Windmill Petite Sirah.

Juicy. Nice tannin tart, but still pretty mellow. Not super inky, but characteristically rich. Pretty good for a reasonable price.

Boulevard Single-wide IPA.

Reseeded with yeast at bottling. It's bit sour. I'd be curious after some conditioning.

Shiner Bock.

Classic. Crisp and relatively light.

Dogfish Head Olde School Barley Wine.

First impressions: really floral, fruity bouquet. Feels very heavy in hand. As dense as American Honey. For being 15%ABV, I can't taste the alcohol. Sticks a bit much on the palate.

High-powered extremes like this tend to be somewhat one-dimensional (Hop Wallop, Hoptical Illusion, etc) and this is no different. In the end, I like it but only because it packs a punch.

Victory Old Horizontal.

Smooth, heavy, and malty...but it's lacking the sweetness and warmth I'm looking for. It's nice and rich, but without the sweetness, the hoppiness is overdone here.

AOCC Mead.

As I was racking, the first thing I noticed was the smell. Because it smells awesome. The clove and orange come through a lot with the cinnamon mostly taking a backseat in the bouquet at least. I also found a brilliant way of pumping air into the carboy with a foot pump to push out the liquid below the valve.

I was expecting around a two gallon batch, but I ended up with only 1.5 and the last half gallon coming out a bit cloudy. The sample I tasted was pretty good. I've only had mead a few times (from a pack of Chaucer's) but I think it's pretty spot on. Sweet, spiced, just a little heavier but a long way from honey.

Goose Island Mild Winter.

This is a style that I haven't run into before. English Mild Ale is a good winter winter style that's apparently fairly popular for craft breweries. Smooth carbonation, thin but creamy and persistent head, heavy lacing. Malty, peppery, actually reminds me of Dr Pepper a bit. It is, indeed, an excellent winter style, and while it's no barley wine, it'd be worth picking up.

Rogue Santa's Private Reserve Ale.

I've never been a huge fan of red ales. It's not that I don't like them, but if I had to pick a single style to drink for the rest of my life, it wouldn't be it. I enjoy Killian's every now and then (cheap beer with Taco Tuesdays), but I don't think I've ever gone out and bought it.

Naturally, I'm a sucker for Rogue, even though their beers seem to be rather hit or miss, so I picked up their winter seasonal. Super deep red color, nice, thick head. Mildly bitter, but it didn't make sense to me without a balancing sweetness. Fairly unassuming, it'd make a good session beer, even at 6%ABV. Pretty light bodied. I didn't pick up the floral in the same strength as other people. A lot of people on BA are very enthusiastic about it and commented on the hops being strong but not overwhelming. Perhaps I'm just too hopped up to appreciate it at the same level.

Chicken Paprikash.

Sourced from Elise. Pretty good.

Pumelo.

The sign at the store said it's a Chinese grapefruit. It's like a grapefruit. But all the skin is much tougher. And a bit sweeter. But it's too much work.

Rogue Chocolate Stout.

Mild chocolate, thin body, no carbonation. Normally, the tobacco tones in chocolate beers tend to be a pleasant and rich flavor, but with the lack of medium, it ends up being more like tobacco juice.

Southern Tier Creme Brulee Imperial Stout.

I first tried this at a bar here. I remember really liking the smell then but not being very impressed with the beer itself. Second time around: Vanilla and butterscotch nose. Completely opaque. The characteristic thickness bordering on syrupy body works really well here. The head died off really fast though. Sweet, caramel flavors, very much a dessert beer. 10%ABV

Goose Island Christmas Ale.

Goose Island apparently changes this recipe a bit every year. And it's bottle-conditionable. A spice, brown ale, I'm not sure if I like it. It's definitely one that needs some maturing. I kind of wish Goose Island would release these after they've aged them a year because it still tastes a bit yeasty. I might consider picking up a couple bottles for the forthcoming years if it were a little cheaper.

Ommegang Adoration.

Ommegang's winter ale. Belgian dark ale spiced with coriander, mace, grains of paradise, cardamom, and orange peel. Tastes like a traditional Belgian dark ale but with witbier spicing. The sweet orange peel really comes through in the nose. I'm told it tastes like Christmas.

It's good but rather pricey. I'm on the fence about buying more. I can't imagine myself drinking this outside of the season and there are other beers that I'd probably prefer for cheaper.

Saranac Ginger Beer.

Saranac's soda is much better than their beer. Pretty good, but I'm still looking for more ginger, something at least as strong as whatever they serve at P.F. Chang's.

Roast Beef.

