Bison Barleywine, Bison Brewing Company, San Francisco California

Well, I'm not sure if you are able to get your hot little hands on this wonderful Barleywine - They only brew 1200 cases a year and I'm not sure how far their distribution reaches (us Portlanders are blessed with a fair supply of their beers). I highly recommend this barleywine style ale - in fact I've had a few Bison beers and recommend them all. And with this next sample - I stand by my enthusiastic support. Let's try it out....

It pours a dark toffee color with a tight caramel colored head.

The aroma is dominated by sweet sweet malt.

The taste is subtle up front. A mild ale/alcohol taste that leads into a full malt body. This all leads to a bitter end with toffee tones that lingers nicely.

The aftertaste is big malty sweetness with substantial bitterness.

All - in - all it is truthfully a little sweeter than I personally enjoy. I still recommend it heartily.

It is 9.5% with 85 IBU's.

Cheers!

Gingerbread Ale, Bison Brewing Company, San Francisco California

Our next beer comes from Bison Brewing Company and I raved about their Pumpkin ale this year - let's see how their Christmas seasonal holds up....The name Gingerbread Ale deterred me at first, as any idea of flavoring beer is a challenging proposition for me, which rarely proves successful, but my last experience with Bison was so good, let's do it!

It pours opaque with a big head.

The aroma is mild gingerbread, lots of malt. There is mild sweetness. Vague cinnamon is there as well.

The taste is big roasty malt. It is very mild in it's spice. The gingerbread is very very mild - I actually think the pumpkin ale was more gingerbready than this ale. It has a full body, and the malt is very biscuit. The spice is mostly cinnamon, but it's very late on the palate.

The aftertaste is mildly sweet and slightly cookie-ish.

All in all, it is a solid ale. I'm not sure it's as gingerbread-y as I imagined it would be, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's a big roasty beer that is a great sipper around the fire.

21 IBU's with 2-Row, Caramel, Chocolate, Roast Barley, and Black malts. I found mine at Belmont Station. I've seen it at a few grocery stores such as Whole Foods.

Cheers!