Hi #beersaturday fans! I hope you all had an amazing Christmas that was cram packed with the nectar of the gods. And maybe by some small miracle you still have some left over and you’re already set up for a New Years party? I know I am!
A fine bunch of little rebels accompanied by a fantastic Tiny Rebel drinking glass! All curtesy of my big brother who gained this years favourite present award 🥇
Let’s meet the gang
Beer porn at its finest, and who doesn’t enjoy the idea of cosying up to four sets of twins! And these twins won’t be disappointed when I fall unconscious on the sofa after the first round, in fact, they’ll be encouraging it!
So, allow me to introduce my winter collection of bevies…
Dressed in blue, we have the beer that introduced me to the world of dessert beers. The one, the only, Sleigh Puft Marshmallow Porter…
I came across this beer while I was attending a rather boring meal, something to do with the Mrs work colleague leaving to go live on the moon with his pet gorilla. Something like that, I wasn’t really listening. To entertain myself during the evening, I thought I’d try this little beauty that was hidden at the bottom of the drinks menu. A marshmallow Porter sounded interesting and certainly better that the usual offerings of Kingfisher or Cobra that you get in every Indian restaurant.
Boom! Like the Big Bang, my world opened up and I was introduced to a sweet boozy universe filled with infinite flavour combinations. I thought to myself right there among all those professors and doctors at the dinner table, that if I was ever going to have my own gorilla and take my family to the moon, I must control this passion for dessert ale, or else it may destroy me.
This was going to take some next-level will power but I was sure I could do it! However, only time will tell…
…4 hours later
Oh well. But did I really make a bad choice?
Because dressed all in red, here comes another rebellious little creature to lighten up my day!
Cherry liquor marshmallow. Mmmm 😋 Doesn’t that sound like a slice of heaven? Now I already know for sure that marshmallow gives and amazing taste to any Stout or Porter, add to that a lick of fruit, like raspberry or cherry, and you’ve got yourself a sexy combination.
Truth be told, I’ve not actually sampled this particular can yet as I’m saving it until New Year’s Eve. However, if it’s anything like Real or Cake, the raspberry chocolate stout I reviewed a few weeks ago, I’m in for a real treat.
Now, let’s introduce a beer I have sampled…
Oh mamma! This was a nice beer indeed and on Christmas Day it was competing against some real big hitters too, beers like Trappist Rochfort, and the aforementioned Real or Cake! But even in that crowd this little session ale still stood tall and made itself noticed.
For a 5% ale there was a surprising amount of depth to the flavour, which is testimony to Tiny Rebel’s exquisite talents in the brewing room. Unlike others, they still manage to achieve a deep flavour that other lower % beers often lack. I’ve no idea how they do it but I’m very happy to say they do.
As I mentioned in my #beersaturday post leading up to the big day, this beer was going to begin the proceedings (coincidentally, I actually purchased one of these beers prior to Christmas Day). And what a great job it did. Not too heavy. Certainly not too boozy. And like Goldilocks porridge, it was just right. And with the responsibility of cooking the Christmas dinner, this allowed me to remain upright and, more importantly, not to give myself 1st degree burns while handling the lava-like oil for my Yorkshire puddings.
On a day less weighted with responsibilities, I really would like to try an imperial version of this beer as the flavour is always diluted somewhat in these sub-7% ales. Nonetheless, it was a great beer to kick off the day.
And last but not least…
To finish off my glutinous thirst for dessert ales, I give you Caramelised Biscuit Ice cream Marshmallow. Now there’s a mouthful in every sense! Wow 🤩
Again this is a beer I can’t wait to taste in its imperial form but for now I’ll just have to be teased by this 5% offering. To add to the suspense I’m also leaving this one until New Years Eve as it sounds like a fine flavour to accompany the Cherry liquor you read about before.
Only question left to answer is what food best suits the beers I’ve chosen to save for the big night? Maybe I’ll leave that for you guys and girls to suggest in the comments section…
Like myself, I hope you’ve all got some great beers to drink while you celebrate the coming new year. It won’t be long before AI takes over and kills us all and hopefully before it does we can ask it to create the perfect beer 🤷♂️ I guess we may as well get something out of the deal.
Until our pending and inevitable doom comes storming over the horizon, I wish you all a great new year! We had a good run and enjoyed some fantastic beers, remember that 👍