12 Beers of Christmas: Beers 8 & 9

Merry Christmas beer lovers! I hope everyone is enjoying their time with family and friends! Before we get into the brews, let me just give a quick shout out to my wife for some great craft beer gifts. I received a book 1001 Beers You Must Taste Before You Die (I currently have only had 40 listed), a book all about IPAs, and some sweet new glassware! Heck, she seems to know what I like! Now that I got that out, let's talk about the two beers I enjoyed last night!

First up was Old Jubilation by Avery Brewing Company. Old Jubilation pours a very dark brown with a tan head that doesn't stick around for long. Nose is sweet and malty, with a little bit of booze detectable. The forward flavors follow the nose with some big, sweet malts and just a little nuttiness. These are followed up with some bread and fruit notes wrapped up with just a tinge of bitterness. Something I am finding with this and with a lot of winter beers in this series is that though I enjoy all the flavors offered by this style, one of them is enough for me.

Beer number 9 is Rogue's Santa's Private Reserve. The big, jolly man has a pretty tough job, albeit a once a year gig. He needs something to kick back and relax with. This brew pours a clear, ruby brown with a white head. The malts on the nose are semi sweet, but very light. The nose is pretty subtle. Though I don't typically dwell on mouthfeel, this one caught me a bit of guard as it was considerably lighter than most of its counterparts. Sweet malt, caramel, and bready notes are the main flavors of note here, along with some piney hops. If there were such thing as a light barely wine, that is probably what I would call this. Because it was so light, it went down quite quickly. Unlike the previous brew, this I could see having more than one of if I felt the urge to. Solid offering from Rogue. Cheers, and keep your eyes peeled for the last 3 beers of Christmas, coming soon!