We have made it to the end of our 24 Days of Beer! Thank you all for participating! I hope all of you enjoyed the journey and will join us again next year and maybe even in the summer! Tonight's beer has an extra 10 for everyone to enjoy. Merry Christmas!
About Southern Tier Krampus : Brewed with the spirit of Krampus, the fanged, goat-horned bully that is, as European tradition suggests, the evil sidekick of St. Nicholas and enforcer of the list. While St. Nick delivers presents to the good boys and girls, Krampus is there to punish the naughty children. This Christmas season, enjoy a Krampus Imperial Helles Lager and decide whether you are naughty or nice. Finished with lager yeast and aged cold for no less than 30 days, it is the medley of rich, dark malts and aromatic hops that make this a diabolical brew, threatening to warm even the most frigid of hearts.
Beer Advocate Score: 88 points
Food pairings: Particularly tasty when paired with Thai food, sharp cheddar cheese, roasted turkey, beef.
Style: Imperial Helles Lager
Brewed Since: 2008
Fermentation: Bottom fermenting lager yeast
Color: Clear amber
Effervescence: Generous carbonation
Nose: Pine and wood, floral and citrus hops
Flavor: Bright, fresh hops, pine, citric. Crisp lager taste is apparent
Bitterness: Very high Our highest!
Body: Medium
Serving Temperature: 48°F
Glass: Pilsner glass
Availability: Holiday Seasonal, November release / 22oz / 1/6 keg
Cellaring: 35-40°F
Alcohol by Volume: 9.3%
Cost: $7 per bottle
*website: http://www.stbcbeer.com/seasonals/seasonal-imperial/krampus-beer-page/
Cant tell you all how difficult it was to get 36 of these. Strict limits of 2 cases (12packs) for each account. I'm gonna save this one for after work on X-mas eve (I suppose it IS X-mas eve right now....hmmmm) but am incredibly excited to drink this. The devil on my shoulder is telling me that I should crack this sucka open right now...
ReplyDeleteRegardless...Merry Christmas to all and to all a good...wait a second, its not time for sleeping!!! There is too much amazing beer out there! Be adventurous...stay thirsty my friends...
Dude....
ReplyDeleteI love this beer! Persistent head...incredibly complex hop character on the nose...such a party on the palate. It may be the hands down best lager I have ever had. Gonna drink the next half and finish this post then.
ReplyDeleteDark malts, aggressive hops, and the crisp lager finish (with lingering hop bitterness). Sick!!!
Drunk...
Since I will be exiled at my in-laws house tonight, I thought I'd go ahead and provide my summary of the first 23 beers now before the Krampus and the chaos cloud my ratings. Thanks again to Tony (and I think some guy named Mark who posted a threatening comment on December 1st about how we all had to comment and hasn't been heard from since....) for organizing and acquiring all the beers. Good to find a few winners every year and I enjoy tasting new brews. Keeps me from just sitting at home with a sixer of Celebration Ale every night (not that there is anything wrong with that). So, without further adieu.
ReplyDeleteBeers that I will hunt down:
Six Point Global Warmer A
Ommegang Rare Vos Amber A
Anderson Winter Solstice A
Rogue Mocha Porter A-
Great Divide Hibernation Ale A-
Beers that I certainly wouldn't turn down, especially not in the month of December:
Blue Mountain Lights Out B
Weyerbacher Winter Ale B
Beers that didn't offend me but I wouldn't go out of my way to acquire them:
Bison Gingerbread Ale B-
Rogue Dead Guy Ale B-
Rogue Yellow Snow B-
Blue Mountain Lager C+
Beers that are best left to December beer tasting events:
RJ Rocker First Snow C+
Troegs Mad Elf C+
Old Chubb C
Tazmanian IPA C
21st Amendement Fireside Chat C
Natty Greene Red Nose Winter Ale C
Southern Tier 2Xmas C
Beers that I would prefer to never consume again:
Green Flash Green Bullet C-
Devil's Backbone Kilt Flasher C-
Devil's Backbone Lager D+
Beers that I would cross the street if I saw them coming the other way:
Grimbergen Double Ale D
DuClaw Euforia Brown Ale D-
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DeleteWell another 24 days of beer before xmas is coming to an end. Thank you Tony and Katie for all your help this year!! I don't know what happened to Mark (did he only participate the first 2 days and yell at everyone to participate only to go missing? Did a sniper take him out and no one know about it?). Any way I take this personally like my own reality TV show. Who can survive all 24 days and drink 1 beer every night. It is a difficult task and I love the challenge every year! Can't wait to test this beer in a couple of hours.
