Bison Brewing is a small brewery, headquartered out of Berkeley, California that brews USDA certified organic beer and sells it to 12 states (as of writing). The history of the brewery was a little turbulent but the excellence of their product has prevailed as exemplified by beers such as Chocolate Stout, Honey Basil Ale, and, the beer we’re focusing on today, Gingerbread Ale.

Bison describes Gingerbread Ale on their website and on the bottle as follows:

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.

Date Reviewed. December 13, 2009

Where I Found It. City Beer Store in San Francisco.

Serving Type. Bottle to pint glass.

Appearance. Bison Gingerbread Ale is deep dark brown, nearly black, and opaque. You can see a little light through the corners of the glass, which gives the beer a deep dark red-brown glow. The head is cola-fizz color. Poured about 0.75 inch of head which did not last long. However, a nice thin layer of foam remained throughout consumption.

Smell. This beer has wonderful holiday spice bouquet of ginger and cinnamon and maybe some nutmeg. It also has the perception of cloves, even though cloves are not listed an ingredient. The spices do not overwhelm and contribute to a good balance of beer and spice. It also has a hint of brown sugar and a nice roasty malt aroma. The roasted and black malts contribute the a hint of coffee aroma.

Taste. Gingerbread Ale is balanced and not excessively sweet. It has a toasty and roasty malt taste with a dark sugar flavor lacking the bitterness of molasses. The dry sugar flavor combines well with the ginger and cinnamon to have just enough spice without being overwhelming. The spice is more subtle in the taste than the smell, which is good thing. This beer tastes better at cellar temperatures than ice cold.

Mouthfeel. Medium-light bodied and nicely carbonated. Like many porters this one has a ever so slightly chalky mouthfeel that smooths out at a warmer temperature.

Drinkability. As a holiday beer this is very tasty and, despite being a spiced beer, I could drink two of these in one session. This beer is great to sip and savor slowly.

Rating. My ratings below are on a five point scale with five being the best score.

• Appearance (20%): 4.0
• Smell (20%): 4.5
• Taste (40%): 4.0
• Mouthfeel (10%): 3.5
• Drinkability (10%): 4.0
• Overall: 4.05

Information

• Style: herb spice beer
• Brewery: Bison Brewery
• Alcohol by volume: 6.0%
• Original Gravity: 1.054
• Final Gravity: 1.009 (calculated)
• Bitterness: 21 IBU
• Malts: (all organic) 2-row, caramel, chocolate, roast barley, black
• Other ingredients: (all organic) ginger, nutmeg and a touch of cinnamon
• Beer Advocate rating: 3.6 (as of December 26, 2009).

Other Reviews

• Drink with the Wench - Gingerbread Ale & Butternut Squash Soup
• Mike Loves Beer - Bison Organic Gingerbread Ale
  
• Brewed for Thought - Beer of the Week: Bison Brewing Gingerbread Ale
• Daily Beer Review - Gingerbread Ale
• Beer Advocate - Bison Organic Gingerbread Ale

On a recent trip to City Beer Store in San Francisco I was browsing the beer fridge, after having tried De Ranke’s Père Noel, trying to figure out what other winter season beer to try. As soon as I spotted 2 Turtle Doves by The Bruery, I grabbed a 750ml to try. I first heard about 2 Turtle Doves (or sometimes Two Turtle Doves) on twitter from @aircoleman who recommended it with this tweet: “2 Turtle Doves” is a Belgian-style Dark Ale brewed with cocoa nibs and toasted pecans. A very nice 12% winter beer!”

2 Turtle Doves is crafted by a brewery in Orange County, CA called The Bruery, who specialize mostly in Belgian-style ales found either in 750ml bottles or on tap. This beer is the second winter seasonal beer they have produced in their series of the “Twelve Beers of Christmas” with the first being “Partridge in a Pear Tree.”

This is truly a wonderful winter beer which I initially described on Twitter as “like chocolate syrup muddled with a sweet stout with a little cola, gourmet coffee, and spices.” These flavors are not on accident. The bottle caption describes 2 Turtle Doves as follows:

Belgian-Style Dark Ale Brewed with Cocoa Nibs & Toasted Pecans

The second verse of our “Twelves Beers of Christmas” saga begins with caramel and toasty, nutty malt with a luscious layer of chocolate. Happy Holidays!

Date Reviewed. December 11, 2009

Where I Found It. City Beer Store in San Francisco, CA

Serving Type. Served from a 750ml bottle into a tulip glass.

Appearance. 2 Turtle Doves has a dark black or very dark brown color with a pleasant mocha colored head. Head didn’t last to long in the tulip glass.

Smell. The aroma of this beer is heavily like dark chocolate syrup. It also has hints of cola, rum, with a dash of holiday spices like cloves or nutmeg. The spicy quality plus the cola undertones give it a smell like an artisan root beer or sassafras. The aroma also has hints of gourmet coffee. Finally, as the beer warms it reveals a bouquet of caramel, nutty pecans, and toasty malt.

Taste. I originally described 2 Turtle Doves on Twitter as follows, “it’s like chocolate syrup muddled with a sweet stout with a little cola, gourmet coffee, and spices.” The dark roasted malt flavor comes through like an iced coffee made with gourmet coffee and artisan dark chocolate bittersweet syrup. The sweetness and the alcohol come through like a 18-year aged rum while not being boozy. The hints of cola flavor complement all of the other flavors. Also picy cloves. Finally, the malt has a nice roasty and caramel flavor. 2 Turtles Does is a delectable dessert in a bottle.

Mouthfeel. This beer is full boded, thick, and smooth but there may be a few tannins, that come through, giving it a hint of chalkiness.

Drinkability. 2 Turtle Doves is pure liquid dessert, a treat, and delicious. Although it is 12% alcohol by volume, it drinks smoothly and easily.

