I could hardly stand the inveiglement of the Corsendonk Christmas Ale any longer, so when my brother asked what I was saving it for, I promptly opened it. Well, promptly would be the wrong word since that cork did NOT want to come out. After much huffing and puffing it finally gave way with a satisfying pop, followed by thin wisps of condensing carbon dioxide. Now, lest you think I'm trying to compete with bigjohn's recent and most excellent beer review -- well, ok, I AM competing.

This ale poured with an enormous tan-colored frothy head, despite my attempts to minimize turbulence in transfering it from the bottle to my special Polish-crest, gold-rimmed tasting glasses. While the head settled, I gazed upon the deep amber-caramel color of the beer and eagerly anticipated its flavor. First sip. Hmmmm. Tastes slightly of plum, but the mouthfeel is exquisite. I'll let it warm up a bit before continuing the analysis.

The plum is still there, though it may be just because the word is still in my head and I can't think of another for that particular impression. Let me taste a bit more.

Mmmmm. Sooo nice. Such rich and creamy, well-rounded goodness. I have to stop typing and focus on this beverage. You win John.

tom- thanks for the nice words. i have very much enjoyed my journey while tasting all these beers, and i have y'all to thank for it. i can bet my paycheck that i would have NEVER even considered buying those belgiums before talking with ya'll about it. so, muchas gracias a todos..

peter- i win? i didnt realize it was a race? J/K.. i just hate the fact that there are TONS of more beers that ya'll have mentioned that i cant get. i want to try them all. next time i am in dallas, i am gonna find a speciality store and get one of each.

FUNNY SIDENOTE- the other day, when i drove out to the liquor store to get the beers, he brought up the whole cases. 12 in a case.. he looked at me like, "here's that beer you wanted".. i was slightly confused, until he grabbed the scanner at the register, and started to scan the WHOLE case.. i was like, "wait, wait man..i cant buy this whole case, my wife would kill me!" he kinda chuckled, and asked how many i needed.. i felt bad, cause i know he 'special' ordered this stuff for me, but if i would have brought home $175 bucks of beer, i would be sleeping on the couch.. but the way i look at it, not too many people know wabout the beer, so at least they will have it for a few months. i got new years, my birthday, the super bowl, valentines day...... there is plenty of opportunities to go buy it all up!!

bigjohn

Sounds like a good opportunity to negotiate a bulk purchase from your store owner!

OK...this thread is getting HUGE! How much beer to you guys drink????

Anyway...I thought I'd share a slightly humorous moment with you.

I didn't realize this until our Christmas party last Saturday, but gays and straights drink entirely different stuff. Over the years we've amassed a nearly full bar of booze at our place. You name it...scotch, gin, vodka, Baily's...whatever, we've likely got it. So before the party I went out and needed to grab a couple bottles of things were were short on. Namely some good vodka (we only had a huge bottle of Absolute that someone had brought to a previous engagement), a bottle of tequila, and some Amaretto. Anyway...we've got everything ready...we're fully stocked, and I realize we don't have a single bottle of beer in the house. I mention this to Roger and his reply was, "Don't worry, fags don't drink beer."

And you know what? He was right. One person asked for a beer all night, and it was the one straight guy at the party. The rest of use were drinking mostly shots and martinis. NOBODY else even mentioned beer.

Odd.

That's pretty funny, spiff. You know what? Ken doesn't drink beer. Do you think...? Naaaaahhh.

hmmm...that is odd. When I drink hard liquor, I drink whiskey (scotch & bourbon mainly) which I notice you didn't mention in your "fully stocked" bar.

In reply to:

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Don't worry, fags don't drink beer

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thats the funniest thing i have heard all day..

try some of those belgiums we have been mentioning. they might surprise you. the Chimay Blue had a very fruity/wine flavor to it.

bigjohn

For some reason when read that post, I imagined you initially writing "had a very fruity flavor to it" and then adding the "/wine" part for the sake of being PC... made me chuckle whether it was true or not.

OK, thats the 2nd funniest thing i have heard all day.

no, i was not implying a 'double' meaning on the word "fruity", at all. just saying those beers dont have the 'classic' beer taste that most do. shame on you ringmir

i am actually gonna have my wife try the Chimay Blue when i open it christmas eve. i think she might like it, and she DOES NOT like beer at all. fingers crossed!!

bigjohn

I must be bi because I frequently have a couple beers and then finish the evening off with a sipper of whiskey.

Seriously though, could it be that all of us old married guys don't care how we look anymore, while the gay guys are worried about spoiling their boyish figures?