Finally the colder weather has arrived in Sonoma County. I woke up this morning to a cloudy day that turned into rain. While October proved difficult to get into the holiday mood, I found myself almost running to the fridge for a bottle of this week’s Beer of the Week: Bison Brewing’s Gingerbread Ale.
Our Spiced holiday porter is brewed with ginger, nutmeg and a touch of cinnamon, yielding the aroma of fresh backed gingerbread men! The chewy dark malt flavors are sure to smooth out that dinner with the in-laws.
While the website lists the IBU as 21 and the malts as 2-row, caramel, chocolate, roast barley, black malts, I have word from brewer Daniel Del Grande that things have changed with this year’s recipe. For hops, Daniel uses only Gems for bittering bringing the IBUs up to 30, while the malt bill is quite extensive 2-Row, Chocolate, Black, Carafa II, Munich and Caramunich II. Another change is the lack of cloves in this years recipe. Daniel felt the flavor lingered to long and went without them this time around.
Cracking open a bottle of this spiced porter I’m greeted with a spices and an an earthy aroma. Some malt comes through, but the overall impression is one of dry spices. The flavor of the beer is dark and roasted with coffee notes. In a way this reminds me of Starbucks Gingerbread Latte gone black, cold and carbonated. In the finish, the roasted flavors linger with help from the spices, leaving the impression of a ginger snap. The hops act in a utilitarian role, providing support for the beer overall but staying out of the way of the driving force of this beer.
Previously available in 22-ounce bombers, Gingerbread Ale is now available in 4-packs this year. Sadly, if you’re looking to grab these at your local BevMo you’ll be out of luck as they will not carry it at this time. Be sure to mention it to their managers and have them bring it in.
As my rainy day blanket, this beer did a great job. When you see a name like Gingerbread Ale, you wonder if the beer will be over-spiced or overly sweet. Thankfully, this beer is a porter first with the gingerbread and spice coming in second. This beer is scheduled to make an appearance on my holiday tables this year and I think it’s worth a look (or 4) from you as well.
I tried this one last week too. I was actually hoping it would taste MORE spice-ey than it did, but I thought overall it was a really nice porter.