2nd Women who like Beer meetup Spiced up the evening!

Our 2nd meetup, Sugar and Spice and Everything nice was another success! 24 amazing beer loving women came and enjoyed some very tasty holiday brews~ This event had so many attendees that I had to close the event in order to have enough beer for all!

Let me just say, on a side note, what great, amazing women keep showing up! Everyone is so fantastic and it truly gives me great pleasure to talk to you all!

They were a vast range of styles and tastes, as most holiday beers are; due to the fact that the only thing that ties them all together is the fact that they all come out around the holidays to celebrate the season-  so they all should be impressive brews. Whether or not each one was loved by everyone is not the point- but each woman tried all of these great beers and found some that they truly loved as well as finding some that maybe wasn't quite their style (we are all different and have different taste buds!) but all in all enjoyed being able to try so many new different beers.

We talked about different pairings and which ones went well with:
Game, Roast Beef, Fruitcake, Irish Soda Bread, Cimonimo ( a ridiculously strong, creamy salty cheese from Italy), buttery cheeses, Burgers, Grilled meats, Sausage, nuts, vanilla ice cream, cuban cigars, sweet potato pie, stuffing, root vegetables, rice pudding, flan, and dark chocolate, just to name a few.

As well as fantastic places in San Francisco to buy these great beers, like the Jug Shop and City Beer to name a few..

We tried 12 beers, for the 12 days of Christmas and then 1 more 'special' beer was added to make it a baker's dozen....the 2008 Partridge in a Pear Tree.

We tried in order:
1-Jubelale by Deschutes 6.7%, Winter Warmer
2-Christmas Ale by Anchor (magnum) 5.5% ,Winter Warmer
3- Special Holiday Ale  (Collaboration between Stone Brewery, Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales and Nogne O) 8.5%, Winter Warmer
4- Chicory Stout by Dogfish Head 5.2%, Stout
5- Winter Ale by Nogne 0, 8.5%, Porter

6- Solstice d'hiver by Brasserie Du Ciel, 9.8%, Barley wine
7-Adoration by Ommegnag, 10%, Belgian Strong Dark Ale
8-N'Ice 2008 by Chouffe, 10%, Belgian Strong Dark Ale
9-Partridge in a Pear Tree by The Bruery, 11% Quadrupel,
10-2 Turtle Doves by The Bruery, 12%, Belgian Strong Dark Ale
11-Santa's Little Helper by Port Brewing, 10%, Russian Imperial Stout
12- Jewbelation Bar Mitzvah 13th Anniversary Ale, 13%, Russian Imperial Stout

13-Samichlaus, Castle Brewery, 14% Doppelbock

We also had some tasty treats to pair with these fine ales: Cranberry Stolen, dates, dried cranberries, apricot pistachio bread, truffle chocolate, wafers, honey, cheese curds, swiss cheese and candied nuts.

We also had a raffle for $2 where a lucky winner, Ashley, won a Magnum of Anchor's Christmas Ale, a 'Rate  that Beer' notepad and an awesome scarf/wrap I designed. Our 2nd runner up, Jillian, won a 3 year vertical of Old Stock Ale!

Some women even stayed to pour their own beer of Prohibition from our kegerator, while some were adventurous enough to try the pint of beer in which everyone poured out what they didn't like!

A jolly good time was had by all! I look forward to our next 2 meetups:
Belgian Beer and cheese pairing
Beer and Chocolate pairing (open to both men and women)

In the meantime, I will be enjoying some 2 Turtle Doves, Adoration  and Santa's Little helper....until I can't get anymore this year. I am still waiting for everyone's votes!

ON another side note, check out one of our attendee's write ups about this event:
www.sanfrancisconoobs.com
Casi, you are amazing! Thanks girl~

To see more photos from this meetup
click here.

2 Turtle Doves, and a Partridge in a Pear Tree

Ah, the beloved 12 Days of Christmas carol. I can just hear my mother's off pitch voice now.  You see, we have a family tradition around this song- (which my husband will find out about this year).  Someone gave my grandmother a set of plates where each plate was a verse from this song. Every year, we all had to sing our part at whichever verse our plates bestowed upon us before we ate. However, these plates had a flaw. Below each verse, say "8 Ladies Dancing", it says "...And a partridge in a pear tree". But you weren't suppose to sing this part, just the person who had the pear tree plate would sing that every time. Everybody knows this song. Each year it is chimed into our heads at each Walgreen's and Mall that we go to. Yet somehow, each year someone manages to sing the pear tree line out of order. It's usually the older folks at the table. Now matter how many years we sing this, it still happens. None of us younger folk ever want to be engaged in this forced holiday tradition yet we are still there singing our line- and everyone's usually off key. My father would classify this in our family, as our "Christmas Torture".  So seeing the name 2 Turtle Doves, around a Christmas Beer wouldn't usually entice me to buy it just because of my predisposed conception of this song. Yet reading the label-2 Turtle Doves, Belgian style dark ale brewed with cocoa nibs and toasted pecans and 12%- this seemed like something quite interesting to try.

It was a very deep mahogany color, almost black, with a good creamy mocha head. It had a slightly sour beer smell to it that was lost once you tasted it- a little sour beer tease if you ask me, but nonetheless delicious. It also smelled like a deep dark toasted chocolate and a hint of caramel...The first sip had a roasted nutty flavor...deep nutty malt that ends with a  chocolate kiss. It is absolutely full of flavor and pretty smooth for the strength. It's a fairly unique tasting beer and I highly recommend it to anyone. It's my idea of a perfect holiday brew- I am not a large fan of too much spice- but cocoa nibs and toasted pecans are very holiday for me!  Each year The Bruery releases a new version to this song, with last year's version being "A Partridge in a Pear Tree", which was a Quadruppel, 12%, brewed with their own dark candy sugar, and a completely different beer. I am quite satisfied with this year's version and look forward to what they put out for the 3 French Hens next year. This is the type of Holiday Christmas Carol tradition  I can enjoy-

Get yours at City Beer- $11.99- while they last and impress your friends at your holiday table.