Bah Humbug
Wychwood Brewing Co
Winter Warmer
5.0% ABV
It is Christmas day, the final day of my Beer Advent(ure). This, the Bah Humbug, is an excellent selection on which to finish. I had high expectations for this beer, given the fact that I've yet to encounter a Wychwood brew I didn't like. The Bah Humbug does not disappoint. With a smooth flavor and hints of caramel, it provides more flavor than its 5.0% ABV would suggest. The part of me that loves Doppelbocks is the part of me that likes this beer. It's certainly worth giving it a try of its own accord. But if you also like Doppelbocks but are looking to mix things up a bit, give this drink a try. It is the 28th beer of this experiment, and it was an excellent choice for the final bow.
Since this is the last beer in my Advent(ure), I feel I should also take a moment to reflect on the journey. It's been fun. I really enjoyed drinking all of these beers (even the ones I didn't like very much) and taking a few moments to write at least a paragraph about how I feel about each. Not every blogpost was a masterpiece, but being in it for the long-haul, I didn't push myself too hard if I didn't have anything more interesting to say. In retrospect, I stand by that decision. If I were to do this again, I might think ahead a bit about the structure of the posts rather than winging it on a day-to-day basis.
I was surprised by two things. First, setting aside time to drink one beer at home each day was more challenging than I anticipated. If I was going out with friends, I had to decide whether to drink the beer before going out or after. In some cases, before wasn't an option due to other scheduling constraints. On more than one occasion, I got home rather late but still pushed myself to open that night's beer and write a post. On some of those nights, I didn't even finish the beer (sacrilege, I know). Drinking beer should never be an obligation. If I do this again, I'll need to plan ahead better -- and maybe be okay with missing a day here and there.
The second surprise was that, part-way through, I started to get a little burned out on Belgian beer. I love Belgian beer. I really love Belgian beer. But there was a stretch there where I'd had too many Trappist and Belgian styles in a row, and they all started to blend together. It was hard to really appreciate one when it was not radically different from one I'd had a couple nights previously. I started the Advent(ure) with a fair amount of Belgian beer in the line-up for two reasons: 1) I love Belgian Beer and 2) it's easier to buy single bottles of European beer than it is of American beer. This taught me that it's worth spending the extra effort finding a bottle shop that offers more kinds of beer in single bottles, and that while I love Belgian Beer, I love diversity of beer even more. Next time around, if I still struggle to find single bottles of US beer, I may lean more heavily on German and English beers.
Despite those two surprises, I'm still very happy to have given this a try. It's been a fun ride, and not one I plan to abandon altogether. Stay tuned for what comes next.
The Beers of Advent:
- Andechs Doppelbock Dunkel
- Westmalle Dubbel
- Golden Draak
- Piraat
- Leffe Blonde
- Primator Double Bock
- Delirium Tremens
- Rochefort 8
- Bah Humbug
- Weihenstephaner Korbinian
- Rochefort 6
- Chimay Premiere (Red)
- Big Butte Porter
- Lost Abbey Agave Maria
- Weihenstephaner Kristall Weissbier
- Chimay Cinq Cents (White)
- Trois Pistoles
- Krusovice Imperial
- Hobgoblin
- Orval
- Lost Abbey Inferno Ale
- La Fin Du Monde
- Belzebuth
- Santa's Little Helper
- 1349
- J.W. Lees
- London Velvet
- Lost Abbey Track #8
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