Christmas is coming to Oakland
Christmas has always been a funny one for me. When I was a PhD student I never felt like I could take the time off, when I was working full time the rush before christmas was always more intense then prior months — marking to be finished, reflections on another so-so year, I sometimes felt that Christmas really started on the 23rd and that I had two days respite before panic set in again.
I’m exaggerating but there were a few things which, for me, signalled the coming of the festive season: The maturation of the christmas homebrew for one — usually a barleywine or an imperial stout, finally reaching a point of good enough where it was drinkable. My second to last Christmas in the West Country I made a 5L mini keg of British Bitter, thinking the whole family would appreciate it. Naturally it turned out okayish and I ended up tapping the whole thing myself over the course of the day.
But the thing that said christmas more than anything else was the arrival of Fullers Vintage Ale in the supermarket. VA is in my mind, the definition of British Brewing: Considered, local and utterly balanced. Always a blend of the malt of the year and some key english hops, hovering around the 8% mark, the IBUs dropping a deceptively low amount over time. I’d see it in Waitrose, in it’s red box and then Christmas would begin. I’d end up buying a case, over the course of a few weeks, with the intention of laying some down for years to come. Thankfully my parents, being my parents, are holding on to my stash of Vintage Ale, which I encouraged them to hold on to whilst I buggered off to California.
But now I’m here, in the world of IPAs and heavy hopped Barleywines. And I’m approaching my first christmas in America. I’ve already done my first thanksgiving which is pretty much a dry run for christmas. And there’s even Goose Island Stout which is released the day after Thanksgiving. Beer releases can be a funny thing: The Goose Island Stout is nowhere to be seen but other equally good beers abound.
But there’s another beer which I can see being my new signal for the coming of festivities: Firestone Walker Anniversary Ale. Released near the tail end of November, like VA, this is the epitomy of the maturity of American brewing. A blend of a number of barrel aged beers made by Firestone Walker — the blend being determined (in the last two years at least) by wine makers. Finally it showed up in Whole Foods and three bottles showed up in my basket. It’s a little pricier than Vintage Ale, so I don’t see a case arriving and my opinions on cellaring beer have changed. But it’s a genuinely astounding beer, lighter this year than the previous, but still astonishingly tasty. The blending of barrel beers is a good thing for beer. Barrel aging is difficult and often curiously one dimensional — the blend works in your favour, especially if you do a good blend. And it allows a brewery to slowly eek out that way off experiment.
And so I’m two bottles in to the XVII version (I have a XVI version in the closet). It’s good. It’s really really good. I’m reading The Audacity of Hops at the moment which is a good yarn. For me FWAA silences the doubters, those that say US brewing is immature, or that innovation is overblown and plonks down a stunning, mature and innovative beer. And it should hang around enough for me to try a few more before next year is done.
