December 10th, 2008 Joe Sixpack
The other night I stopped in at Oak Tree Discount Wine & Spirits in South Plainfield, N.J., to pick up a few Christmas beers that had escaped me so far this season:
- Wachusett Winter Ale
- Wintercoat Yule
- Nogne-O Peculiar Yule
- Struise Tsjeeses
- Southern Tier Krampus
Now it looks like I’m going to have to sprint down to D.C., where Greg Kitsock reports in the Washpost that Chevy Chase Wine & Spirits, one of the best beer stores on the east coast, stocks perhaps 200 Christmas beers.
(Of course, this is just a shameless ploy to link to the Post’s nice review of “Christmas Beer.”)
Posted in Christmas beer | No Comments »
December 8th, 2008 Joe Sixpack
I’ve returned from Portland, but I’m right back out the door today, headed for the Spuyten Duyvil for a fun Chanukah vs. Christmas showdown with the folks from Shmaltz Brewing. If you’re anywhere near the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, drop in at 7 p.m. for samples of great holiday brews, including He’Brew Jewbelation 12 (12% alcohol, brewed with 12 malts and 12 hops).
Posted in Christmas beer | No Comments »
December 8th, 2008 Joe Sixpack
Before “Christmas Beer” was published, my book agent, Clare Pelino, and I kicked around ideas for cover blurbs from celebrities. We tried to track down St. Nick himself, but his people (i.e. elves)Â told us he was too busy. Brooklyn Brewing’s Garrett Oliver was kind enough to do the job instead. (Sorry, Garrett, it’s true, Santa was my first choice.)
Anyway, I finally ran into the fat bastard Father Christmas this weekend in Portland and convinced him to pose with me. Better than that, I got him to actually buy the book!
Posted in Christmas beer | No Comments »
December 5th, 2008 Joe Sixpack
I’m in Portland for the annual Holiday Ale Festival. Not surprisingly, I’ve been getting shit from locals about Philly’s claim as America’s Best Beer Drinking City. I’ll have more to write about that in a day or so, but in the interest of making you thirsty, I thought I’d share the beer list from the festival. A number of these are one-offs made especially for the fest, all draft.
- Alameda Papa Noel’s Special Reserve Old Ale
- Alaskan Oatmeal Stout
- Anchor Old Foghorn
- Astoria MacGregor Scotch Ale
- BridgePort Raven Mad Imperial Porter
- Cascade Drie Zwarten Pieten - Sang Noir (barrel-aged double Flanders sour red)
- Collaborate Hallucinator old Ale
- Deschutes Mirror Mirror Barleywine 2005
- Eel River ‘07 Climax Noel imperial doppelbock
- Fanno Creek Doppelbock
- Firestone Walker Velvet Merkin barrel-aged imperial stout
- Fort George North IIÂ grand cru
- Full Sail dry-hopped Wassail strong ale
- Golden Valley Oaken Bomb winter warmer
- Hair of the Dog Jim 2008 (barrel-aged)
- Hazel Dell Weihnacthen Fest Bier
- Hopworks Urban Noggin Floggin’ barleywine
- Lagunitas Yersina Pestis Holiday imperial pepper stout
- Laurelwood Weihnachtsfest doppelbock
- Lompoc Brewdolph Belgian-style strong ale
- McMenamin’s Santa Baby sweet stout
- New Belgium Abbey Grand Cru
- Niknasi Sleigh’r dark strong alt
- North Coast Old Stock
- Off the Rail Blizzard of Ozz wit
- Pelican Pub Band Santa Black IPA
- Pyramid Snow Cap’n & Tennille winter warmer
- Redhook Double Brewed Double Black Stout
- Rock Bottom Blitzen Belgian tripel
- Rogue Yellow Snow IPA
- Sierra Nevada Bigfoot
- Southern Oregon Old Humbug II strong ale
- Stone Smoked Porter (with vanilla beans)
- Three Creeks Rudolph’s Imperial Red
- Track Town Shotput oak rum stout
- Widmer Babushka’s Secret black Raspberry imperial stout
- Yakima Twin Stag Scottish Ale (oaked) robust porter
Posted in Christmas beer, Events | No Comments »
December 1st, 2008 Joe Sixpack
My Christmas beer class Tuesday (12/2) at the Tria Fermentation School is long sold out, but they’ll be holding a pre-class happy hour starting at 4 p.m. at Tria Cafe’s 12th and Spruce location. I’m not sure what’s on tap, but you know it’s going to be dynamite. Erin at Tria emailed me last night with the details: tasting portions of Sly Fox Christmas Ale, De Struise Tsjeeses and Scaldis Prestige from bottles, plus Gouden Carolus Christmas and Brasserie Dupont Avec Les Bons Voeux on draft. (Like I said… dynamite).