Rating. My ratings below are on a five point scale with five being the best score.

• Appearance (20%): 4.0
• Smell (20%): 5.0
• Taste (40%): 4.5
• Mouthfeel (10%): 4.0
• Drinkability (10%): 4.5
• Overall: 4.45

Information

• Style: Belgian-style dark strong ale.
• Brewery: The Bruery
• Alcohol by volume: 12% abv
• Other ingredients: cocoa nibs and toasted pecans
• Beer Advocate rating: 4.1 (as of Dec. 21, 2009)

Other Reviews

• Westworld Denver Food Blog - Beer and Cheer: The Bruery’s 2 Turtle Doves
• Hoosier Beer Geek - KOTBR #92 - Knights of the Thanksgiving Table 2
• The Full Pint - The Bruery 2 Turtle Doves
• Beer Advocate - 2 Turtle Doves
• 97 Bottles - 2 Turtle Doves

To help you with your holiday shopping for that beer lover or homebrewer that you know, or as a resource to figure out what you want for the holidays, I’ve formulated with the following Holiday Gift Guide. If you have any more suggestions, list them in the comments and I’ll update the article.

This guide has recommedation for book, movies, glassware, homebrewing, draft equipment, neon signs, and beer.

Books

Reading and learning about beer can be almost as fun as consumption of beer. The following are some recommended books on the subject.

• Tasting Beer: An Insider’s Guide to the World’s Greatest Drink by Randy Mosher, is a good resource of flavors, styles, and breweries.
• The Brewmaster’s Table: Discovering the Pleasures of Real Beer with Real Food by Garrett Oliver, is a great guide to pairing beer with food.
• Ambitious Brew: The Story of American Beer by Maureen Ogle, is an interesting take on the history of beer in America.
• Christmas Beer: The Cheeriest, Tastiest, and Most Unusual Holiday Brews by Don Russell, is a fun book about holiday beer.
• Michael Jackson’s Great Beers of Belgium by Michael Jackson, is considered by some to be the bible of Belgian beer.
• Good Beer Guide Belgium by Tim Webb, is a great guide to beer, beer bars, restaurants an breweries in Belgium. I used this book daily on a recent trip to Belgium and found it indispensable. Unlike most travel books, this guide is still very useful after the trip due all of the information about Belgian beer. I especially like the “Find that Beer” index.
• Red, White, and Brew: An American Beer Odyssey by Brian Yaeger, is about a craft beer trek across America.
• Brewing Up a Business: Adventures in Entrepreneurship from the Founder of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery by Sam Calagione, is the story about how Sam Calagione started Dogfish Head Brewery and got it off the ground.
• A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage, is a view of world history from the standpoint of beverages such as beer.

The following are some great books on the subject of homebrewing.

• Extreme Brewing: An Enthusiast’s Guide to Brewing Craft Beer at Home by Sam Calagione, is full of interesting beer recipes and is targeted at the beginner and extract homebrewers. It does, however, have some a great chapter about beer pairings including several recipes for food using beer as an ingredient.
• The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian is a great resource for beginners that starts easy and leads you through all-grain brewing. It includes a bunch of recipes.
• Radical Brewing: Recipes, Tales and World-Altering Meditations in a Glass by Randy Mosher is one of my favorite homebrewing books. It has interesting recipes for both extract and all-grain brewers (some recipes are all-grain only) and the history behind many of the recipes in the book. A very solid homebrewing book and highly recommended.
• Designing Great Beers: The Ultimate Guide to Brewing Classic Beer Styles by Ray Daniels is for the advanced homebrewer with tons of details about several styles of beer.
• Clone Brews: Homebrew Recipes for 150 Commercial Beers by Tess Szamatulski has 150 recipes with partial-mash, extract, and all-grain versions of each.
• North American Clone Brews: Homebrew Recipes for Your Favorite American and Canadian Beers by Scott R. Russell has over 100 recipes, again for partial-mash, extract, and all-grain brewers.
• Dave Miller’s Homebrewing Guide: Everything You Need to Know to Make Great-Tasting Beer by David G. Miller is a good guide for all-grain brewers and explains all the different methods of mashing and how it works on a technical and scientific level.

Movies

Movies with a beer theme can be great fun to watch and the documentaries are informative. Here is a list of movies about beer.

• Strange Brew (1983) is a classic movie with Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas about trying to get a free case of beer.
• Beerfest (2006) (Blu-ray edition) is a new classic comedy about beer. Octoberfest, brewing, beer games competition, slapstick comedy, this beer movie has it all. Das Booooot!
• Beer Wars (2009) is a recent documentary about the beer industry and the 3-tier system of distribution.
• Artie Lange’s Beer League (2006)

Glassware

As craft beer lovers know, beer is always best poured into a glass and especially good if you can drink it from the preferred shaped glassware. Beer Advocate has a great guide to beer glassware.

• Pilsner glasses use these for all of your lagers and German style beer.
  
• Double walled Pilsner glasses, keep you beer colder in one of these and admire your beer in this interesting glass.
• Beer Goblet glasses for all of your big Belgian beers like strong, dubbel, tripel, etc.
• Beer Steins are great for American craft ales, English ales, Oktoberfest beer, Vienna lager, and dark lagers.
• Weizen glasses are frequently sold as pilsner glasses. Use them for your wheat beers.
• Double walled weizen glasses keep your beer colder longer and look cool too.
• Imperial pint glasses are great for just about any American or English ale.
• Snifters are good for the high gravity ales like barleywine and Belgian-styles.
• Tulip glasses are great at collecting and concentrating the aroma of the beer. I liket hem for almost all styles but they are traditionally best for Belgian style beer and double IPA.

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