Day 20 of the 4th Annual Advent-ure Calendar
Day 20: Maumee Bay Brewing Blitzen Holiday Ale
We haven’t had any Maumee Bay beers to our knowledge, so we were excited to see a Christmas offering from them! From Maumee Bay Brewing’s website: “Once each year we craft this tasty ale to celebrate the festive holiday season. Beginning with a masterful blend of dark and hearty malts brewed with copious amounts of honey, we create a balanced sweetness that defines the spirit of this beer. Spiced with just the right amount of orange and cinnamon to round out this perfect glass of holiday cheer.”
Reflections
Beard & Broad
Beard: This is kind of an anomaly to me. I get just the tiniest bit of cinnamon in the nose as it warms up, a decent amount of orange, a good amount of honey, and then some surprising bitterness and a dry finish. This beer definitely needs more body, and dare I say more spice. It’s way too heavy on the orange and I think that’s what I’m getting in the finish, lots of bitter zest. Maybe if this was balanced out a bit more I could get on board, but I’ll have to pass on this one.
Broad: This may be my least favorite beer so far. When I grabbed my glass, the beer first smelled like Bud Light so I wasn’t super stoked to try it. Not to my surprise, it tasted like a domestic beer to me, with a mix of honey and a hint of cinnamon. I can’t quite explain it. I may taste a bit of orange as well and I think zest. And I hate zest. All of these flavors are just not working for me. I may be able to tolerate it if the honey flavor wasn’t so prominent. At least we got some cute pictures of Riggins in antlers for this one!
Adam & Alex
Adam: This beer is interesting. It seems a bit like a generic Christmas beer with cinnamon and spices but I will say it’s a good version of generic! I get notes of orange and honey and a lot of ginger even though it’s not on the bottle. I’m a fan. I would happily drink this more. Good job tiny reindeer brewery.
Alex: I can’t remember if I’ve ever tried Maumee Bay’s Blizten before. The flavor actually surprised me. It has cinnamon like most other holiday beers, but I also can taste a little bit of citrus, which is what surprised me because I feel like cinnamon usually overpowers the other flavors. I also can taste honey at the end. I would definitely drink this one again!
Scott & Christa
Scott: Well, well, well…look what we have here. I don’t think I’ve ever had the Maumee Bay Blitzen and I’m a little perturbed I haven’t had this sooner. It’s a really pleasant Christmas Ale on the more mild end of the spectrum. I have to admit I’ve had only one other Maumee Bay beer, that I really wasn’t a fan of, but this one will definitely convince me to explore their inventory. It’s one of the few Christmas beers I could probably drink 3-4 bottles and not feel like I ate a pixie stick. I don’t know who on our beer team picked this one, but thumbs up on the selection!
Christa: Okay, this just tastes like a Kolsh to me. Not super flavorful, not super remarkable, but not bad either. I get a hint of spice, a little bitterness and…now it’s gone. Love the bottle though! Blitzen seems like the reindeer who’d get overlooked so this feels aptly named.
Tony & Megan
Tony: Another new addition and this one is interesting. Its got decent flavor. I don’t get a lot of spice flavor that you might expect in a holiday beer, but its very crisp and smooth, not syrupy at all. I get a little hint of the orange and its got a nice bitter finish that I like. It doesn’t have much depth, its not going to blow you away with complex flavors, but its a pretty good, light, crisp ale.
Megan: I’ve never heard of this brewery before so I was very intrigued by it, especially since I went to college not far from it (go Falcons!). I like this one. It’s an ale but has the bitter tones of an IPA offset by a crisp clean feeling. It’s not overly sweet but I do get notes of cinnamon. I like for never having tried it before!
