Brewelist Advent Calendar Day 25: DuClaw Brewing Company Sweet Baby Jesus

Here we are, on the final day of the Brewelist Advent Calendar! It’s been a full twenty-five days of games, beer and sharing, which is what the season is all about.

The beer that inspired this entire project is about to be reviewed – Sweet Baby Jesus from DuClaw Brewing Company. So steal a few seconds, grab a cold one and read on.

Where to find it: Mid Atlantic Region Supermarkets, Beer Shops, Gas Stations, etc.

ABV: 6.2%

Style: Porter

Availability: Year-Round

Taste/Smell: The beer smells and tastes like dark chocolate. If you remember the dark chocolate Reese’s cups, that’s pretty much what it’s like. The beer is thick and dark and offers both flavors without being sweet at all. You may be left with some bitter notes but they do not detract from the overall flavor.

Rating (out of 10): 9/10

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year from the Brewelist Crew!

Brewelist Advent Calendar Day 24: Ellicottville Brewing Co.’s Lloyds Christmas Ale

Lloyd’s Christmas Ale – Festively brewed ale with fresh ginger and fig.

Where to find it: They distribute locally near the brewery and to select locations in New York and Pennsylvania. You can find their distribution map here: http://www.ellicottvillebrewing.com/find-us/find-our-breweries-retailers-and-distributors/

ABV: 8%

Style: Belgian Brown Ale

Availability: seasonally in the winter

Taste/Smell: Smell- this had a very light and airy smell with a hint of ginger. Not a lot of extra flavor going on here. You can get some of the fig, just because it’s a unique flavor that isn’t normally in beer. The ginger was there, but just as a slight “bite” on your tongue.

Rating (out of 10): 7 out of 10 but this is the first year they’ve released it, so expect some tweaking of the recipe in the years to come.

Lloyds Christmas Ale

Brian Beer God: Please follow me on Facebook and on my website to see more great pictures and read more reviews on your favorite brews.

Brewelist Advent Calendar Day 19: Blue Point Brewing Company Blueberry Ale

I first had this beer over the Summer, when fruity beer and shandys are all the rage. I had wanted to try something that was imbued with Blueberry flavoring, as it’s one of my favorite fruits and why not just mix it into alcohol? After trying a lot of disappointing offerings, I came across the Blue Point Brewing Company Blueberry Ale and just loved it. I had one and then went out and bought a six pack. It has the right kind of fruit to malt ratio that it’s competitors didn’t offer. As of right now, I have not found a better Blueberry beer.

Brewery Name/Location: Blue Point Brewing Company, Long Island NY

ABV: 4.60%

Style: Frut/Vegetable Beer

Where to find: Your local beer Store

When to find: Seasonal

Taste/Smell: Tastes like a blueberry pie and smells like your grandma’s house if she was someone who baked pies. Otherwise it just smells like a nice bake shop.

Rating (out of 10): 9/10

Blue Point Brewing Company Blueberry Ale

Brewelist Advent Calendar Day 23 – Naught Reawakening and Silversmith Brewing Black Lager

On the 23rd day of Advent, we bring you Naught Awakening and Black Lager from Silversmith Brewing! This episode of the podcast goes through an unusual pairing of craft beer and indie game. Enjoy the episode below and let us know what you think!

Grab the game on STEAM or on Mobile devices and the brew exclusively at Silversmith Brewing.

Check our Facebook page for updates, along with our Twitter and Instagram. We also have an UnTappd account where you can see what we’re drinking; and you can catch us on iTunes for your listening pleasure.

Any ideas you have for a game to play and a drink to go along with it? Email us: brewelist@gmail.com.

Stay Thirsty and Play Indie!

~Casey and Jackie

Brewelist Advent Calendar Day 21: Kona Brewing Company Pipeline Porter

Beer: Pipeline Porter

Brewery Name/Location: Kona Brewing Company, Hawaii

ABV: 5.3%

Style: Porter

Where to find: Beers of The World, Wegmans

Taste/Smell: Rich Earth flavor, with a light coffee scent.

