Volume 8 Issue 13
By Mark Mykkanen

Our December meeting certainly was an enjoyable way to end the year. 14 members showed, sharing everything from Pilsners to Meads. Tim even presented his PID controller for finely tuning his lagers during our Minnesota winters.

Owen started the evening with a batch we've all seen before, his Propensity Pilsner. We all seemed to regard it as mellowing some since our last tasting.

Jerry shared his American Ale from a Northern Brewer's kit. Shared previously 2 months ago, this time it was sweet to the taste.

Moving into Lager territory, Tim shared his two-year-old Amber Lager. Very good for a closet cleaner. Paul said that it "brought silence to the room."

Speaking of Paul, he shared some Hatherwood Premium English Bitter. Unfortunately, this one had a questionable skunky aroma.

Adding to the unusual taste, I shared my Pumpkin Ale. Made in October, I was afraid that it might've been infected. Turned out, everyone thought it was just too diluted. I asked everyone what could be done with such a beer, and they said I could blend it with another beer.

Moving along, Larry the popular St. Pauli Girl. A great tasting lager and a beautiful spokesmodel...check out the website!

Next, Brent shared the classic Premium from Grain Belt, which seemed to take everyone back to their teenage (drinking) years...

Owen must've been in the giving mood, for he shared yet another brew, his "Beer from April". I thought it had a nice, smooth taste.

Sweetening things a bit, Robert P. brought in his Maple Syrup Mead, made with 12-13 lbs. honey and champagne yeast. It was delicious and sweet. Apparently, some were still passing around my Pumpkin Ale and thought it blended well with the mead. However, I don't think they realized that they were blending beers.

On the topic of meads, Paul shared the Tower of London's own mead. Mixed with brandy, this delicious mead topped out at 12.5% alc. Richard commented on the taste of raw honey, with the hypothesis that it was stopped with honey added later.

Since it was our holiday month, I shared some Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. At 6.8% alc., I thought it held a bitter grapefruit taste.

Towards the end of the evening, Peter shared a quality Riesling kit from Brew & Grow. This wine was straight juice with an off-dry taste pleasing to some members' dry palates.

Richard shared another sampling of his sweet and delicious Strawberry wine.

On to the dark beers, Wade shared the very German Beck's Dark. It had a nice, bold taste.

Bruce added to our dark sampling with Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout.

Greg K. shared the extraordinary Bells Expedition Stout, which was very thick and sweet. Blue Max carries it for $14/6 pack.

To complete a fine year, Greg shared his legendary '95 X-mas Barley wine. This one was far too excellent to describe in words.