowing me to bully a sample from him, because it meant that he was stuck with the rest of the can, not me. What a champ!
Next I tried the Inedit Malt & Wheat Beer (4.8%) from Damm brewery. This hefeweizen contains coriander, liquorice, and orange peel. The inclusion of the spices was done artfully. Some brewers bash you over the head with spices and added flavours, and the resulting monstrosity might send you somewhere south of Hell, but not this Damm beer. Its gentle flavours encourage the drinker to sit with it, just to tease out all its subtle nuances.
From Field House Brewing I tried the Super Tall Caramel Churro Stout (7.3%), inspired by the malts that lend caramel flavours, as well as the addition of cinnamon sticks, vanilla, and brown sugar. Lactose provides a subtle touch of sweetness. It’s malt heavy with mild hops in the aftertaste, along with a strong taste of cinnamon, but the vanilla isn’t noticeably present, at least not above the coarse radar of my Neolithic palate.
Then, I tried the Winter Fresh Mint Oreo Stout (5%) from Taylight Brewing. Now, you’re either thinking, “That sounds awesome!” or “That sounds disgusting!” Yes, it is both of those things. With a sip, the flavour remains at the front of the tongue. Here, you taste mint, and a bit of dark chocolate, and this is pleasant. But when swallowed, it washes over the rest of the tongue, and the acrid bitterness associated with dark beer becomes known. However, it doesn’t jive well with the mint; the two flavours clash.
Chimay Trappist Ales are a line of beers initially brewed by Belgian monks in 1862. I tried their Grande Reserve Blue (9%), which is a Christmas ale with a deep, dark profile and complex flavours of dates, fig, pear, and rose. This unusually strong brown ale has such intense fruity flavours that it’s closer to a barley wine, with a smoky aftertaste. This beer will rapidly end your evening by politely knocking you out cold, like a British butler in a boxing ring.
Happy New Year, folks, I wish you a joyful, stress-free 2025. Go forth and adventure!