Thoughts: When my company sent me on a day trip to California I found a brewing company called Kona Brewing Company and had some of the most amazing beer I have ever had with Koko Brown. I hunted and hunted for it in Rochester with no luck before finding Kona’s Longboard Lager which was a good beer from this company. Viewing Kona’s selection this winter I was excited to find they brought a new beer to the Rochester area, the Pipeline Porter. This may be the best beer from Kona yet, made using coffee beans from Kona Coffee, which may be the best coffee bean out there. The coffee flavor is quite strong and earth, but really makes this beer a great porter from the Kona Brewing Company. One things for sure, Hawaii sure knows how to do drinks right, so take some time to grab a 6 pack and your longboard, and go ride the pipeline.

Rating (out of 10): 9/10

 

By: Jake Duell, @snakesbeard

Brewelist Advent Calendar Day 22: Mr. Jump destroys your life, in a good way

You know those games that you become addicted to instantly but they are extremely frustrating to the point where you want to throw your controller at the screen but then pick it back up and beat the level? That’s the same thing that happens when you play Mr. Jump for the first or the fiftieth time. It’s an extremely fun game, but it’s brutal. It took me a long time to beat the first level and I’ve been stuck on Level 2 for weeks. Why do I keep playing it when I can’t get anywhere? Because there is a beauty in the simplicity of a game where a guy just jumps around and avoids spikes and pitfalls. It hearkens back to a simpler time in gaming where you didn’t have to invest 60 hours just to get to the end. You pick it up, you get pissed, you cheer when you beat a level, and you go about your day. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Publisher: 1Button

Genre: Platformer

Where to get it: App Store

Platform: iOs

Rating (out of 10): 9/10

Brewelist Advent Calendar Day 13: Journey

I have never used the term ‘existential puzzler’ to describe a game, but that’s just what Journey is. It’s an experience in gaming that I will never forget and I can’t talk enough about how amazing it is. I’ll give you the advice that was given to me when I went to play it: Turn off the lights,

Publisher: Thatgamecompany

Genre: Puzzler

Where to get it: Playstation Network

Platform: Playstation 3/4

Brewelist Advent Calendar Day 20: Goldeneye and 007 Undercover IPA from Lost Borough Brewing Company

Goldeneye can be found on the Wii Store, while Screencheat is on STEAM. You can find the brew only if you head over to Lost Borough Brewing here in Rochester, NY.

Check our Facebook page for updates, along with our Twitter and Instagram. We also have an UnTappd account where you can see what we’re drinking; and you can catch us on iTunes for your listening pleasure.

Any ideas you have for a game to play and a drink to go along with it? Email us: brewelist@gmail.com.

Stay Thirsty and Play Indie!

~Casey and Jackie

Brewelist Advent Calendar Day 18: Flying Bison’s Bison Warmer

Where to find it: They distribute locally near the brewery and to Western, NY. Outside of that their distribution is unknown (not listed on their website)

ABV: n/a

Style: Winter Warmer

Availability: seasonally in the winter

Taste/Smell: Lots of malts going on with this. But that’s typical of a winter warmer. A slight roastiness with a lot of background flavors going on here I can’t pinpoint.

Rating (out of 10): 8 out of 10

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Brian Beer God: Please follow me on Facebook and on my website to see more great pictures and read more reviews on your favorite brews.

Brewelist Advent Calendar Day 17: Rocket League

I’m not usually a sports game player. I have never owned a Madden or NBA 2K game. I believe outside of Tecmo Superbowl and the Mutant League series, I don’t have any vast knowledge of that genre in gaming. All of that being said, I had heard the hype surrounding Rocket League and I knew that I had to play this game. It looked like a ton of fun in the videos and with the port to PS4, I tried it out. Let me just say, that I was instantly addicted and couldn’t stop playing. The colors are bright and vibrant, the gameplay is fast and furious, and the fun-factor is through the roof. Psyonix is constantly adding more features and DLC to the game. They recently even added the DELOREAN from Back to the Future!

Get this game for yourself, get it for your friends and family, and pair it with anything brew keeps you excited and happy!

Publisher: Psyonix Games

Genre: Sports!

Where to get it: Steam, Playstation Network, soon coming to Xbox One

Platform: PC/Mac, PS4

Rating (out of 10): 10/10