Beery Christmas
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Monthly Archives: December 2007
Anderson Valley Winter Solstice: A Love Letter
Anderson Valley, can you do no wrong? Ever since I tried your Summer Solstice back in July, I knew I’d found something special. That Cerveza Crema coats my gullet with velvety goodness that rivals even a snug velour jumpsuit in tactual pleasure.
I had high hopes for the Winter Solstice, and I’m happy to say my expectations were exceeded.
It has all the creamy sweetness of the Summer, but more going on for it in the spiciness department. Now, some beers have a maltiness to them that makes you think, “Hmm, this tastes like bread.” But Winter Solstice’s maltiness just makes me think about graham crackers and Whoppers (America’s Favorite Malted Milk Balls, not BK value menu you sicko).
At 7%, this guy definitely brings a bit of warmth with it. Great weight to it; not too heavy, not too light, this is the porridge that Baby Bear would eat. Highly sessionable despite the higher %, and what better evening to enjoy it than the longest night of the year.
This may just be my favorite domestic Christmas beer of the year.
Vendome Toluca Lake
I have very few reasons to ever go to the valley, but today I add one very good reason to the list, Vendome Toluca Lake.
This Vendome stands apart from it’s sister stores in Beverly Hills and Studio City because the staff here actually cares about beer. They are knowledgeable on their selection, frequently holding weekend beer tastings, introducing customers to new choices.
6 packs are refrigerated in their long aisle of beer. Across from the fridges is a mind-bottling selection of Belgians, Brits, Germans, you name it. Much of the stuff you wont find anywhere else in LA.
If you’re still looking for your Christmas beer fix, Vendome Toluca Lake has an impeccable selection. Pictured below: Blaugies La Moneuse Special Winter, Jolly Pumpkin Noel de Calabaza (reviewed at Summer of Beer), Nogne-O Winter Ale, Hook Norton Twelve Days, Goulden Carolus Noel, Blue Frog Big DIPA (hmm, not so Christmassy), and Serafijn Christmas Angel.
They are also one of the first places in LA to carry Mikkeller, the Danish microbrew sensation from brewers Mikkel Borg Bjergsø and Kristian Klarup Keller, who were named the 5th best brewers in the world by ratebeer.com
Right now they have Mikkeller’s Christmas Porter, To/From, and Santa’s Little Helper 2007, an 11% Belgian style winter warmer.
Make the trip over to Vendome Toluca Lake, and you might still be able to pick up a couple bottles of De Ranke’s very limited Pere Noel in the green paper wrapper.
Vendome Toluca Lake
10600 Riverside Dr North Hollywood, CA
(818) 766-9593
Beverage Warehouse: The Place To Go To Buy Celebration and Anchor Xmas
Its hard to believe. When I was at Wine House the other day I found a great selection of Christmas beers, but they seemed to be all out of Sierra Nevada Celebration. Not a problem for Beverage Warehouse, they are rolling in the stuff.
Needless to say, Beverage Warehouse is a great place to go when you are buying by the case.
Great selection of domestic six packs. They take pride in the beer they choose to carry, and most of the time, it shows. But sometimes, it doesn’t show. If you are browsing in their 2nd aisle, a lot of the time you have to reach into the case and pull out a bottle to see the label.
My only problem with Beverage Warehouse is they waste a ton of floor space with boring macros. But other than that, you can count on these guys to have a few hidden treasures. Continue reading
Christmas Beers at Wine House: Get Them While You Can
If you are looking for your Christmas beer fix, get over to Wine House as soon as possible, their Belgians are selling like hot cakes.
Pictured below: Affligem Noel, Val-Dieu Winter, De La Senne Equinox, Slapmutske Kerstmutske, Kerkom Winterkoninkske, Scaldis Noel, La Choulette De Noel.
I picked up some Equinox and La Choulette, but I’ve heard the Kerstmutske is really fantastic this year.
Speaking of really fantastic this year, Wine House received a very limited shipment of Scandinavian beers from Danish micro superstar Mikkeller. Their Santa’s Little Helper sold out in two days, and only a few bottles of Mikkeller To/From were left on the shelf. They’ve still got a good amount of Nogne-O’s Winter Ale if you’re looking for some nutty, chocolatey Norwegian beer. Good luck getting ahold of Jolly Pumpkin’s Noel de Calabaza, there might be a bottle or two left.
They’ve got a good collection of the Ridgeway Christmas beers, Bad Elf, Santa’s Butt, and Warm Welcome. Brittany, the House beer expert, told me she is especially fond of Hook Norton’s Twelve Days.
Rounding out their selection are some great domestics like Deschutes Jubilale and of course the Anchor Christmas Magnums priced at $14.99.
I promise you will go home happy.
Wine House – 2311 Cotner Ave, WLA, 90064 – 310.479.3731
More pictures after the jump… Continue reading
Sam Adams Cherry Wheat
Picked up a single bottle of this stuff just for the sake of experimentation. It stayed in my fridge for a while until I filled up a cooler to take up to Malibu for the afternoon.
Tasted terrible, like artificial whipped cream and maraschino cherries. Bleh. Luckily I had also brought along some Avery Salvation, which lived up to it’s name.
Might be worth giving a try, some people love this sort of thing, but I say avoid. If you are in the market for what some would call “chick beer,” a much better choice would be Pete’s Wicked Strawberry Blonde.