This blog is about beer and life.
Posts tagged samichlaus
Ontario liquor regulator to ban Samichlaus “for the children”
May 27th
At least we’re not the only ones suffering from alcohol control bureaucrats that make no sense. Canada’s got it too.
From the National Post:
Ontario’s alcohol regulator has moved to ban an Austrian beer favoured by connoisseurs because its name, Samichlaus, means St. Nicholas in Swiss-German.
The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario has decided the beer’s label contravenes rules against advertising to children. It features the name of the beer, Samichlaus, a Swiss-German nickname for the saint behind the Santa Claus legend, and a small black-and-white bearded figure.
Vlado Pavicic, co-owner of Burlington-based Roland and Russell Importers, called the decision “insulting to the average Canadian.”
Samichlaus (Canada label)
I mean, come on. What kid is going to look at that beer label and pester their parents to buy it? Are they going to see it in the fridge and think it’s a holiday soda? And this whole “marketed to children” thing is bunk. Have you seen an ad for it in anything but a beer magazine? The kids would have to be in the beer store in the first place. Ugh. If their reasoning is to make it less attractive to teenagers, do you really think Santa is going to attract them? The 14% ABV might, but the price certainly won’t. It just doesn’t make any sense. All it does is inconvenience grown-ups.
Jay Brooks will have has something insightful to say, of course.
This just in: The Washington State liquor board thinks that by limiting beer advertising it will reduce the amount of under age drinking. So they’re making bars and retailers remove signage. But not the major sports stadiums.
Samichlaus
Jan 1st
Beer-a-Day #1
Bottled in 2006. This was part of the gift package I received from Ron in 2007. You have no idea how hard it has been to open the refrigerator all year to see this winking back at me.
“Samichlaus” beer is brewed once a year, in each case on December 6th, and stored and matured afterwards for over 10 months before it is bottled. “Samichlaus” beer can mature for many years in the bottle; older vintages obtain a complexity and receive their creamy warm aftertaste.
Brassy in color with a syrupy body. Head dissipates quickly, with no discernible lacing. Looks more like cognac than beer. Aroma has quite a bit of nuttiness with some fruit undertones. Mouthfeel is thick, as I expected. Flavor has essences of dried fruit but not overly sweet. More like brandy than beer. Definitely for sipping. Not something to have every day; definitely for special occasions. I like it.
Thank you, Ron
Dec 24th
So, I’m home, hanging out with the kids, just chillin’, when the doorbell rings.
It’s the UPS man.
I wasn’t expecting a package, but who knows what last-minute thing my wife might have gotten.
It’s addressed to my family. From Ron’s family.
Well, isn’t that curious? While we send each other greeting cards, our families don’t exchange gifts. Not that we wouldn’t, of course, but by the time I buy gifts for my own kids, their cousins, their step-cousins, grandmas, grandpa, and child-free aunts and uncles, the gift budget is stretched thin. I know Ron is in the same boat.
So this, obviously, is a surprise. I honestly have no idea what it could be. So I call the girls up from downstairs. “Look, girls. We got a package.”
“What is it?” they ask.
“I don’t know. Let’s open it and find out.”
I slice open the tape. There’s a bunch of things in bubble-wrap. I grab the first one.
By golly, it’s a bottle of beer!
Six more bubble-wrapped bottles follow. Plus a note:
Enjoy this sampler of fine ales and lagers, hand selected, specifically with you in mind. Cheers! (I had the hardest time choosing just seven! Enjoy!)
“You shouldn’t have called us,” says my youngest, disappointed, as they head back downstairs.
Hawesome! A couple of them are even from my wishlist.
And they say Christmas is for the kids.
(Yes, that is my daughters’ purple Disney Princess tree in the background.)
- Brown’s Brewing Oatmeal Stout
- Stone Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale
- Samichlaus
- Black Dog Winter Cheer
- Saranac Imperial Stout
- Ithaca Beer Double IPA
- Southern Tier Old Man Winter Ale
Thank you, Ron. I will enjoy every last drop.
I no doubt deserved my enemies, but I don’t believe I deserved my friends.
– Walt Whitman
Top 5 Beers on Al’s Wishlist
Dec 18th
Inspired by Ron’s list, here’s a few beers I’m wishing for.
#5
Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale
by Stone
I was going to make sure that all of the beers on my list were different than Ron’s, but I hadn’t heard of this one before I saw it on his list. Now I want it. I’ve been accused of being arrogant. Am I arrogant enough?
#4
Real cask ale
by anybody
Real ale is a natural product brewed using traditional ingredients and left to mature in the cask from which it is served in the pub through a process called secondary fermentation. It is this process which makes real ale unique amongst beers and develops the wonderful tastes and aromas which processed beers can never provide.
Cask-conditioned ale on a hand-pull is about as rare around here as hen’s teeth. No, I really want to go to the U.K. and have some of the good stuff. At least, before it disappears from there, too. Thank goodness for CAMRA.
#3
Westvleteren
by The Monks of the Abbey of Saint Sixtus
“No question, it is the holy grail of beers,” says Remi Johnson, manager of the Publick House, a Boston bar that has Westvleteren on its menu but rarely in stock.
Three styles, brewed by the monks of the Abbey of Saint Sixtus in the Belgian municipality of Westvleteren. They brew simply to help pay for their way of life, and have resisted efforts to increase production or license the beer to a larger brewer. They do not advertise, label the beer, or sell it anywhere except from their front gate. It is so rare and prices are so high in grey market reselling, they ask that people buying their beer–and they can only get two cases a month–to promise not to resell it. Trappist Command: Thou Shalt Not Buy Too Much of Our Beer (Wall Street Journal)
#2
Samichlaus
by Schloss Eggenberg
“Samichlaus” beer is brewed once a year, in each case on December 6th, and stored and matured afterwards for over 10 months before it is bottled. “Samichlaus” beer can mature for many years in the bottle; older vintages obtain a complexity and receive their creamy warm aftertaste.
December 6 is Saint Nicholas’ Eve. Samichlaus means “Santa Claus” in the Swiss-German dialect of Zurich, where it was first made and is one of the world’s strongest beers at 14% ABV. It was originally brewed by Hürlimann Brewery, but production was stopped in 1986 after the brewery was purchased by a subsidiary of Carlsberg. In 2006, the Schloss Eggenberg brewery in Austria brought it back to much rejoicing.
#1
Utopias
by Samuel Adams
With an alcohol content of 27% by volume, its complexity and sweet, malty flavor is reminiscent of a deep, rich vintage Port, fine Cognac or aged sherry while being surprisingly light on the palate.
$100 for a 24 ounce bottle. Illegal in 12 states. Bottled in a miniature copper brew kettle. What’s not to love?
These are all so rare, so expensive, or so far away that I may never get a chance to experience them. That’s why they call it a wishlist, after all.