Join me - I’ll be hanging there till 6 or so.
For those who missed the cutoff, check out what we’re pouring in class:
- Anchor Christmas
- Dupont Avec les Bon Voeux (draft)
- Mikeller 2008 Santa’s Little Helper
- Sly Fox Christmas
- Sam Smith Winter Welcome
- Troegs Mad Elf
- Struise Tsjeeses
- SamichlausÂ
I just did some math and discovered the menu averages 9.2 percent ABV. I’m thinking Prof. Sixpack might need a lectern to make it all the way through class without falling over.
Posted in Christmas beer, Beer etc., Events | No Comments »
December 1st, 2008 Joe Sixpack
Thanksgiving is a memory, December is upon us, and it’s time to get focused on Christmas beer. To celebrate the season, I’m counting down the top 25 holiday beers in my new book, “Christmas Beer.”
Each day ’til Dec. 25th, I’ll post a new beer and some great holiday labels I’ve collected. Just head over to my web site for the link.
No. 25? It’s 2° Below Winter Ale from New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins. It’s an ESB (sadly, not available in the east) that is chilled to two degrees below zero during the final stage of brewing to produce a brilliant clarity.
Posted in Christmas beer | Comments Off
November 19th, 2008 Joe Sixpack
I’m lining up appearances (i.e. excuses to drink) in conjunction with the publication of my new book, “Christmas Beer.” Of course, each location will be serving plenty of great seasonal favorites.
Drop in, grab a beer, grab a book. Here’s the calendar so far:
- Thursday, Nov. 20 - Sly Fox tasting at Teresa’s Next Door (126 N. Wayne Ave., Wayne). 6-8 p.m.
- Saturday, Nov. 22 - Winter Warmers tasting at Jose Pistola’s (263 South 15th St., Center City). 3-6 p.m. Enjoy free samples of Smuttynose Winter Ale, Southern Tier’s Old Man Winter, Buffalo Bill’s Blueberry Oatmeal Stout, Bell’s Winter White, and a free “warm you up” buffet.
- Thursday, Dec. 4-Saturday, Dec. 6 - Portland, Oregon, Holiday Ale Festival.
- Tuesday, Dec. 9 - Christmas beer dinner at Maria’s Ristorante on Summit (8100 Ridge Ave., Roxborough). 7 p.m.
- Wednesday, Dec. 10 - Book signing at Tavern 17 (220 S. 17th St., Center City).
- Thursday, Dec. 11 - Book-signing at Isaac Newton’s (18 S. State St., Newtown).
- Saturday, Dec. 27 - Philly Christmas Beer Fest at the Penn Museum (33rd & Spruce streets, University City). 1-3 p.m. Buy the VIP tix and get a complimentary copy of my book!
(Note: If you’re a bar owner serving Christmas beers and winter warmers and would like organize a holiday event, drop me a line at joe@joesixpack.net)
Posted in Christmas beer, Tavern, Events | No Comments »
November 15th, 2008 Joe Sixpack
My new book, “Christmas Beer: The Cheeriest, Tastiest and Most Unusual Holiday Brews,” is now on the shelf in bookstores across America. It’s the first ever book devoted to Christmas beer - the history, traditions and flavors of your favorite seasonal brew.
If you haven’t found it, yet, you can get it through my Web site, too.
And here’s a special offer: Order both books and shipping is free!
Go here for details.
Posted in Christmas beer | No Comments »
July 15th, 2008 Joe Sixpack
It’s like Christmas morning here at Sixpack Central. My publisher, Rizzoli/Universe, just delivered an advance copy of my next book, above. Of course I’m biased, but it looks absolutely fantastic. I’m postively psyched and it’s still, what, 163 days till Xmas!
The official release date of “Christmas Beer” is Sept. 23rd. You’ll be hearing much more about it in coming weeks.
Posted in Christmas beer | No Comments »
May 23rd, 2008 Joe Sixpack
One of the chapters in my upcoming book on Christmas beer is about the controversy over the use of Santa on beer labels. The Shelton Brothers importers have had their share of run-ins with state authorities over the issue. Now, they’re up against the feds.
Here’s the label for Tsjseeses Belgian X-Mas Ale that was recently rejected by the TTB, and its terse reasoning: “The image of the character appears as if he is under the influence of the alcohol or drugs. This touts the effect of the product on the consumer and the alcohol content of the product. Change the image.”
Note: This is the second rejection for this label. In the original version, Santa was surrounded by smoke which, partner Dan Shelton said, “I guess the government took to be marijuana.”
He added: “The smoke is gone now, but I guess they don’t like the googly eyes.”
Â
Posted in Christmas beer | No Comments »