Before we get into the blog's first proper Christmas post for the year, allow me to direct you here, to Jenny Oaks Baker's rendition of "Ding Dong Merrily on High," a track I only just discovered last night. I don't think there's a better song with which I can welcome this first Christmas beer.

The beer is Sam Adams' Old Fezziwig. While I have problems with how it's sold (we'll get into that in a bit), I'm thrilled to finally be doing up a proper post on the ale.

We've come now, to the ending of the current blog season. This is the final beer of 2021's Maple Month. I purchased this bottle on November 27th, 2020. I've had it in my cellar for nearly a year.

This beer, this Maple Month's swansong, is, of course Goose Island's Bourbon County Brand #4 Special Stout (I'll refer to it as #4 from here on out). I picked this up nearly a year ago knowing that I'd crack into it for this evening's post. Let's see if cellaring it for a year's paid off.

In my previous post, I said that, with the three brews I had remaining, we were moving onto the bruisers of the month. The beer I drank then was 12% ABV. The next two get progressively stronger.

Today's beer is Jackie O's Bourbon Barrel Black Maple. I won't lie to you: I've had this beer before. All the same, I excited to sit down with my bottle and spend some good, quality time with the beer. Really do it up with the whole John Likes Beer treatment. It's cold, grey, and rainy out but we have a fire roaring in our stove. It's perfect heavy maple beer weather.

Today, we're rounding the corner and closing in on Maple Month's homestretch, which means just one thing: I'll be drinking some bruisers.

The first in this series of three is from Hubbard's Cave. They do a lot within the pastrystout scene and are something of a big deal. Last year I drank their Imperial Maple Stout and scored it perfectly, meaning it earned my highest recommendation. Will the brewery's Päncake Walk impress me just as much?