It's the Holiday Season! This post would have typically gone up the day after Thanksgiving (which is when the blog's Christmas beer time officially commences), but it's been a zany long weekend: Eating food, yeah, but a ton of house work (plumbing stuff and furnace fixing, namely). Today, however, Michelle and I got our Christmas tree trimmed, put up, and decorated. I hung our outside lights while she set out interior decorations out. So, finally, I'm ready to start the blog's Christmas season.

The first post of this year is a beer that I look forward to annually, one that changes its recipe each and every year but is of a consistently high quality. That beer, as you can easily tell by the title, is Anchor's 2020 Christmas Ale.

This post has been a year in the making. I'm excited that I've finally conceived a plan of attack to take it on. See, in the midst of the blog's inaugural Maple Month, Braxton announced their first four 2019 Dark Charge variants. Key among them was blue wax-dipped bottle that caught my eye: Dark Charge Maple Breakfast. I knew, the moment I saw its Instagram announcement post, that I'd need to talk about it here.

There were a few issues with that: First was that Dark Charge Day is in December, the month after Maple Month, but I could deal with that; I'm no stranger to aging bottles. The second issue was that I knew the BBA Maple Breakfast bottles would be limited and I needed to ensure I got my hands on one. Again, this wasn't a big deal since I was lucky to have the fifth Dark Charge Day off (it was the first time since Braxton stated hosting it that I didn't have work on the first Saturday in December). Easy.

Have you ever encountered a doppelbock that smells like exactly like the best barrel-aged stouts? Well, that's what today's beer is. I just popped the cap and whoo boy. But I'm getting ahead of myself here. Let's back up for a few moments.

Today's beer is another from my favorite Dayton brewery. It's a maple bourbon barrel aged variant of Warped Wing's Abominator, which I've only had once in my life. I didn't write about it on my blog, but I did manage a quick post for it on my Untappd page. Today we'll find out how well this big boy version of the stuff holds up to my good first impression of the base beer.

The subject of this evening's review is a stout I've been looking forward to for quite some time. Earlier this year (I want to say somewhere between April and June) I happened across a few cans of this at a local bottleshop (any beer with "Maple" in the name immediately catches my eye). 

I was interested, but balked a bit at the price on the can (each one was $11). However, the label art of cars in a tunnel and ABV convinced me. I grabbed two bottles from the shelf, figuring I'd drink one this November (a.k.a. now) and one sometime later on. The store was sold out of the beer entirely when I returned two days later.

I did no research on the stout first before making my purchase. I've done no research on it since. I have no idea if it'll be any good, if it's something people enjoy. All I know is that I'm excited to drink my pint of it. Here we go: Maple Imperial Stout from Hubbard's Cave.

Two days ago it was pushing 80°. When I woke up this morning it was exactly 32°. I've cranked out 2,500 words for my National Novel Writing Month project and, damn, I'm ready for a beer.

Tonight, we're breaking into a maple stout I'd anticipated writing about earlier this month: Central Waters' Salted Maple. How's it drinking after a long, cold day? Let's find out.

This post is about a beer my parents gave me for my thirtieth birthday (thanks, Mom and Dad!). I didn't expect to be writing about it so soon--in fact, I have another beer keeping cool in my fridge that I was planning on giving this second Maple Month slot to. However this has been a pretty damn good weekend, one that warrants (what I'm sure will be) a pretty damn good beer.

All this to say that I'll be writing about New Holland's Poet's Brunch Stout on this unseasonably warm November day. Why am I sure that the beer'll be good? Its pedigree, of course. Let's see if that statement holds true.

It's November. I'm participating in National Novel Writing Month for the third consecutive year. I've been up since 6:30, writing sporadically. It's cold and blustery outside but I have a fire roaring in our buck stove and I'm downright toasty. I'm four thousand words and two lage cups of coffee deep into this November's portion of my novel. I'm warm and cozy and in need of a solid break.

What better way to take my mind off my monumental task than enjoying the first beer of the blog's second annual Maple Month? Yeah, I couldn't think of one either. So, take a break from writing with me by reading about this beer I'm about to start writing about. Does that makes sense? Who cares! Today's brew: Octopi's Double Maple Imperial Morning Stout.