My roast beef turned out more like pot roast. And the coffee gravy wasn't that great but I kind of added a lot of flour to it.

Lentils Masala.

Two of my favorite things: carmelized onions and garam masala.

White Turkey Chili.

First round of repurposing Thanksgiving turkey leftovers.

Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, whole cranberry sauce, yeast rolls, and pumpkin pie. The turkey was only ok. I think it was a bit overcooked as I used the pan lid, but didn't really change the roasting time too much. But now I have a roasting pan and five complete turkey dinners in my freezer.

Zentis Apricot Preserves.

The other jar of preserves I picked up while they were on sale. Not as tart as I'd expected and actually a bit too mild on the verge of being disappointing. But the jar is still sweet.

Pumpkin Turtle Cheesecake Bread.

Sourced from Closet. The cheesecake was too over the top for me, but the pumpkin bread itself was pretty good. I have a lot of frozen pumpkin so I'll be looking forward to making more pumpkin breads.

Abita Pecan Harvest.

I'm only guessing that this is a brown ale. It's pretty good though. The nuttiness doesn't come through clearly until the very end, and the residue tastes like candied pecans.

Rosenblum Petite Sirah.

Finally got around to opening up this one. I picked it up several months ago but just never got around to it. Even though I'm a red guy, I suppose I just won't drink much of it in the summer. I picked this one because it wasn't the cheapest and was one of the cheaper ones I hadn't tried.

Not bad. Pretty characteristic. The tannins were a bit more velvety than astringent. Rich berry, jammy flavors. Sediment. Lots and lots of sediment. It turned my poop purple.

Southern Tier Backburner Barley Wine.

Barley wine is one of those winter indulgences. I remember my first of many pints of barley wine. It was probably my first high ABV, complex beers. Barley wine typically runs about 8-12% and sweet and smooth.

ST's barley wine, low carbing, sweet, a bit too hoppy, finishes a little too sticky, but it's warm and comforting. It's really best enjoyed with close company in heavy glasses on a wood bar, under warm lighting, and beside a crackling fire.

Victory Golden Monkey.

Coriander, orange zest, concentrated Hoegaarden, spicy, spice-y, cinnamon. I like it. At roughly $12/6-pack, it's a little pricey, but I can see some circumstances where I'd opt for a sixer of this than a hit-or-miss venture of trying to pick out a new Belgian abbey ale.

Goya Ginger Beer Jamaican Style.

I noticed some dude buying Goya ginger beer the other day at the grocery so I picked some up the next time I was there. I wasn't paying attention and didn't realize this was Jamaican style ginger beer which has capsicum in it. Crazy weird afterburn in your throat. Would rather find the non-Jamaican style.

Southern Tier Cherrry Saison.

Aged with either French oak staves or aged in French oak barrels. It's not clear from their description, but from what I know of their brewery, I'm betting it's the former.

The oak and fruit gives a kind of wine-y taste though it finishes with a tart cherry. I found it a bit too heavy and sticky towards the end to be so refreshing as a summer workday ale.

8%ABV.

Southern Tier Iniquity Black Ale.

I had sample of this at the last beerfest and remember not liking it. But I didn't dislike it so much that I didn't want to give it another try. It wasn't as bitter this time around. But I still didn't like it much. Hoppy, but too toasted malty. I didn't like that combination in this ale. Characteristic for ST, it was sticky.

Chicken Meatballs.

Sourced from Smitten. I like the concept of chicken meatballs especially since I eat a lot of beef. Ground chicken was not as cheap as I had expected though, which kind of puts a damper on my plans to use it as cheap breakfast food. I didn't put tomato paste in the mix, as was accidentally suggested but only on top, it's a nice sweet and tart touch to the whole thing. In general, meatballs are just plain good. I smashed another pound of the mix into sliders for the freezer since such things are always good to have on hand.

Goose Island Sofie.

80% Belgian-style ale, 20% Belgian-style ale aged in wine barrels with orange peel.

Given its young age (bottled July 17), I wasn't sure what to expect. In short, it's a Hoegaarden. Spicy nose, very frothy head, light body. The barrel-aged ale comes through clear. It's not bad now but a few years in the bottle (good sediment at the bottom), and I bet it'd be awesome.

Dogfish Head Punkin Ale.

Dark copper color, pumpkin spice, light head. It's novelty has worn a bit on me.

Gevalia Kenya.

Sigh.

Southern Tier Pumking.

Smells like cinnamon and nutmeg. Tastes like pumpkin pie. Not as sweet as I remember, but still tasty and well-balanced.

