On the 8th day, two awesome types of beer were opened!  Both we have never tried or heard of before, and ended up being a lot better than what I had thought.  There was a Russian Imperial Stout and a Pumpkin Barrel Ale – both aged in a barrel… one rum and one bourbon.  Want to guess which is which before reading further?

When I was in the Craft Beer Cellar in Clayton, Missouri the week of Thanksgiving, I had one of the employees help me choose some beer to put in our Advent box.  I mixed up the type of beer my boyfriend likes to drink, which may have had something to do with the beer I was drinking while shopping 😉

I am he was able to try this one first because now I am looking forward to it.  I was also nervous on whether it would be liked or not because after I bought the beer, I remembered it was an Irish stout he likes… He had the Jolly Russian stout and it ended up being a hit!  The Jolly Russian imperial stout is a Cellar Series by Odell Brewing Company out of Fort Collins, Colorado.  When you smell the beer, there is not an overpowering aroma at all – you can smell some of the rum but not much.  At 13% ABV, he said it definitely hits the pallete almost perfect and is like a Giradelli dark chocolate with a caramel flavor… very smooth and really likes it.  Has a very silky taste and there is absolutely no bitterness.  When I took a sip, I agree with that comment because I am not a dark chocolate fan at all.  This is definitely a beer we would pick up a 4 or 6 pack of if we ever saw it in the store.  It has such a unique name that I am sure we would remember it as well.

My beer is the Kentucky Pumpkin Barrel Ale.  Since I did not put this in my boyfriend’s box (because he doesn’t like pumpkin flavored beer), I did let him try it (as the others) and he said he would definitely drink it.  This is brewed by Alltech’s Brewing Company in Lexington, Kentucky.  The other night I had a pumpkin ale by Crown’s Brewery and as I compared this one to that, this Kentucky ale definitely has balanced their spices.  You can not taste as much spice as you could with the other, which I really like.  This is definitely a fall-type of beer to drink… or on a wintry day where you are wanting to drink a nice pumpkin flavored beer.  At 10% ABV, this is a beer I would pick up a 4 or 6 pack of if we saw it in the store.  For those of you that aren’t a fan of pumpkin flavored beer, but like bourbon barrel aged beer, try this one.  I believe you would be impressed.

I’m sure you have heard of eBates – I use it any chance I get by installing the browser add-in more so for a reminder… so far I have saved over $250 by using this.  The link below is linked to my account, which would provide me credit for signing up.  If you have any questions on how this program works though, please let me know.