Left to Right: Port Santa's Little Helper, Scaldis Noel, Delirium Noel, Avery Old Jubilation, Affligem Noel, Jolly Pumpkin Noel de Calabaza
Blind Lady Ale House put on six Holiday themed beers this weekend and offered a flight of the similar but each unique beers to make it easy to taste them all.
I’m not sure if the flight is still on at Blind Lady Ale House, but they surely will have many if not all of these beers available for at least a few more days. The beers in the flight were: Jolly Pumpkin Noel de Calabaza, Affligem Noël, Avery Old Jubilation, Delirium Noël, Scaldis Noel, and Port Brewing Co.’s Santa’s Little Helper. Below are some brief thoughts on each.
Jolly Pumpkin Noel de Calabaza is 9% ABV and a deep reddish brown color. It smells like it might be a bit sour but the taste isn’t too sour. There are hints of oak (it’s aged in oak barrels) and the alcohol is apparent. It’s slightly sweet and malty with tastes of holiday spices that I couldn’t identify. This was my favorite beer in the flight.
Affligem Noël The board at BLAH said this beer was 6.5% ABV, but everything I can find online says 9% ABV. Either way the alcohol wasn’t nearly as apparent as the previous beer. It’s fairly sweet with some subdued fruity tastes. There’s sweet spices (the board at BLAH said cinnamon). It’s malty but less caramelized than I had expected
Avery Old Jubilation, another dark and malty winter warmer, this one comes in at 8.3% ABV. It had the hoppiest smell of all the beers but the taste was very malty and sweet up front. It had a bit of a bitter hoppy aftertaste but was well balanced.
Delirium Noël this one comes in at 10% ABV and the alcohol was pretty apparent. It was malty with sweet holiday spices coming through. The Belgian yeast comes through as well in this beer and the hops were nowhere to be found. This isn’t a bad beer, but might have been my least favorite in the flight.
Scaldis Noel this is the only beer in the flight I had never heard of. At 12% ABV it was the strongest of the flight and the alcohol heat was apparent in the smell and the first taste. It smells and tastes fruity as well with malty caramel or toffee like sweetness. The finish was a bit bitter but not so hoppy.
Port Brewing Co.’s Santa’s Little Helper is about 10% ABV and was very different than the rest of the beers. I think all the others would be considered “Winter Warmers”, high ABV, malty beers. This one is an Imperial Stout. It’s hoppier than some Imperial Stouts but the roasted barley and high alcohol comes through as well to balance the hops out. It’s not too sweet but has some chocolate notes.
Just because the holidays are over doesn’t mean holiday beers are gone. Many winter warmer and holiday themed beers will be on liquor store shelves and local taps for some time to come. I drank plenty of them over the past few weeks, and wrote about some of my favorite’s in the January 2011 issue of West Coaster. Pick up a copy at your favorite bar, brewery or liquor store, or click here to read it online (my column about winter beers is on page 4).
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