Some Beers before Christmas

I opened a number of bottles with my family over the holidays, some I took notes and pictures and some I didn't. The latter was sometimes because I didn't feel like it though honestly sometimes I just forgot. I think I drank these two on the same night so lets talk about them together! If I don't I'll never finish writing about everything so lets go.

I had thrown a couple bottles in the beer fridge at random so there was no theme for this day. We started with the white wax version of FiftyFifty Eclipse, an imperial stout aged in 20 year old Elijah Craig bourbon barrels. The thing about the Eclipse series is that the barrel treatment (aka the barrel the beer is aged inside) is only referenced by the color of the wax. You have to look up the beer somewhere and compare the wax color to figure it out. Kind of a funny way to do things, but that's how it is.

Karl Strauss Wreck Alley

My buddy in San Diego sent me this a little while ago. I've asked him for a couple of their anniversary beers before so he decided to send me this one presumably so I could check out some of their normal lineup. Plus, I love stouts so it's an easy choice for filling out a box.

Sweet nose with a hint of saltiness. Medium body. Flavors followed the nose with caramel, roast, a little soy sauce saltiness, and some bitterness in the finish. This isn't the first time I've found saltiness in stouts and so I didn't find it odd. I realize it doesn't seem like a great flavor in a beer, but think about how salt contrasts with chocolate and you get an idea of why it works. Plus it makes for a nice change between stouts from different breweries.

Karl Strauss 23rd Anniversary Old Ale

This was sent to me a little while by a friend in San Diego. He previously sent me the 22nd Anniversary beer which was a partially barrel aged imperial stout. The 23rd Anniversary built on that idea and was an Old Ale 100% aged in bourbon barrels instead of only partially.

Very clean nose, full of bourbon. Some vanilla and a little sweet fruit come in the back. Nice thick body. Started off a little hot with lots of bourbon flavor though the vanilla in the finish helped keep it from being overwhelming. A bit more alcohol in the finish too. I don't know if that makes me sound negative because I actually really enjoyed this. You do have to like the flavor of bourbon though as it's huge and ever present. Certainly makes me curious what they have up next for their 24th Anniversary and hope they continue getting better.

On a completely separate note, if you haven't bought tickets to the Yards Smoke 'Em if Yous Got 'Em beerfest, you're missing out. Last year was awesome and I imagine this year will be even better!

Karl Strauss 22nd Anniversary

I was sent this a while ago from a friend out in San Diego and finally got around to opening it. The 22nd Anniversary is a vanilla imperial stout with 25% aged in bourbon barrels. Sounds nice, doesn't it?

Sweet bourbon nose, some oak and a bit of roast. While pouring, the body looked thin, but it turned out to be pretty thick which was good. My initial thought was that it was tasty yet quite sweet. Definitely not one for people who don't like sugary beers. I got a little roast, a tiny bit of vanilla and some hints of alcohol. Enjoyed this one quite a bit. Of course, I love sweet things a ton so that isn't terribly surprising. Showed how even a bit of barrel aging can affect the flavors too.