Brewdog Santa Paws Cranberry & Grapefruit IPA

Number 4 of 12 in the Brewdog Holiday Variety Pack. Unless most variety 12 packs that offer at most 6 different beers, Brewdog includes 12 different beers in their holiday selection. Tonight's special will be Santa Paws, a IPA made with grapefruit and cranberry. Not everything in this 12 pack could be classified specifically as "holiday", "Christmas" or "Winter", but in my opinion, Santa Paws fits the description. Santa Paws pours a hazy ripe apricot hue, with a two-finger white head, its 6.5% ABV puts it in the range for an American IPA, but I couldn't find any reference to the IBUs, although if I had to guess, I would put it in the 45-55 range. It's hoppy enough, but the fruit flavoring hides the bitterness somewhat. The cranberry gives it that holiday feel, balanced perfectly by the citrus bite of the grapefruit. Not earth-shaking, but a solid representative of the IPA style. 
 

Brewdog Hoppy Christmas IPA

This creators of this variety pack have proved to be hops enthusiasts! Tonight's selection is Hoppy Christmas, a "Christmas IPA". Now when I see a beer billed as a "Christmas" or a "Winter" ale, I expect there to be some kind of flavoring, usually spices of some description, but Hoppy Christmas is nothing of the sort, it's just a very, very hoppy India Pale Ale. And by very, very, hoppy, I mean 66 IBUs. It's also got an ABV of 6%. Now, don't think that the lack of added spices is a knock on this excellent brew, just that it's not what I expected - I suppose hops look a little like tiny Christmas trees, so I guess that's the connection...other than the holiday-themed label. Despite the absence of anything the Reinheitsgebot would disapprove of, there's a lot of complexity and shades of various flavors brought out by the malt and the hops. Pineapple, pine, apricot, lemon, grapefruit, tangerine, and orange peel. Even though the hoppiness is a robust 66 IBUs, it's not astringent or overpowering. Overall a pretty decent IPA, albeit without anything remotely Christmassy about it. 
 

Brewdog Jet Black Heart Espresso Oatmeal Milk Stout

Beer #3 in the winter seasonal pack from Brewdog, tonight's offering is called Jet Black Heart - Espresso; it's a nitro oatmeal milk stout. It poured, just as the name implies, jet black, with what I call the reverse waterfall effect with the head taking up the whole glass, swirling around as it ebbs to a creamy, tan, two-finger head. The consistency is like chocolate milk, and there's a definite suggestion of chocolate milk in the mélange of flavors. Of course, again as the name indicates, there's a whiff of strong coffee. Not as obvious is the presence of notes of dark fruits: figs, dates, black cherries; and some brown sugar. This is without a doubt in the top tier of milk stouts - IGB gives it a 9.25 on the Stout Scale. 

 

Brewdog Hazy Jane New England Style IPA

For the second of twelve, I thought I go for the IPA without the added fruit flavoring. I probably should have started off with this one, before sampling the mango or peach, just to get a good baseline, but time travel just is too energy intensive. 

As advertised, Hazy Jane pours extremely...well...hazy. I dipped a toy hockey stick in it and could barely see it through all the cloudiness. It pours an apricot hue, with a fuzzy white three-finger head. Without the distraction of the added fruit flavor, the complexity comes through. Pineapple, apricot, citrus, tangerine. The hop character is piney, but not very bitter. It's also brewed with oats and wheat, although the ratio of those two grains to the total isn't specified, but oats tend to give a beer a creamier, heavier character. I wasn't overly impressed with the mango version, but my opinion of the underlying ale just went up after sampling this one. There's a Hazy Jane Peach to still try, but I'd gave the basic Hazy Jane an 8 on the IGB IPA scale. 
 

Brewdog Hazy Jane Mango New England Style IPA

Hazy Jane Mango IPA from Brewdog is the first from the holiday 12-pack. It's billed as a New England style India Pale Ale - I had to look up what that meant: in contrast to the West Coast IPA, which is dry, very hoppy/bitter, with dank piney notes, a New England IPA is purposely cloudy or hazy, has a creaminess not found in its West Coast cousin, and has a hop profile that is less bitter and leans more to a tropical profile, rather than citrus-y or piney. The base beer,

Hazy Jane IPA fits the bill, with little overt bitterness and hints of pineapple, mango, peach and lime. The mango version, naturally brings mango to the head of the line. When I first poured this ale, I immediately caught a whiff of the tropical fruit notes from the hops, as well as the mango itself. It's not a bolt from the blue, but this beer is a pretty solid IPA which should appeal, not only to the IPA novice, but to the pale ale veteran who doesn't see the point in a hop level that removes the enamel from your teeth and the paint from your car. 

 

Zipline Calavera Stout

There's not going to be a lot in this review; Calavera uses the previously reviewed The Stout as the base beer, but has added cinnamon, vanilla, cocoa and a reduction drawn from various Mexican chiles. I'm not detecting the cinnamon, but the vanilla & cocoa are definitely evident, but the chiles are coming on strong. Pretty unique brew. The 13.8% ABV makes it a slow sipper. 
 

Zipline Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout (THE Stout)

Russian Imperial Stout aged in bourbon barrels. What could be better? Nothing's better on a cold Nebraska evening than a Nebraska-brewed black beauty. THE Stout pours midnight black...I swear it looked like an oil well had snuck into the brewery. The head is negligible, hah! who needs it anyway? The ABV is a respectable 13.8%, which imparts a comfortable alcohol heat, releasing the bourbon flavor as well. It's smooth and creamy, and very complex. Chocolate, black cherry, figs, molasses, a teeny hint of oak, and vanilla all compete for attention...but they're gentlemen about it, not brawlers. 9.5/10 on the IGB stout scale.