Treat Yourself to a Deliciously Spiced Winter Warmer This Holiday Season

I interrupt your holiday festivities, which likely include enjoying some excellent beers, to feature yet another great seasonal beer worth trying. Imagine bottling the essence of gingerbread cookies or other spiced desserts and pouring this elyxir into a glass. That sums up what you'll experience when drinking 4 Elf Winter Warmer Ale from Dark Horse Brewing Company. This beer, and its style, go far beyond this simple comparison, and I'll break it down for you here.

4 Elf is, of course, a winter seasonal from Dark Horse, one of several from this increasingly popular craft brewery in Marshall, Michigan. Dark Horse, a family owned brewery founded in 1997, has a broad lineup of year-round and less frequent offerings, a good portion of which lean in the malt-centric direction. As a winter warmer, 4 Elf is firmly in the realm of darker, maltier, fuller-bodied beers. Winter warmers are in the same vein as English-style old ales, often stronger beers brewed with a significant amount of various malts and fermented with an English ale yeast. Winter warmers are more of a modern development compared to more traditional old ales, and brewers often take liberties with recipes by adding appropriate spices.

When pouring a glass of 4 Elf, the variety of malts used, including darker malts, is evident in the very dark brown color of the beer. It's well-carbonated, with a thin head of foam that follows the beer down the glass as you drink. The aroma consists of gingerbread, spices, clove, and dark fruits like raisins, plums and dates. While this description may indicate an overly sweet beer, the flavors don't cross this line. With each taste, there's a spicy yet sweet combination, providing flavors of cinnamon, gingerbread, spiced cake, dark fruits, and a subtle earthiness from the hops presence. There's little hop bitterness, and the profile leans heavily toward malt, but 4 Elf still manages to maintain balance. It's a great winter warmer that's stronger than many, at nearly 9 percent ABV, with a lot of flavors that are just right for the season.

If you still need a choice for which beer to savor as you ring in the new year, why not grab some 4 Elf? Now, back to your holiday cheer! I hope 2014 treated you well in so many ways, and best wishes for a wonderful 2015. 

On The Winter Solstice, We Fade to Black

The lack of daylight this time of year can be difficult to deal with in our daily lives. Darkness in the sky is quite apparent today, on the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. What better way to lift your spirit out of the dark doldrums than by sitting down with friends and sharing some delicious craft beer? A fitting beer to have on the darkest day of the year is Fade to Black, Volume 1, from Left Hand Brewing Company in Longmont, Colorado. This fantastic foreign export stout hits all the right notes for the style, offering rich roasty character along with depth and drinkability.

Left Hand releases its Fade to Black beers as winter seasonals, giving consumers a broad taste of dark malts and specialty grains. There are five beers in the series, all of which are black ales that range from more traditional styles like the foreign export stout to experimental or innovative beers like a chili pepper porter. Fade to Black, Volume 1 is also a highly regarded and awarded beer, having taken gold medals in 2010 and 2013 in the Foreign Stout Category at the Great American Beer Festival. With so many variations of the stout style - dry, sweet, foreign, oatmeal, imperial, American - it's important that the brewer get each aspect of the particular sub-style correct, and Left Hand does a wonderful job with Volume 1. Foreign export stouts have a higher gravity than most other types of stouts, with a dark and complex roasted character that leads to a bitter, dry finish.

Volume 1, which should be enjoyed at around 50 degrees, pours a deep black color with a thin head of foam. It has a rich, layered aroma of chocolate, coffee beans, molasses, and roasted bitterness. Moderate carbonation and a medium-full body give Volume 1 a substantial mouthfeel. There's a lot happening in the flavors, which encompass chocolate, espresso, a touch of vanilla, some dark fruit, and a roasty bitterness from the complex malt base and roasted barley used in brewing this beer. There's also a vinous character and some earthy undertones that add to the complexity. Volume 1 finishes quite dry with a lingering bitterness. Overall, it's a very enjoyable, smooth, creamy, roasty stout that fits the style perfectly.

Starting tomorrow, the days will get longer again, but there's still plenty of darkness for a while and lots of reasons to enjoy excellent dark beers throughout the winter. The Fade to Black series alone gives you five different ways to enjoy darker malts, so give any of these beers a try if you see them available.

Add an Authentic Doppelbock to Your List of Winter Beers to Enjoy This Season

It's only mid-December, but we're firmly in the season of winter beer offerings. From traditional winter styles to more innovative creations brimming with spices or chocolate, there's no shortage of heartier, stronger, fuller-bodied beers to help keep you warm this time of year. One of my favorite traditional winter styles is a classic German Doppelbock, and there's no better brewery to produce it than one that's truly authentic. In Denver, we're lucky to have a German-style brewery that fits the bill. Prost Brewing uses only hops and malt from Germany, and boasts large brewhouse copper kettles that were previously used for almost 50 years in Germany. Not surprisingly, every beer that Prost puts out is true to style, and very delicious.

In keeping with German brewing history and tradition, the majority of Prost's lineup are lagers, including the winter seasonal Doppelbock. Due to the nature of having such an authentic brewhouse, Prost, which was founded in 2012, has a relatively high brewing capacity. They can brew about 60 barrels of beer per batch, with fermentation capacity that includes several 80 barrel fermenters and a 120 barrel fermenter. Prost also has several large horizontal lagering tanks which hold the beer at low temperatures after fermentation in the large vertical tanks. While this is all happening behind the scenes in the Prost brewhouse, guests enjoy their authentic German-style beer in the festive biergarten taproom or patio. If you're not able to actually go and enjoy the atmosphere and beer, Prost bottles a handful of their beers, including seasonals like Doppelbock, for retail in Colorado stores.

