Day 4 of the 5th Annual Advent-ure Calendar

Day 4: Champion Brewing Santa’s Cookies

The first new brewery on the list! Our group agreed that this is one of the best cans we’ve seen so far. Champion Brewing is based in Virginia and it appears to be new to our area. From the brewery: “Give Santa what he really wants. Our Imperial Oatmeal Stout made with real ginger and cardamom for a relaxing holiday treat.” Apparently, we’re cracking open our first stout of the calendar as well!

Reflections

Beard & Broad
Beard: Love the concept, but not a huge fan of the beer. It finishes super dry for being an imperial stout. It doesn’t taste boozy, which is surprising, but it almost has a tannic quality to it. I’m thirsty immediately after drinking it. It definitely tastes like they used real ginger and cardamom instead of extracts, but the beer just needs a bit more body to balance out the dryness of the spices. If I was in the mood for a dark beer, but was super full, I wouldn’t turn this own though.

Broad: I love the can and the name which makes me nervous because that usually means I won’t like the beer. I will also state that I do have a cold so this may affect the taste. Upon first sip, I was happy to be drinking a stout. I liked the initial taste but the finish is pretty dry. I don’t really taste any specific flavors, probably due to my cold. I don’t dislike it but I’m not sure I’d go for it again.

Adam & Alex
Adam: Goodness they are not kidding when they say ginger and cardamom. This is basically a glass of ginger beer with cardamom pods dropped in. The smell is incredible but the flavor is extremely biting. It’s like a glass of ginger tea that’s had the tea bag left in way too long. I get… no cookie.

Alex: Santa’s Cookies smells amazing.  Taste wise I feel like the ginger is a little overwhelming.  I honestly don’t know what cardamom tastes like, but I assume it’s the minty aftertaste I am getting.  I don’t really taste cookie in the mix.  I doubt I could drink a full glass of this one.

Scott & Christa
Scott: This can rules.  It’s simple, has a great font and screams “drink me it’s Christmas time!”.  As for the taste, it’s right up my alley being an oatmeal stout and has a nice malty taste with a ton of spices that you smell upon first sip.

Christa: Wow, I love this beer. I don’t love oatmeal stouts, something my husband wishes I would change my mind about and maybe now I have to! This is a delightful, sweet and malty blend with just enough of the oatmeal notes to make it feel appropriately named. If I were Santa and this was waiting for me, I’d come down your chimney more than once!

Tony & Megan
Tony:  Looks great! Little full, lotta syrup. Came across this beer a few weeks ago and have been looking forward to trying it ever since. Great name, great lookin can, enticing description of an imperial oatmeal stout. It pours super dark, like the motor oil that goes in Cousin Eddy’s RV. The taste is ok. You get some of the oatmeal flavor, some spices, but I thought it was a little syrupy. As far as oatmeal stouts go, its hard to beat Great Lakes so I’d recommend that over this one. But its a fun name, ok flavor and at 8.0% it’ll warm you up.

Megan: Wow this is a holiday beer for sure. Its an imperial stout so it’s dark in taste and color. It’s super thick and full of chocolate and spices. Its sweet but has a hint of bitterness so it would pair very well with cookies as the name indicates.

Brad & Heather
Brad: Love the can. Love the name. I don’t love the beer. I am usually a big fan of Imperial Oatmeal Stouts, or any stout for that matter. This one just doesn’t rank in my top 5. Let me be clear, at 8%, this beer will be consumed and enjoyed, but I don’t think I’d buy it again. The aroma just doesn’t scream “holidays” at me and I don’t taste all the flavors the can mentions, but that may be due to a slight head cold. I bet this would be much better in a nitro can or on a nitro draft. I’m giving this beer the sideways thumbs up.

Heather:  I wanted this one to be creamier. It’s actually a bit confusing to me, because the taste doesn’t evoke any reminiscence of oatmeal cookies or stouts (or oatmeal stouts). I’d give it a solid “meh,” with bonus points for the creative branding.