WILK Friday BeerBuzz Over-Extended 1-Hour Holiday Spectacular !

A Big show demands a big graphic….and today we certainly had a BIG show.  In fine WILK Friday BeerBuzz tradition, we present to you our Over-Extended 1-Hour Holiday Spectacular BeerBuzz.  Every year on Christmas Eve & New Years Eve we over-stretch our resources and bring you a show featuring multiple guests, multiple beers, multiple posts and multiple opportunities to mess up…

Our show today was 1-Hour long and featured 4 segments and a ton of different traditional (and non-traditional) holiday beers, along with some great food, and some really great guests.  A big thank you to Rocky Rhodes from KRZ for joining us for all four segments, as well as Mrs. BeerBuzz, BeerCam & my pal Tom….cheers everyone!

Segment 1:  Up first was a segment I like to call “warming up.”  They always tell you to stretch before you exercise, and this non-traditional holiday beer was a stretch.  In fine BeerBuzz tradition, our first segment is always hoppy (like last year’s Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale) so today we featured AleSmith Brewing  YuleSmith Holiday Ale.  Yulesmith is brewed twice a year featuring a lighter Summer version and today’s Holiday Version.  This big 8.5% ABV Imperial Double Red Ale was a perfect way to start the show and a perfect way to stretch our taste buds.  This beer is readily available so try it for yourself.

Segment 2:  After our first segment, the timing was right to have a little snack, so today we welcomed chef Tony Graham from Madison’s in Nanticoke.  To call Tony’s treats a “snack” was a tremendous disservice to all the time and effort Tony put in to feeding us today.  I presented Tony with the challenge a few weeks ago, to create food based on our featured beer AND feed a mixed vegetarian/non-vegetarian crowd (OK I was the ONLY vegetarian!) and he definitely rose to the occasion with some great food.  Our beer for segment two was a classic winter seasonal from one of my favorite Mid-Atlantic breweries and one of our most well-versed master brewers.  For Segment 2 we featured Garret Oliver’s classic Brooklyn Brewing Black Chocolate Stout.  This big 10% ABV Imperial Stout is a winter & holiday classic and it paired incredibly well with Tony’s food.  Once again Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout is readily available, and more importantly so is the food Tony prepares every day at Madison’s on Washington St in Nanticoke….be sure to stop by and try some of Tony’s amazing entrées.

Segment 3:  We have another tradition on the Over-Extended Holiday BeerBuzz, and we held true to it again this year.  Every year we feature one of the brews from The Bruery’s 12-days of Christmas series.  Last year we did 3 French Hens and this year we featured Patrick Rue’s Four Calling Birds.  This big Belgian Strong Dark Ale comes in at 11% and it was the perfect step up from our previous beers.  Four Calling Birds is the fourth beer in the series and while it is meant to be aged until the end of the series in 2019, it still tastes wonderful today.  This one had notes of gingerbread and holiday spices and I definitely recommend you get out and try this one now.

Segment 4:  I always try to finish big on our holiday show, and today that really worked out well.  Our guests for segment 4 were Chris Miller & Mark Lehman from Breaker Brewing Co.  It was fun to get an update on the progress of the new Breaker Brewpub & Brewery opening on Northampton St in Wilkes-Barre Twp., but even more fun sampling what I’m calling the Belsnickler Surprise.  We’ve tested the theory that this big Belgian Quad ages well, but today we took that even further not only tasting multiple vintages of Belsnickler, but also a very special Oak-aged Belsnickler…and they were all fantastic.  A big thank you to Mark & Chris for sharing their time and some really rare (and limited supply) vintages of Belsnickler.

By the time we were done, we definitely set a new indoor record for cup-usage, but  In the end it was a great Friday BeerBuzz Over-Extended 1-Hour Holiday Spectacular.  The food, beer, chatter, friendship & fun are what make the holidays special, and today I think we really had a special Friday BeerBuzz.

Thanks

to Mark & Chris from Breaker Brewing, Tony Graham from Madisons, Rocky Rhodes from KRZ, Mrs. BeerBuzz, Tom, Nancy, John, Joe, & Katie for yet another fun Friday.

The Friday BeerBuzz…bringing good beers and good people together. There is a TON of video footage for this show & BeerCam footage so a

s always you can check out the video on-line at the WILK Friday BeerBuzz page by clicking HERE