Prost's Doppelbock, which is a traditional double bock lager, measures up to some of the best you'll find from Bavaria, such as Paulaner's Salvator or Ayinger's Celebrator. It pours a deep, rich amber color with minimal foam. Though it's dark in color, there's very good clarity from the long lagering process. Doppelbock exudes a malty, sweet aroma of bread crusts, raisins, plums, and a hint of chocolate. The flavors are a complex, delightful combination of dark fruits like cherries, raisins, plums, and prunes, some caramel and chocolate. It's a hearty, medium to full-bodied beer with a chewy mouthfeel that delivers rich flavors without being too sweet. There's no hop bitterness, but enough noble hops presence to add a touch of spice on the back end.

As you make your way through the festive variety of winter beers available to you this season, keep your eye out for traditional styles like Prost's Doppelbock. A well-made Doppelbock can help you appreciate this style's history, discover another layer of malty goodness, and satisfy your soul.

Satisfy Your Hops Cravings in a Variety of Ways With Stone's Mixed 12-Pack

For hop heads, it doesn't get much better than the beers put out by Stone Brewing Co. Since 1996, this San Diego area brewery has been satisfying, challenging, and expanding the palates of beer lovers who crave bitterness, aggressive flavors, and hops in all their glory. Stone's lineup, including their seasonals and special releases, does go beyond just hop-forward beers, but such styles are their bread and butter, and that's how they've built their widely-known name and reputation. For hops lovers who enjoy variety, like myself, Stone offers a mixed 12-pack that features four different bitter, complex and flavorful beers. The current pack includes Stone IPA, Ruination IPA, Arrogant Bastard Ale, and Sublimely Self-Righteous Black IPA.

Each beer is excellent and offers a different example of the delicious and versatile aspects of American varieties of hops. Ruination is more of an imperial IPA, very high in bitterness along with the usual hops flavors of citrus, tropical fruits and pine. Arrogant Bastard is an iconic craft beer, an American strong ale with intense hop bitterness, but balanced with a hefty grain bill. Sublimely Self-Righteous Black IPA is perhaps the one that feels most right for the season. In a time of the year when dark beers come to the fore, this one provides the bitter and flavorful hop punch that many long for in a beer, in addition to the roasty presence added by the dark and specialty malts and grains.

Sublimely Self-Righteous is a medium-bodied beer that's very black in appearance, with a thin but lasting head of foam. It has a big aroma of American hops, with elements of grapefruit, pine, and earthiness, along with some roastiness. There are loads of hops flavors on the initial taste, followed by roasty coffee and chocolate flavors. The beer's 90 IBUs ensure a bitter, lingering finish. The balance tilts more toward hops flavors and bitterness, but the complex grain recipe definitely stands out and makes this beer very intriguing. There's a lot to like in this black IPA, which is on the stronger end at 8.7 percent ABV.

The Stone variety pack is a great way to get your fix for American hops and enjoy a great mix of beers from one of the nation's finest craft breweries. It also makes a great buy when hosting or attending a holiday party, or a nice gift for that hop head in your life!

Fermaentra Gives Denver Yet Another Very Fine Brewery and Taproom

With so many craft breweries in the Denver area, you have to be a bit choosy on where to spend your time and money. Let me make the case for checking out the new Fermaentra, a brewery that opened Nov. 15 on East Evans Avenue in the University of Denver neighborhood. You want delicious, interesting, well-made beer, right? Fermaentra has that and more, including good ambiance and service. It's yet another example of long-time homebrewers who believed they were good enough to go pro, and made their dreams come true with the help of lots of hard work and planning.

Fermaentra was started by Spencer O'Bryan and Brennan Mann, two like-minded brewers with years of homebrewing experience. They chose to brew commercially on a 7-barrel system, which is located directly behind the taproom bar along with the other stainless steel vessels. Both side walls of the taproom are exposed brick from top to bottom, and garage doors are on both sides of the entrance to provide plenty of open air on a warm day. It's a fairly spacious taproom, with high and low tables in addition to counter space along the walls. There's a simple yet artistic character to the space, which is reflected throughout the brewery's theme. O'Bryan and Mann bring eclectic backgrounds to their brewery, as detailed on their website. They've given their beers fun, intriguing names like Prism, Fluence, Canticle and Meristem.

It's hard not to be impressed when a brewery launches with eight beers on tap, and still has all eight pouring two weeks later, not to mention a ninth beer released that day. It's even better when the beer measures up to the quality that's expected from a new craft brewery in Colorado. Fermaentra's styles cover a broad range, with a nice mixture of traditional and more creative recipes. I tasted all nine of their offerings on my visit, and found very few flaws or disappointing elements. The lineup is filled with very enjoyable and mostly on-point beers, and some stood out as being exceptional. The Fluence Hefeweizen, Terrarum English-style Amber Ale, and Redolent Belgian-style Blonde Ale nailed the flavors, aroma, and overall qualities associated with these styles. I was blown away by the quality of their stronger beers, Aphion Double IPA and Meristem Russian Imperial Stout, both of which shine with their immense flavor, depth, and drinkability.

With this great first visit, I experienced a lot of reasons to add Fermaentra to my growing list of Denver breweries worthy of a regular stop. It certainly meets my expectations of what a craft brewery should be, even from the start, so give it a try if you're in the area.