ReplyDeleteStarted early today; I am making cookies and pumpkin pies with my two boys and needed help to get through the ordeal. Fire alarm has only gone off 1x so far! anyway the beer was actually pretty good. I dont care for lagers but it doesn't taste like a typical lager. It is a cross between a lager and a xmas Ale. Nice finish and can feel the buzz already!! I bought southern Tier 2xmas ale yesterday and Mad Elf to get me through the rest of the day!! Who needs egg nog when you have Mad Elf!!! Merry xmas to all and to all a great beer!
ReplyDeleteRating: 7.7
Well its the end of an amazing journey. Instead of feeling sad, I'm going to get some Mad Elf, Tasmanian IPA, and a few other great beers. Thanks again Tony for setting this up. On to the beer...
ReplyDeleteThis was a strange one. It sort of but not really reminded me of an IPA at first. The malts really kicked in towards the middle and then i got a fruity taste towards the end. Or maybe I was in a drunken stupor...
This gets a B. Merry Christmas to all and I'll be blogging again with you next Xmas.
I'm also keeping my fingers crossed for a summer session.
Wow. Is this a lager? I take back everything I've said about not liking lagers. I like this one. I know I like it because I keep shouting out "god, this beer is good!" at random intervals as I'm drinking it. This was a great beer to end on. Thanks again to everyone involved - this has been a lot of fun and a great opportunity to try some really interesting beers.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very malty beer, very strong, and I'm not even talking about the 9.3ABV. It was so filling, I wasnt sure I was going to be able to finish it after a hearty meal of turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes. But I forged ahead for the good of the blog and would be glad to have another one, though I prolly be in no shape to write a review. B
ReplyDeleteThank you to the organizers this year. Looking forward to next year and possibly a summer session
First off, I want to thank the organizers of this awesome event and Tom D for allowing me the opportunity to take part in the fun. I had tried a bunch of these beers before the month began, but it was really cool tasting them all over again with a bunch of fellow beer lovers. It was great trying some new winter brews and adding some new favorites to my list. I hope for the opportunity to join you all again next summer.
ReplyDeleteI think I mentioned it the other night, but I'm from upstate NY and am enjoying this amazing Krampus for the first time as I stare out on the snow-covered hills surrounding my parents' house in Marathon, NY. I downed the Hibernation Ale earlier and thought I would be getting a winter lager in this beer. Wow were my expectations blown away. It tastes to me like a really smooth, excellently bitter Imperial IPA. Like a German Helles and an American Double IPA made sweet, sweet love and gave forth a beautiful Krampus baby. I felt like I was drinking it too fast also. I'm going to seek this thing out before I leave NY and see if I can get my hands on some if possible to quench my thirst. It makes me want more and more...the most important sign of a fantastic brew in my opinion. Well it's time to finish this guy off and get another Christmas cookie. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!!
So tonight was catch-up night. I had the 2XMas, the Great Divide Hibernation, and now the Krampus. The Krampus was 22 ozs and I think I drank that faster than the 12 oz beers. Man was this beer good! This was a great ending to our beer journey. I drank it so fast that I forget how to describe it other than AWESOME. A great beer! Thank you all for participating this year. I hope you enjoyed the journey as much as I did. Merry Christmas to all of you. Grade on this beer 9 out of 10, A. Grade on this version of the 24 Days of Beer, 10 out of 10, A+
ReplyDeleteLoved this. I smelled it and thought "IPA." Then I drank it and thought, "malty ale." Then I thought "bitter" then I thought "yum" then I stopped thinking and happily finished the bottle. Well done to Tony and Mark and all those who helped bring this together. Merry Krampus to all, and to all, a good Pint. Cheers!!!!
ReplyDeleteSplit this three ways. Probably for the best. Mighty tasty. And potentially deadly. This went down real quick. Probably needed another 15 ounces to properly score it but I'll give it a strong B+.
ReplyDeleteA day late on this. But with Krampus being the fourth beer of Xmas eve, I didn't think I could pull together coherent thoughts last night. Not surpringly, I've had Krampus before and love it. A big bold lager with a bit of bite is right up my alley... Plus the best label out there. Along with my usual 2xmas, I rate this at the top of my list along with Global Warmer, Rare Vos Amber, and Mocha Porter top my list.
ReplyDeleteThanks to Tony, Katy and Mark for putting this together and to everyone who tried to keep up with comments. It really I'd great to hear people's pointe of view and stories.
Merry (2)Xmas to all and to all a good night!
This was a fun one to end the 24 days - I split this into two sessions, and I enjoyed the 2nd one more than the 1st. Thanks for letting me be a part of this!
ReplyDeleteI'm with Shirley on this one. This was not your typical lager...gratefully. I enjoyed this thoroughly from start to finish.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of start to finish... many thanks to all those who put this together. I really enjoyed being a part of it and have learned to appreciate some new breweries, brews and brewing styles. Hope you all have a wonderful new year!
Thanks tons! Especially to the brewers who thought 9.3%ABV was not too naughty, or too nice, but just right. :-)
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