Unfortunately Stacey and Lauren both got the plague, but Shawn from Bourbon and Bad Opinions and Brett from Wine & Pop Tarts both stepped in to fill their seats. We get a winner in our GBS Christmas movie bracket, go another round with our Bowl Mania pick’em, discuss the merits of losing two Lexington iconic buildings and more!
Listen to “Episode 91 Christmas Vacation for the Win” on Spreaker.
Episode 90 is LIT! It’s our first crossover episode from the Fort Lewis Podcast Productions family of podcasts with Shawn from Bourbon and Bad Opinions joining is in the fourth chair. We talk about the merits of Raf, Transylvania University’s new bat mascot, pick the other side of Christmas bracket and dive into GBS Bowl Mania pick’ems. We also drink some seriously high gravity beer and things get a little crazy. How crazy? Yeah you’ll just have to listen.
Listen to “Episode 90 Girls, Beer and Bad Opinions” on Spreaker.
The sharin’ beer this week is a good one from Stone Brewing. This is a great seasonal beer from them, even Shawn who doesn’t really drink beer liked it. It’s inspired by Mexican Hot Chocolate, which, if you’ve never had it do yourself a favor and find some. You could definitely taste where the inspiration for this beer came from. It has a really great balance of chocolate, vanilla and spice. Highly recommend picking this up if you see it anywhere.
Leigh got on the high gravity train this week with New Day’s special barrel aged release of Johnny Chapman. Leigh has had the original Johnny Chapman on the show before and really liked it. In fact we can’t say enough about all the products New Day makes, especially the Magpie Breakfast, a must try by them. Unlike the original Johnny Champman this is made with molasses and aged in bourbon barrels, thus making it clock in at 12%. The flavor of this is interesting, due to the fact that there is a distinct molasses taste to it, but it isn’t overly sweet. Leigh could also definitely taste the bourbon. At 12% you may want to share this one, although Leigh did drink the whole thing by herself, you’ll have to listen the episode to see how that played out.
Bourbon and Bad Opinions (podcast) co-host Shawn sat in the fourth chair this week and even though he isn’t a big beer drinker he did get into the spirit of the show with Against the Grain’s Sho Nuff golden ale. We’ve had Against the Grain products in the past, they make great beer and we can’t say enough about their fabulous can art. At 4.9% this isn’t a heavy hitter, but if you’re already missing summer this would be the beer to drink in front of the fire while you pretend it’s 90 degrees out. You can absolutely have more than one, so treat yo self with sho nuff.
Lauren brought the high gravity thunder this week with her choice of Avery brewing’s the Nuttiest Professor. She didn’t go the Leigh route and drink this one by herself, at 15% she never would have made it through the show. This is from Avery’s barrel aged series, a barrel aged imperial peanut stout, it didn’t deliver on peanutiness as much as it did on booziness. In fact when first poured it was pretty thick, not a ton of peanut flavor on this one, but you will definitely taste the bourbon. As with a lot of barrel aged beers this one didn’t quite deliver what it promised in terms of balance and overall flavor. Even at half the bottle though, the 15% treated Lauren right, again you’ll just have to listen to see how that turned out.
Buying strictly on name only, Carrie ended up with Left Hand Brewing’s Wake Up Dead Nitro Russian Imperial Stout. We really like Left Hand Brewing’s Milk Stout, but this one was a little disappointing. Not sure if it was the nitro or what, but it was almost to smooth for a Russian Imperial Stout. There just wasn’t the flavor that you would get with this style of beer. When you drink a Russian Stout you want a nice dark beer that has caramel and roasted malt notes, which just didn’t come through in this one. Maybe drinking it at room temperature instead of cold may help bring out that flavor. Might be worth picking up if you want a darker beer without the thickness of a typical Russian Imperial Stout.
In this episode we are all over the place with topics. We drink Christmas beer in 64 degree weather, talk about the laughing stock that is the Tennessee coaching search,, discuss weather or not we care about Prince Harry getting engaged, talk about the fact that Odell Beckham paid the LSU band director to play a song and pick the Army v Navy game. Most importantly though we pick the first side of our Christmas movie bracket. Why does Lauren hate White Christmas so much and what’s Carrie’s problem with It’s A Wonderful Life? You’ll just have to listen to find out.
Listen to “Episode 89 Home Alone vs Charlie Brown” on Spreaker.
The sharin’ beer this week comes all the way from Jolly ol’ England, which is probably appropriate since we discussed the future marriage of Prince Harry. Ridgeway Brewing’s Reindeer’s Revolt is an English Christmas Ale with a really great label. The beer itself is good, but Stacey, Lauren and Carrie all had different opinions on the flavor. Carrie felt like this was a standard English Ale, a little bitter, but with none of the flavors of what you might expect in a Christmas Ale. Lauren and Stacey liked the beer and thought it had a nice carmel flavor and did evoke some notes of Christmas ale. Either way this is a solid beer with a great label, it is an import so if you can find it it’s worth picking up, especially if you like English Ales.
Leigh’s voice was on the outs this week so instead of beer or cider she chose to go with the drink of choice for many people suffering with throat trouble or anyone who happens to be an Ole Miss fan, the Hot Toddy. The classic drink consists of tea, honey, lemon and bourbon. Leigh had the bourbon (Jim Beam), the tea and the honey. Unfortunately you need to get the proportions in this drink correct or else it just isn’t gonna taste right. Leigh didn’t and even though she finished it, it wasn’t great. It’s still a classic drink though, even if you aren’t having throat trouble and you’re just looking for an adult hot beverage.
Stacey’s choice this week comes from MadTree Brewing, we can’t say enough about MadTree, they just keep brewing up delicious beer. Thunder Snow is not only a weather phenomenon, but it’s also a spiced Scottish Ale. If you’re looking for an alternative to Christmas Ales this might be the beer that you are looking for. It has a good spice flavor that is balanced nicely by the carmel flavor of the Scottish Ale. Add this one to your winter beer list and not just for the name.
We were all in on the Christmas/Winter Ales this week and Lauren’s pick was no exception. Abita Brewing’s Christmas Ale is another seasonal beer with a great label. Lauren liked the beer, but found it a bit hoppy for her taste. If you’re looking for a Christmas Ale that has some hop flavor to balance out those spices pick up some Abita Christmas Ale.
To finish out the Christmas theme this week, Carrie’s pick comes from Great Lakes Brewing, their Christmas Ale brewed with spices and honey is a very good beer in this style. The spices and honey are evident, but not overpowering like you get from some Christmas Ales. If you like this style of beer it’s definitely a recommend, if Christmas Ale’s aren’t your thing we still suggest trying this one, it might change your mind.
Girls, Beer, Sports 