Merry Beer Club Christmas

The Dirty South Beer Club has been spending a lot of time together recently (check out post on Chattanooga trip - HERE). Last week the Dirty South Beer Club celebrated the holidays as you might have expected; with a sampling of seasonal brews. But we also upped the ante by holding a beer-themed white elephant. The combination of the two resulted in a fantastic time had by all, though I regret to say that we did not get around to rating any of the beers we drank.

We started with a magnum of Anchor's Special Ale 2009. In ordering this at bars and bringing it to parties I have not heard rave reviews. Since we had no ship to christen, we embarked on drinking it. Birthday boy, Ajay, who brought the beer remarked that "we are never gonna finish this thing," and we did have a hard time getting through the huge bottle. This slight departure from our normal habits resulted in uneven pours for this first, and the next few rounds. Amelia was heard saying that she had, "a lot of the that," as she tried to share a large pour with others.

Second was Bruery's 2 Turtle Doves, provided by our hosts Brennan and Catherine. Someone was quoted saying that it "tastes like raunch beer." But I think it was generally well received. I also sampled their Autumn Maple on Thanksgiving and remember being satisfied.

Next was Weyerbacher's Merry Monks'Ale. It was described by the group as "fresh" and a "little bitter." Or as a "light seasonal ale" that was "more carbonated than normal."

The Heavy Seas Yule Tide followed that. This is part of their 'Mutiny Fleet' of imperials. Its Belgian Triple styling did not win the group over. One person said that "it smells like my towel when I need to wash it." Similarly the St. Bernardus Christmas Ale disappointed the group. The Special Holiday Ale Stone, Nogne-O, Jolly Pumpkin collaboration effort smelled great and received better reviews. The alcohol content was apparent as some mentioned cough syrup.

The next three all featured Santa and brewers that begin with the letter 'R': Rogue's Santa's Private Reserve and the Pickled Santa and Santa's Butt from Ridgeway Brewing in the UK. Santa's Private Reserve faired well last year when we tried it. Comments usually reflect its spruce flavors. The Pickled Santa sounds gross, but it was not special enough to merit much attention for being especially bad or good. Santa's Butt is a porter "so big it won't fit down the chimney." It was also said to taste like the reindeer's butt. Keeping with the santa theme, Mikkeller's Santa's Little Helper 2009 was next. This beer was hands down the favorite of the night. "It tastes like Christmas," said one secular sipper after a sample. Another (with a computer head) said, "crazy different wild conifers." (applejuice) Get this one while you can.

Next was the X-mas Zinnebir from Brasserie De La Senne / De Zenne Brouwerij. Despite its "funky surreal label" it could not stand up to the tastes left in our mouth by Santa's Little Helper. On person said it had a, "high traffic carpet aftertaste." There was also some frozen margarita in a bag purchased solely because it read "ALCOHOL is IN IT!" and a rather delicious barleywine (Uinta, from Utah) that appeared serendipitously. Finally, the night was capped with some Sparkling Ale from Bell's.



During all this beer drinking there was also the white elephant taking place. Some of the gifts included a Decatur bottle opener, a knitted DSBC coozie, a six-pack of Beck's NA, BSP t-shirt and Guinness Bell, St. Bernardus 4 pack and glass, bottle of Life and Limb, signed copy of Love at the Pub, pack of Burton Baton and glass, matching tuxedo pint coozies, glass made from old Stone bottle, a bottle of Ola Dubh Special 40 Reserve, and a box of beer themed and flavored NUNU Chocolates. The first 7 people opted for wrapped gifts but then the stealing began. The Ola Dubh bottle was highly sought after. The Beck's was not.

The whole thing was presided over by a polyester suit-wearing, martini-wielding, Will-Ferrel-impersonating-Robert-Goulet-impersonator played by Brennan. Additionally, the King of Beers(Club)--Ben--made 'Dirty Awards' for all of us. They included titles like the Best Baking, Beer Bringing, and Baby-Making Award. The whole night unwound into a mini Thursday night party, exacerbated by some whiskey tasting. This is common for DSBC. I think a new tagline for the group could be "Dirty South Beer Club: The third Friday of the month just got a lot less productive." This picture even appeared in the notebook to acknowledge the steady stream of hip hop bumping in the background. At some point, it was switched from Christmas music, the unofficial new anthem of DSBC, Fur in my Cap. Needless to say, DSBC is one of my favorite things.

Happy Holidays from Dirty South Beer Club