🎄🌟 The Unofficial Official PM Secret Santa 2024 Thread 🌟 🎄

[FLDRD]

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If your name is listed below, you were one of the 'Early 30'. I'm not really tacking who received the little something, there will be more than enough tracking for me to do later on. Hope it brings a smile to your face - Som Besths to one and all!

/Adam\
DesertDan
Dr. Van Loafer
Infantry23
JoeW
Kingsley
Lotus Eater
Solideogloria86
TNJed
ThermionicScott
ThomasS
acesandeights
beef
bluegrassbrian
brewfan
brooklynpiper
condorlover1
cstreeper541
dcrguns
dublinpiper90
fightnhampster
jaytex1969
khiddy
n_irwin
rsshreck32
scloyd
sobrbiker
username
wilblee​

So I can finally stop camping out at my mailbox (which is likely why I missed notifications on this thread), as I'm actually NOT one of the first 30!
I'll make up for it by sending more estate pipe cleaners in my package...

 

[CoffeeAndBourbon]

 

[CoffeeAndBourbon]

 

[khiddy]

I have some cellaring from last Christmas. December 6th can't come fast enough.

I found bottles of Samichlaus 2005, '06, '07, and '08 in my cellar earlier this month. Gonna be a good Advent this year.

 

[khiddy]

Like this most excellent teeshirt!

View attachment 347499

Fantastic. And smoking-related. A win all the way around.

 

[mikethompson]

I found bottles of Samichlaus 2005, '06, '07, and '08 in my cellar earlier this month. Gonna be a good Advent this year.

Doesn't it go skunky like beer after a while?

I'm going to see if we can get some sponsorship next year

 

[khiddy]

Doesn't it go skunky like beer after a while?

I'm going to see if we can get some sponsorship next year

It does not. Samichlaus is a barleywine (technically I guess it's an eiswein), so the alcohol level is high enough that it stays in good shape (12%+). At least that's what I've been told (and have been relying on, fingers crossed). Even when you buy it new, they recommend cellaring for at least one year before drinking – and it had already been aging for one year at the brewery before it went on sale.

I've done vertical tastings of Deschutes The Abyss, a high-gravity dark beer, and have personally cellared several mixed cases from the late 2000s through 2015 (when I moved out of Oregon). When I last did a vertical tasting at the brewery which covered 5 years of vintages, some of the beers had already fallen apart, while others had gotten considerably better with age. It can be a crapshoot, much like wine.

I also have several magnums of Anchor Christmas Beer from the 2010s that I have been cellaring, but I'm not as sure about how they will have held up, as they're basically normal ales with added spices.

Next month I am hosting a cellar party where we'll open a representative selection, and we'll see if the theory continues to hold true.

 

[trouttimes]

 

[Speak Easy]

Som Besths! I just read through 203 pages of last years posts and all I have to say is…..

Som Besths! I just read through 203 pages of last years posts and all I have to say is…..

 

[SBC]

It does not. Samichlaus is a barleywine (technically I guess it's an eiswein), so the alcohol level is high enough that it stays in good shape (12%+). At least that's what I've been told (and have been relying on, fingers crossed). Even when you buy it new, they recommend cellaring for at least one year before drinking – and it had already been aging for one year at the brewery before it went on sale.

I've done vertical tastings of Deschutes The Abyss, a high-gravity dark beer, and have personally cellared several mixed cases from the late 2000s through 2015 (when I moved out of Oregon). When I last did a vertical tasting at the brewery which covered 5 years of vintages, some of the beers had already fallen apart, while others had gotten considerably better with age. It can be a crapshoot, much like wine.

I also have several magnums of Anchor Christmas Beer from the 2010s that I have been cellaring, but I'm not as sure about how they will have held up, as they're basically normal ales with added spices.

Next month I am hosting a cellar party where we'll open a representative selection, and we'll see if the theory continues to hold true.

I've had Samichlaus at over 10 years, and it's ambrosia.

I've read of guys having it at over 20 years and saying it was even better.

Many beers of 10+%, esp. if darker, are safe for pushing 10 years. You can even try it with stouts down to 8%. Few are safe past 10 years though ... some of mine are past that and I'd better stop playing Russian Roulette and just find an excuse to drink them.

But Samichlaus is one of the very few that you could try a couple decades with. I have a couple from the year that my son Nicholas -- born on the Eve of St. Nicholas's Feast Day -- was born, to open with him on his 21st birthday.

 

[CoffeeAndBourbon]

 

[mikethompson]

But how would one open a bottle of Samichlaus?

 

[SBC]

But how would one open a bottle of Samichlaus?

Tentative answer: "With great anticipation"?

 

[mikethompson]

Or a festive tool of some sort?

 

[AcesAndEights]

Hey cool! Just got a little Som Besths cheer in my mailbox! Thanks Santa Mike!

 

[SBC]

Or a festive tool of some sort?

If Brauerei Schloss Eggenberg were a legitimate operation, they'd be tying powder coated steel candycanes to each bottle of Samichlaus for just this purpose.

 

[Dr. Van Loafer]

In the spirit of increasing the post count.......

I don't know what's going on but the system keeps failing to notice me of updates on this thread. I've already "unwatched" and "watch" this thread a 2nd time and it looks like I'll have to do it a 3rd.

Seriously, any input on what I might do differently to keep notifications up to date?

Make a sacrifice to Mariah Carey.

 

[mikethompson]

Hey cool! Just got a little Som Besths cheer in my mailbox! Thanks Santa Mike!

You're very welcome. Som Besths to you and yours!

 

[dcrguns]

 

[rsshreck32]

The mailman must not be a Som Besthy kind of guy in these parts.