Southern Tier Raspberry Porter.

Considering that their raspberry wheat and their porter aren't very good, this one is surprisingly good. Clear raspberry without tasting overly sour, watered down, or artificial. The porter carries it well. Stronger chocolate tones. Wish it were slightly thicker because I'm thinking of Black Chocolate Stout sometimes.

Gevalia Antigua.

For being so frou frou, Gevalia is not very good. Considering that their traditional roast is likely to be a flagship blend and roast, the poor quality was a dead giveaway for the rest. The Antigua doesn't bring much to the table other than it's name (oh please, don't let the Kenya AA be as bad). Slightly fuller bodies than the traditional, it manages to muster up more of the generic rich roast coffee flavor, the one you think of whenever you see a Folger's commercial and they break the vacuum seal on a can of coffee (seriously, you know advertising is good when you associate a taste proportional to the wholesomeness of a sound), than the traditional roast.

Also, they pronounce their name with a soft 'g'. For them, it's a bad check.

Doritos Smokin' Cheddar BBQ and Black Pepper Jack.

First off, Smokin' Cheddar & BBQ was one of my favorite non-classic flavors. And then it disappeared without warning. I didn't know what to do. Blazin' Buffalo knew only one thing and that was to blaze. I had to learn to move on. No smoke. No cheddar. No BBQ. Don't get me wrong. Blazin' Buffalo is good at what it does. It doesn't pretend to be subtle or smooth. It's just in your face, spicy and demanding. Sometimes I need to have a glass of milk in between handfuls.

But Smokin' Cheddar BBQ is back. It's kind of like when Dylan returned to 90210. So I bought three bags. It is still fucking awesome. Of the expansion flavors, it's one of the few that actually implements every one of the words in its name. Sometimes, it tastes like cheddar with BBQ sauce. Other times it tastes like BBQ sauce with cheddar. Which one is smoked? Sometimes it's the first one, sometimes the second. Sometimes both. There's so much variety in one bag. You never quite know what you're going to get, but rest assured that it will be a good time.

I also bought a bag of Black Pepper Jack which tastes remarkably close to jack cheese. The black pepper is kind of a cop out since pepper jack cheese uses actual fucking peppers, but it's not bad. It's kind of like Toasted Corn in that, somewhere in your mind, you've already experienced the flavor because it's so generic you can relive the sensation on demand over and over again. But it's not bad. It's not something you can snack on and pay attention to, but it's acceptable if you're going to be concentrating on something other than stuffing your face with goodness.

Gevalia Traditional Roast.

I'm not sure if I did a crappy job grinding the beans (which I did), or if it's because it's a medium roast, or if it's just bad, but I didn't care much for it. Ok, so it's not terrible, but for something that sells for more than $14/#, it's pretty lackluster. Dunkin Donuts coffee is half that price and more than twice as good. And that's why America runs on Dunkin.

Tamale Pie.

Comfort food sourced from Elise. It's basically a thick chili under a cornbread crust. I made the cornbread from scratch though I didn't make enough to get good coverage and still rise well. All in all, pretty good, though it's really nothing like a real tamale.

Ancient Orange Cinnamon and Clove Mead.

Here is a disgusting looking picture.

This is a pretty popular and classic recipe on the Interwebs that probably every homebrewman tries at some point. I roughly doubled the batch to 2 gallons. It should clear up in about 2 months.

Addendum: Decided I wanted to repost this recipe for posterity's (and my own) sake:

"Ancient Orange Mead (by Joe Mattioli)
1 gallon batch

3 1/2 lbs Clover or your choice honey or blend (will finish sweet)
1 Large orange (later cut in eights or smaller rind and all)
1 small handful of raisins (25 if you count but more or less ok)
1 stick of cinnamon
1 whole clove ( or 2 if you like - these are potent critters)
optional (a pinch of nutmeg and allspice )( very small )
1 teaspoon of Fleishmann’s bread yeast ( now don't get holy on me--- after all this is an ancient mead and that's all we had back then)
Balance water to one gallon

Process:
Use a clean 1 gallon carboy
Dissolve honey in some warm water and put in carboy
Wash orange well to remove any pesticides and slice in eights --add orange (you can push em through opening big boy -- rinds included -- its ok for this mead -- take my word for it -- ignore the experts)

Put in raisins, clove, cinnamon stick, any optional ingredients and fill to 3 inches from the top with cold water. ( need room for some foam -- you can top off with more water after the first few day frenzy)

Shake the heck out of the jug with top on, of course. This is your sophisticated aeration process.

