This post is a part of the 2015 New Beer Every Day Beer Diary Challenge, #ottbeerdiary. Over the course of 2015, I will be trying a new beer every day. Please read the background in the link above, and enjoy reading about the most recently tasted beers below. If you’d like to join the challenge as well, let me know in the comments below, and be sure to check out Grown-up Travel Guide and his #grownupbeerdiary, where Andy Higgs came up with the diary format in use below. You can catch up on all of our posts as part of the challenge under the tag ottbeerdiary.
From December 1 through December 24, I’m going to try to use a Christmas Beer for each day of Advent as part of my #ottadvent15 2015 Advent Calendar. Follow along with the tag ottadvent15.
Day 357: December 23, 2015
Diary entry:
So I still went into the office today, to see how much I could get done still on whatever was still in my inbox.
By noon, I realized that I wasn’t going to be accomplishing too much today, so I decided to call it a half-day and use a few hours of vacation.
Couldn’t decide though. Brussels or Amsterdam?
In the end, I decided on Amsterdam, since I’ll be in Brussels with my brother on the 30th, and may even go this weekend for the Christmas market.
There are a few beer bars in Amsterdam I have never visited before, so I decided to pay them a visit. I honestly didn’t realize they are all owned by the same group as the Arendsnest!
I visited Beer Temple, which specializes in American craft beer, and also paid a visit to Craft and Draft. Craft and Draft wasn’t on my original agenda, but the manager of Beer Temple mentioned that they may still have the Xocoveza from Stone Berlin left after the December 7 introduction, so I decided to give it a shot.
After some ribs from Cafe De Klos, first 🙂 My favorites!
The Beer:
Name: Xocoveza For The Holidays & The New Year
Style: Milk Stout
Producer: Stone Brewing Company – Berlin
Alcohol content: 6.9%
Bottle size: 0.25 l draft
Purchased from: Craft and Draft in Amsterdam
Xocoveza For the Holidays and the New Year by Stone Brewing Company – Berlin. Berlin Brewed. Not Escondido. The beer is still lovely, and only 6.9%. Chocolate milk flavors with an excellent bitterness. Creamy and a little sweet. I can understand why people were looking forward to it. Was surprised when Beer Temple told me it was still on tap at Craft and Draft, their sister bar. Beer Temple’s two kegs were gone in 2-3 days, while this has lasted a few weeks on draft outside of the Amsterdam city center. “Less Beer Geeks,” was cited as the reason.
