Bell Time Beer Review – Round Table of Drunks Part III

I had a couple of slackers involved in my year end beer write up. Presented with editing to add pictures are a couple of more top fives from a brother and down further a neighbor.

Ron – Richmond VA

Brewery/Beer: Hardywood Park Craft Brewery – Christmas Morning 2016

Location: Richmond, VA
Style: Stout – Imperial Milk / Sweet
ABV: 9.2%   IBU: 55
Description: I’m a big fan of Hardywood’s brews, but this is the first year that I’ve been able to find this one in the stores and I was fortunate enough to pickup the last bottle.  Now normally, I’m not a fan of a beer with an IBU this high (yes 55 is high for me), but since this stout was brewed with honey and ginger, it masked the bitterness such that it was an extremely enjoyable beer and was great to sip on while I fried our Christmas Turkey.
 
Brewery/Beer: Dogfish Head Craft Brewery – Beer For Breakfast 
Location: Milton, DE
Style: Stout – Imperial Milk / Sweet
ABV: 7.4%   IBU: 30
Description: On Christmas Eve, its tradition in our family to exchange the gifts from the kids to the parents and vice versa and I always tell me girls that I love “Kegs and Eggs”, so my college aged oldest decided on a lark to have mom pick this one up to see if I’d be true to my word.  Therefore, I immediately put this one in the fridge to have first thing Christmas morning, this is definitely breakfast in a bottle, a hint of coffee, scrapple and a nice finishing taste of maple syrup and it paired nicely with the wife’s homemade cinnamon rolls and was great way to start the day off.
Brewery/Beer: New Belgium Brewing Company – Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ale
Location: Fort Collins, CO
Style: Blonde Ale
ABV: 6.0%   IBU: 12
Description: A new Christmas Eve tradition for the DiFrango clan is to have dinner out after Christmas Eve services and after looking over the offerings at the restaurant, given my penchant for off-the-wall beer flavors, I settled on this one.  I will say this, if you love a smooth drinking beer and also love cookie dough ice cream, then this is the beer for you because it really did taste like a scoop of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream in a Blonde Ale Float!
 
Brewery/Beer: Tröegs Independent Brewing – Mad Elf
Location: Hershey, PA
Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale
ABV: 11.0%   IBU: 15
Description: I must confess, that my wife’s childhood friend works as a brew master at Tröegs, so I do keep my eye out for their stuff in order to help suppor their effort.  Therefore, I was out golfing with some friends of mine and saw this puppy on tap ans since its a low IBU beer, I decided to have a pint.  I have to say, I was pleased that I did because as the description says, I could taste the right blends of cheerful ruby red creation brewed with honey, cherries, Belgian yeast that is reminiscent of cinnamon, cloves and allspice.
Brewery/Beer: Midnight Brewery – Christmas At Midnight
Location: Rockville, VA
Style: Spiced / Herbed Beer
ABV: 11.0%   IBU: Not Available
Description: This is another local brewery and since I like Christmas themed beer and had heard good things about this one, when I found it on tap, I jumped at the chance to grab a pint.  Boy am I glad I did, this stuff tasts like liquid snicker doodle cookie in a cup…yeah you read that right and flat out outstanding.  My only regret is that I didn’t have a growler handy so that the restaurant could fill it for me.

Fred – Columbus OH

Brewery/Beer: Seventh Son Brewing – Proliferous

Location: Columbus, Ohio

Style: American Double IPA

ABV: 8.3%   IBU: 85

Description: One of many well made IPA’s made by Seventh Son Brewing. It offers the palate citrus notes including pineapple and grapefruit and a well balanced finish. American Indian pale ale is my favorite style of beer and this one has all of the right characteristics. Perfect for sipping on the patio at the brew pub or enjoying with some food from a local food truck.

Brewery/Beer: North High Brewing – North High Pale Ale

Location: Columbus, Ohio

Style: American Pale Ale

ABV: 5.5%   IBU: 46

Description: Silver medal wining and highly enjoyable this pale ale is one of the best the city of Columbus has to offer. Unlike most of the other beers on my list this beer is distributed locally in both kegs and cans. I am sure North High will do well in future competitions and I recommend that everyone should try this one at least once.

Brewery/Beer: Dogfish Head Craft Brewery – Higher Math

Location: Milton, Delaware

Style: American Strong Ale

ABV: 17.0%   IBU: N/A

Description: As part of their anniversary Dogfish Head created this intense ale with 17% ABV.It is actually more drinkable than you might imagine given its alcohol content. I enjoyed one last February while in Florida as Ohio has not yet permitted the beers over 12%. One of the best beers I have ever had. Unfortunately this was a one time release however I bet Dogfish Head will release something similar sometime in the future.

Brewery/Beer: Stone Brewing – Drew Curtis / Wil Wheaton / Greg Koch Stone Farking Wheaton W00tstout

Location: Escondido, California

Style: American Imperial Stout

ABV: 13.0%   IBU: N/A

Description: This is another limited release and a very good imperial stout. This is one of the most unique collaborations I have seen and I am sure it has one of the most unique names. To do it some justice I have included a brief description from beeradvocate. I enjoyed every sip.

 
Description on Beeradvocate:
Ale brewed with pecans, wheat, & rye, with one quarter aged in bourbon barrels. Brewed at Stone Brewing Company with Greg Koch, Drew Curtis (Fark) and Wil Wheaton.

Brewery/Beer: Anheuser-Busch Inbev – Budweiser

Location: Leuven, Belgium

Style: American Adjunct Lager 

ABV: 5.0%   IBU: N/A

Description: Since this is a five best list I  have included one of the most popular beers in the world. Aptly named the king of beers this brew is a fine companion on almost any occasion. It is an immigrant success story and also a tribute to blue collar America that has stood the test of time. While this might not be the most creative or expensive beer, it still deserves recognition for its overwhelming success.

Editor’s Note: All pictures saved from the Brewer’s website.

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