Grand Teton’s 2010 Cellar Reserve Coming Home Holiday Ale: Drink with stretchy pants!

What up beer peeps, It’s The Boy here doing tonight’s review.  One of our favorite breweries is Grand Teton Brewing Company Grand Teton Brewing Company.  We love their beers, and especially there Cellar Reserve Series.  Each year they brew a few varieties, often only brewed for that year so once it’s gone, it’s gone.  These beers are meant to be aged and at their website you can actually follow tasting notes and aging updates by the Cellar Master for particular beer to help gauge when might be the best time to crack it open and enjoy.  Very cool indeed.

Also what’s gnarly cool about the Cellar Reserve beers are the labels on the bottles:

“In conjunction with the Teton Arts Council, Grand Teton Brewing Co. held “The Art of Beer” contest in the fall of 2009 to select artwork for the 2010 Cellar Reserve bottles. Local artist Kelly Sullivan’s moving depiction of a cowboy leading his horses was chosen to represent the contest’s theme of “Life in the Tetons” for the winter and holiday seasons on the Coming Home label. To see all the contest winners, please visit the Teton Arts Council website.”

So each 750ml bottle is literally a work of art inside and out.

Now to the beer! It’s Grand Teton’s Coming Home Holiday Ale.  First brewed this year, bottled October 12, 1010 to be exact.  Nice to see it made the cut and is coming back for 2011 as well (did someone say VERTICAL FLIGHT!!) Holiday Ale is a Belgian-Style Quadrupel, bottle conditioned. Very robust and sweet, brewed with lots of malts and roasted barley for sure.  There is an underlying complex fruitiness which is very enjoyable and I suggest you allow this beer to warm to better pick up all the complexities.  At every sip The Girl said, “wow, this is great!”

Stats:  10%abv, oh my!

IBU’s :40, which amazes me cause I could not find the hop

OG:  24

Lovibond: 28, beautiful color

This beer is clearly Belgian-style but much different than those blondes.  It reminded me of a big, gnarly, Belgian-esque Scotch Ale.  Nothing wrong with that.  Definitely what I refer to as a 2000 calorie beer (drink with stretchy pants, or at home in boxers as I do).

I sacrificed a lot to bring ya’ll this review as I have an allergy to Belgian yeast strains.  It tends to make my throat swell up and is painful.  Grand Teton definitely used Trappist ale yeast as my throat shut down a tad.  I did get through the beer, just took my time to make sure it wasn’t going to get worse.

We have another Holiday Ale in the closet to enjoy in a few years.  Tasty brew but I will have to pass for the next tasting with The Girl.  Throat swellage  has me benched!

(Other Grand Teton Brewing Reviews can be found here.)