When at room temperature in your kitchen, put in 1 teaspoon of bread yeast. ( No you don't have to rehydrate it first-- the ancients didn't even have that word in their vocabulary-- just put it in and give it a gentle swirl or not)(The yeast can fight for their own territory)

Install water airlock. Put in dark place. It will start working immediately or in an hour. (Don't use grandma's bread yeast she bought years before she passed away in the 90's)( Wait 3 hours before you panic or call me) After major foaming stops in a few days add some water and then keep your hands off of it. (Don't shake it! Don't mess with them yeastees! Let them alone except its okay to open your cabinet to smell every once in a while.

Racking --- Don't you dare
additional feeding --- NO NO
More stirring or shaking -- Your not listening, don't touch

After 2 months and maybe a few days it will slow down to a stop and clear all by itself. (How about that) (You are not so important after all) Then you can put a hose in with a small cloth filter on the end into the clear part and siphon off the golden nectar. If you wait long enough even the oranges will sink to the bottom but I never waited that long. If it is clear it is ready. You don't need a cold basement. It does better in a kitchen in the dark. (Like in a cabinet) likes a little heat (70-80). If it didn't work out... you screwed up and didn't read my instructions (or used grandma's bread yeast she bought years before she passed away) . If it didn't work out then take up another hobby. Mead is not for you. It is too complicated.
If you were successful, which I am 99% certain you will be, then enjoy your mead. When you get ready to make different mead you will probably have to unlearn some of these practices I have taught you, but hey--- This recipe and procedure works with these ingredients so don't knock it. It was your first mead. It was my tenth. Sometimes, even the experts can forget all they know and make good ancient mead."

Woot Cellars Boss Monster.

Another Woot Cellars offering. I say another as if I had previously posted about the last offering from Woot Cellars, Emergency Holiday Provisions. Which I didn't. But I do still have a bottle or two lying around somewhere so expect to see notes on that some time this season.

Boss Monster is a zinfandel-PS blend (89-11). I was a little put off by the nose at first since it came on so strong, but the first sip was remarkably smooth. Pretty bold but not obnoxiously in your face, not too spicy (though it goes well with spice as I was eating a bowl of chili at the time), and lightly jammy. Just a little bit of tannin peeking through at the end. With some mouth aeration, all I get is grape. A lot of grape. A little bit of rose and honey. Would probably taste great with a thick, rare steak or in some beef stew.

I expected to write funnier notes. I should write funnier notes.

ADDENDUM: After several days, the PS really starts to pop out.

Zentis Black Cherry Preserves.

Love imported stuff, mostly because it's either something incredibly novel or a variety that's simply unavailable to me from a stateside producer. I was a little dismayed to see that Zentis uses corn syrup in their jams and preserves. The whole reason I shell out the extra couple bucks for Polaners is because it's completely natural: fruit, sugar, and pectin.

Zentis Black Cherry is pretty good, though, as it's not a fruit I see very often. I also have an Zentis Apricot Preserves that I also picked up which should be good. Considering the CS and price, I won't be purchasing any more, but the jar it comes in is sweet.

Ellicottville Brewing Co. Blueberry.

This is actually brewed by Southern Tier for EBC, marked "malt beverage" on the bottle. For coming from Southern Tier and being blueberry, it was rather weak. Crystal clear body, thin head, low carbonation. Yeah, it's a malt beverage.

Tchibo Rich Roast.

Much better balanced than their Exclusive. The body is bit heavier, and the overall taste not so bitter. It has a slight hazelnut aroma. All in all, it is a much smoother coffee than Exclusive, but at the end of the day, I can get much better coffee for the price or cheaper.

Tchibo Exclusive.

Exceptionally smooth, but the roast was not as dark as I would have liked. Consequently, I didn't feel like the body was robust enough to carry the bitterness very well.

Goose Island Matilda.

Now that Goose Island is distributing here, I've found some of their Reserve line here. And Matilda got a new dress. A case will run about $130. I'll pick one up and squat on it over 5 years or more.

The bottle I have here is 2009 vintage. Sadly, it tastes nothing like the Matilda I had last summer. But I expect some better flavors to develop over the years. Currently, it does taste obviously young, little malt, almost sour, and fruity. Light carbonation and exquisitely clear red amber.

Goulash and Dumplings.

Sourced from Elise. Chuck roast makes awesome meals when simmered down. Reminiscent of carbonnade, it goes the route of tomato paste and paprika. I think it could have used more paprika. The dumplings turned out nicely fluffy. Good cold weather food. It was goulash-ious.