TOPIC:

I was surprised and honestly blown away by "There is no Santa" from Brewdog (A Christmas beer they're calling just a "spiced Christmas beer").

EXACTLY what I've always wanted in a Christmas beer but didn't even know it.

Robust Porter in color but with a subdued roast malt character; cocoa nibs and stem ginger are ingredients listed on the bottle but there's certainly quite a bit of cinnamon in there. I'm wondering if the full range of "Christmas spices" are present, but the cocoa nibs, cinnamon, and to a lesser degree ginger are definitely there. Maybe some nutmeg, too.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the combination of chocolate and cinnamon always; this reminds me of my mole bock but with only a medium mouthfeel. It also, for some odd reason reminds me a bit of coca cola in the aftertaste towards the end of the bottle, but I doubt too many people will agree with me there...

I've already got a triple chocolate porter on and I'm now considering adding cinnamon as I just love the combination.



Adam

Oddly enough, Redmonds in Ranelaugh appears to have imported this via Norway/Sweden according to the bottle...

I like having access to these beers but the amount of CO2 involved in importing some of the beers in strange ways like this is a little bit concerning. (I also found William's Brother's beers that were exported from Scotland to the US and back into Ireland this year... What the?!?!)


I like my beer and I don't mind paying extra to get something that's hard to get but for the price I'm paying it should be easy enough to get it imported in a more direct manner... (The Netherlands shouldn't disappear under the ocean just so I can drink craft beer.)



Adam

Just because there's an importer's name on the label it doesn't mean the beer was shipped through them.