Abbaye de Southwick

I’m starting to lose count of which day we’re on now… Pretty sure that it’s 9. As for many of the beers I’ve had in the last few days, this is another bottle that’s been hiding in the cellar for a couple of years now….

Lost Abbey twice in three days? Oh, go on then! This is a 13.5% imperial stout brewed with coffee and cacao nibs. It pours like you’d expect of a big impy stout; thick and syrupy with little in the way of a persistent head. The…

Boxing Day, still eating the leftovers and enjoying a day of excess. A Jester King beer and a saison are two of my favourite things, so I’ve been looking forwards to opening this one after dropping it from my lineup from last year. Even if…

A bit late getting this one in… it’s still Christmas Day though so it still counts for day 6. Lost Abbey Judgement Day Ale is a 10.5% Belgian quadruple. The cork leaves the bottle with quite a pop and the initial pour is reasonably lively,…

Christmas Eve, probably deserves a big bottle, so I’m opting for something I held back from last year. This is a Left Handed Giant and Independent Spirit of Bath collaboration, smoked imperial stout aged in whisky barrels… a very limited release of only 188 bottles….

Time to up the abv tonight, with a 13.2% smoked imperial porter with chipotle chillis. There’s a good fizz on cracking the cap off, pouring with a strong light brown head that falls back to an espresso-like crema that sticks around. There’s alcohol and smoke…

Friday night, it’s the end of the working year and day 3 of the 12 beers… time for a big bottle of Jolly Pumpkin. Described as a Belgian strong ale, 7.5% with Cacao, cinnamon and orange peel, it sounds like it should be ideal for…

There were a few Mikkeller contenders for my line-up this year, but this was the one that got the nod. It almost certainly could have had a couple more years hidden away, but it’s one that I’ve wanted to open for a while now. It…

Another year nearly done and it’s time to dig through the cellar for 12 special needs to accompany the festive season. This is the starting lineup; running order still undecided… Day 1 is from what seems to be a mandatory brewery for my 12 beers…