If you happen to stop by the store I buy beer for, West Concord W & S, I bought some new beer that I'm pretty excited about, so I figured I'd give you a quick run down.

1st, The Bruery's 5 Golden Rings, there series of beers made in the vain of the 12 Days of Christmas, is the 5th of their winter seasonals. Its a Belgian Strong ale that packs a serious holiday punch. At 11.5% abv, it's a beer brewed with a nice touch of pineapple juice plus cinnamon, allspice and ginger. 

2nd, Professor Fritz Briem Grodziskie. Who is Professor Fritz? Well, he's the technology Director at Doemens Institute, but most importantly he has a PhD from Weihenstephan, and was a member of the technical and research staff there. He's obsessed with recreating historically accurate beers based on the Forgotten styles brewed according to German Purity Law. Grodziskie or Grätzer is a Sour Smoked Wheat Ale that was brewed in the 1900s in East Prussia and dates back to as early as the 15th century. It was named after the Polish town of Grodzisk Wielkopolski or Grätz in German. It's brewed with air-dried barley malt & beech smoked wheat malt then hopped with Perle & Saaz hops. A sour mash is created using the old and forgotten technique called “Digerieren”. Digerieren in german means to digest, but simply is a technique to acidify your malt mash making it a softer but tarter beer. This leads to a light yet tart beer clocking in at about 4% alcohol but huge on taste. I love Fritz's 1809 Berliner Weisse and have never had a Grodziskie, so I am pumped to have this beer. 

3rd, Mikkeller Funky Easter. Mikkeller is the danish equivalent to Pretty Things here in Massachusetts. Very simply, Mikkel Borg Bjergsø doesn't tie himself down by having a specific brewery to brew in, so his travels take him to great breweries where he can strive to create unique and wonderful beer. Funky Easter is just that. Brewed at De Proef Brewery Funky Easter is a Belgian Wild Ale made at a brewery that makes some of the best Wild Ales I've ever tasted. Simple Brettanomyces cultures make Funky Easter alive and this beer will continue to develop in the bottle for years to come. 

4th, The Best Stout made in Ireland has nothing what-so-ever to do with Guinness. Porterhouse's Oyster Stout is made with freshly shucked oysters right into the conditioning tank giving it a sweetness that can't be described in simple words. It's a beer that needs to be tasted. And while it's a little expensive, but you'll pay for a dozen oysters, and this is a hundred oysters conditioned down into an amazingly delicious stout. 

Lastly, Huvila Brewery ESB is our only Finnish beer in our store. Described as "a dark brown strong bitter, robustly hopped with Goldings hops. The aroma is fruity and warming, the taste is full and complex, with a long, hoppy and bitter after taste." I love trying beer from other countries, because regional malts all have slightly different tastes, where a British pale ale has totally different taste than american or german or anywhere else. I bought this beer for that reason. A chance to try a beer from a country I've never had a beer from before, to see how a brewer in Finland makes an ESB compared to anywhere else. This is the joy of beer in general for me anyways. 

I'm sure reviews for all of these will come soon.