Happy Hanukkah Beer Geeks!

It's time for the Festival of Lights, people! 8 days of lighting candles, gift giving, and spending time with the family....or so many of us goyim like to think. I know the holiday is more than that, but those of us that were raised in homes with a christian sleight like to think it's close to our holiday equivalent. it's not, but it's close enough to the fake birthday of the Christ for all the ignorant goys out there to think it's relative.

As secular a lifestyle I represent, there are still many things to look forward to during the holiday season. Namely, holiday and winter seasonal brews. But for all the beers out there with Santa and Krampus on the label reppin' the holidays, I'm surprised I never taken the time to wonder why Hanukkah beers are sorely lacking on the market. Thankfully, I'm a godless liberal who subscribes to NPR on my Facebook news feed, and chances are you may be too. Just in case your not though, NPR released a nice reader-and-listener friendly article mere hours ago about the growing Hanukkah holiday beer market, and a little bit of background on Jewish brewing for those history buffs out there. It's a short article, but a good read and relative to the subject of this website.


 NPR - With Hanukkah Microbrews, A Taste of Jewish History

Clown Shoes Clementine (Mass)

I have long been a fan wheat beers. Ever since the first time I poured a Weihenstephaner down my gullet at the Boulevard Tavern all those years ago, wheat beers have always been my go-to session drink when I'm not pinching pennies on peebers. So it should be no surprise that my first time trying a beer from Clown Shoes, it was likely to be a wheat beer. Or at least that's the excuse I'm using even though it had more to do with my budget. Honestly, if I had the cash flow, I probably would have went with the Muffin Top for the sheer humor value.

I poured my $3.00 bottle of Clementine after a long two hours running around North Brooklyn looking to fill up a couple of growlers. An activity that takes up close to 3 hours of my obviously exhausting week. Since I'm a bit limited in the glassware department, I used the old standard...the 16 oz. pint glass! Clementine pours exactly how I would expect a what beer named as such, golden yellow with orange hues. The head quickly dissipates, which is probably one of the least disappointing things I find when I'm about to rate a beer. As much as I find the scent appealing, Clementine's being heavy on the citrus(to me it was of sweet oranges), the aspect I most care about when drinking a beer is the actual taste. I'm sure most beer geeks can agree with me. "Grapefruits!" was my first thought after taking the first sip, most likely due to the bitter surprise that the hops gave. As the beer settled, the citrusy bitterness stopped being so apparent, and I the sweetness of the oranges I found it the scent became much more defined. Seeing that it was only 3 O'Clock in the afternoon on a weekday, I took my time with this brew, which was a good thing, but I could easily see my self polishing off a sixer of Clementine at a BBQ or any other warm weather drinking session. Not to say that I won't be drinking any this winter since I don't really discriminate based on the season. Wheat beer is good year round.

Would I take Clown Shoes over Weihenstephaner? Most definitely not, but there are several beer bars in NYC that only cater to craft brews, and right now Clown Shoes is on everybody's beer menu in the City, most likely because it's slightly regional. Regardless, it would be a nice replacement when my wheat beer of choice was not available. I'm sure Clown Shoes Clementine will be getting a session or pub revisit from me in the near future.

Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron

Sometimes it's hard to to grasp just how much the craft beer market has evolved in such a short amount of time in terms of ABV percentage. It was only about a decade ago that the highest grade micro available on the common market, at least in my neck of the woods, was the Trouble Bag at 8%. Back then, all it took for me to consider myself a beer snob was to indulge in Guinness, Bass, and Franziskaner in between some pretty severe PBR sessions. I didn't really hold the craft beer market in such high regard, even though I came from an Old New England town with a long brewing history (Portsmouth,NH). It wasn't until the Double Bag that my my interest in high test, and therefore craft brew, really to a grasp.

Fast-forward 3 years - Dogfish Head 60 and 90 Minute IPA's become readily available in the NH Seacoast and I'm hooked, over the next year after discovery I hear rumors of a 12% ABV. I must have it!

2 more years - Upon arriving in NYC I am finally able to indulge in the sweet nectar that is the 120 Minute IPA. At 10 bucks a bottle, it's a rare treat.

Today - By this point, I rarely drink anything under 7-8% ABV, unless it's session drinking. Even then, I try to stay away from the old standards like PBR if I can help it. By this point, Dogfish Head has produced a 15% beer that is still cheaper than the seasonally-released 120 Minute. But there is a new 12 percenter in town and it goes by the name Palo Santo Marron.



I cracked open the Palo Santo Marron for a Saturday morning breakfast a couple of weeks ago after a long night out on the town. I find that beer is a perfect accompaniment to my double-meat breakfast sandwich that is an almost daily staple, especially when feeling a bit hungover. Poured into a pint glass, I was immediately impressed by how dark this particular brown ale was. With it's dark coffee head, that doesn't last very long at all. It poured more like a porter or stout. As baffled as I was, after tasting I was not going to be doing much complaining. Chocolate malty goodness with a fair alcohol presence, in both taste and smell. I found that the brew tasted best about halfway through when the vanilla started to become more prevalent. This tells me that next time I should let the bottle sit out of the fridge for about 20 minutes before I crack it open.

At 12% ABV, Palo Santo Marron is not a session beer, but knocking back 1 or 2 while relaxing is not going to kill you. In fact, I find that it makes a whole afternoon of marathon TV that much more relaxing, as well as eliminating a hangover better than an Advil. While cheaper than the 120 Minute, drinking a whole 4-pack to your head could put a damper in your plans, if you have any. As far as the label art is concerned, it's a standard Dogfish Head logo with some funky colors added to distinguish it from anything else in the flagship. Nothing worth noting. I feel the Dogfish Head has made such a name for themselves in recent years that they don't even need a flashy label to sell beer, the name speaks for itself. The Palo Santo Marron does a really good job representing the company.