Saturday, December 10, 2016

The Cocktail Hour: Ales for the Holidays - Trader Joe's Holiday Ale Taste Off 2016


It's time for our annual Trader Joe's holiday ale taste off. Be sure to watch the video below, it's the first every live Cocktail Hour broadcast we've ever done.

Watch the Video!

The store contracts with Unibroue in Canada to make it's Belgian style aged ale for each year's holiday season.

We skipped last year because we found out from Trader Joe's that you're supposed to age the ale a year before drinking so we've got our 2015 ale to taste alongside the just released 2016 version, which I have an extra to age for next year.

First, let's taste the younger. Tastes just like every other year, like a bitter Mexican Coke with a lot of foam. Good taste, not overpowering bitterness.

Now, the aged 2015 version. Much less foam, at least half as much and a slightly smoother taste reflecting the year of mellowing. I could taste more of the Mexican Coke flavor, maybe more notes of caramel on the back of my throat. Tim didn't notice.

That's it for this year's test. We'll do it again for 2017.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2016 - All Rights Reserved.

No comments:

Post a Comment