Hair Band Friday - 12/30/22

1.  "Screaming in the Night" by Krokus

2.  "She Love My Cock" by Jackyl

3.  "Bringing Me Down" by Bonham

4.  "Treated Bad Again" by Europe

5.  "I'm On To You" by Hurricane

6.  "Nice Day to Die" by XYZ

7.  "Living After Midnight"  by Judas Priest

8.  "Bottoms Up!" by Van Halen

9.  "Sailing Ships" by Whitesnake

10.  "The Rhythm of Love" by Scorpions

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: The Final Three Beers

I finished off my beer advent calendar with one beer each on the appropriate days after I finally caught back up.  Here were the last three of this year's calendar.

Number 22 was a really good and interesting white stout.  White stouts are usual a mindfuck because you're expecting an ale or lager, and it taste like a stout.  This one didn't so much mess with my mind because of it's dominant flavor:  peanut brittle.  It was Illuminated Brew Works' latest addition to their War on Xmas If You Want It series, and it was a "white peanut brittle stout."  As the name implies, it tasted like peanut brittle, which I love.  I really liked it -- as it both tasted great and clocked in at 11% -- but it's definitely more of a sharing beer than one you want to drink a full 16-ounce can by yourself.

Name:  War on Xmas If You Want It White Peanut Brittle Stout

Brewery:  Illuminated Brew Works

Location:  Chicago, IL

ABV:  11.0%

IBU:  N/A

Good for drinking if:  You want dessert to get you drunk.

Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  4.25

The penultimate beer in the advent calendar was a hoppy beer from suburban/exurban brewery More, which makes some great beers.  I prefer their darker beers, so I was a little disappointed that this one was a "dry hopped lager."  I wasn't a fan.

Name:  Tank Sweat

Brewery:  More Brewing Company

Location:  Huntley and Villa Park, IL

ABV:  5.0%

IBU:  N/A

Good for drinking if:  You need something to fuel you during the feats of strength.

Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  3.5

The last beer of this year's It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer was a perfect ending to 24 days of winter beer drinking.  To be clear, I didn't and will not be stopping my winter beer drinking simply because my advent calendar is done.  Anyway, it was a Christmas brown ale with holiday spices from suburban brewery Solemn Oath.  This is how a winter ale should taste, with orange, cinnamon, and other holiday spices, complemented by a manageable 7% ABV.  All in all, it was a perfect end to the advent calendar.

Name:  We're All Misfits

Brewery:  Solemn Oath Brewery

Location:  Naperville, IL

ABV:  7.0%

IBU:  N/A

Good for drinking if:  You want to give Santa some holiday fuel as he leaves presents that disappoint your children.

Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  4.5

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: Hailstorm Weizen So Serious? and Hopewell Ya Filthy Animal

With two more beers tonight, I'm caught back up on my beer advent calendar.  21 down.  3 more to go.

Number 20 was a weizenbock from suburban brewery Hailstorm called Weizen So Serious?  It's party of their Winter Warmer Series, and I enjoyed it.  Weizenbocks are high-octane wheat beers -- as the name implies, it's kind of a combo of a wheat beer and a bock -- and at 8% ABV, this fit the bill.  It was maltier and darker than a regular wheat beer, and I liked it, even if you can't see the can in the photo.

Name:  Weizen So Serious?

Brewery:  Hailstorm Brewing Company

Location:  Tinley Park, IL

ABV:  8.0%

IBU:  N/A

Good for drinking if:  You need something to complement your spaghetti with maple syrup.

Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  4.25

Beer #21 was Ya Filthy Animal from local brewery Hopewell, which generally specializes in lagers and lighter ales.  This one was deemed a "holiday sour."  While I'm generally not a fan of sours, the holiday spices in this one made it a little more palatable than most sours.

Name:  Ya Filthy Animanl

Brewery:  Hopewell Brewing Company

Location:  Chicago, IL

ABV:  6.4%

IBU:  N/A

Good for drinking if:  You need a little sourness to cope with the fact that you thought you picked Western Kentucky in your bowl pick 'em pool, but realized when WKU was up 24-3 that you picked South Alabama.

Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  3.75

Retro Video of the Week: "All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey

Both six and eleven years ago today, I posted Mariah Carey's holiday classic "All I Want for Christmas Is You" as the Retro Video of the Week, and so long as December 21 falls on a Wednesday, I will post the video again, assuming I remember.

Released in late October 1994, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" pretty much became an instant classic.  I've said it before and I'll say it again:  this is one of the best pop songs ever made, regardless of seasonality.

It was not as a stand-alone single at the time it was released (but was later), so it was not eligible for the Billboard Hot 100.  That rule has since changed, and it has appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 each year since 2012, garnering some interesting accolades.  It topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 2019, which:  (1) made it only the second holiday song to ever top the chart -- the first being The Chipmunks' 1958 holiday classic "The Chipmunk Song" (i.e., "please Christmas don't be late"); (2) set a record for the longest span between a song's release and its ascension to #1 (25 years); (3) set a then-record for number of weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 before hitting #1 (35); (4) extended Mariah's record for the most #1 songs by a solo artist (19); and (5) extended her record of total weeks at #1 to 80.  The song stayed at #1 over the last two weeks of 2019 and first week of 2020, making Mariah the first artist to ever top the Billboard Hot 100 in four separate decades.

It has hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 each year since then -- and also owns the record for the only song to top the chart and then fall completely out of the chart the following week -- and in 2021, it became the first song to reach #1 on the chart in three separate years, followed by this year, where it became the first one to hit #1 in four separate years.  When it held the top spot for it's tenth week overall, Mariah became the third artist in Billboard Hot 100 history (along with Boyz II Men and Drake) to have three songs that have spent 10 or more weeks at #1.

Worldwide, it's just as big, as it has topped the pop charts in nearly 30 other countries and reached the top five in over a dozen more.  It's the only holiday song to have been certified diamond by the RIAA, it's the best-selling holiday song in the U.S. and worldwide by a female artist, and with 16 million physical sales, it is the 12th best-selling physical single worldwide (only 35 million more until it overtakes Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" for the top spot!).

Until today, I did not know that there were two videos released for the song (not including the video in 2019 for the 25th anniversary) -- the main one, with Mariah in a Santa suit playing in snow and whatnot, and another one in black and white where she is doing her best impression of another holiday song icon, Ronnie Spector (though her backing singers don't quite look like the other Ronettes).  Both are embedded below.

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: Is/Was Saison De Non-Denomination and Goose Island Christmas IPA

As I continue playing catch-up on my beer advent calendar, I had another two beers tonight.  The first was #18 in the advent calendar, and it was from Chicago nano-brewery Is/Was.  This was another interesting take on seasonal beers.  You don't usually see saisons in the winter (at least in the U.S.), but this was a seasonal saison called Saison De Non-Denomination that was brewed in collaboration with Beer On The Wall, the beer store that put together the advent calendar.  Per the bottle, it's their take on a traditional Belgian holiday beer.  They took a rye saison and added some clove, allspice, ginger, mace, cardamom, and cinnamon.  Saisons can be dank, and this was a little dank, but the spices counterbalanced the dankness for a unique holiday beer.  

Name:  Saison De Non-Denomination

Brewery:  Is/Was Brewing

Location:  Chicago, IL

ABV:  6.5%

IBU:  N/A

Good for drinking if:  You need a beer after serving jury duty in December.

Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  3.75

Beer #19 was Goose Island's Christmas IPA, which is to say that it's an IPA that has the word "Christmas" in front of it.

Name:  Christmas IPA

Brewery:  Goose Island Beer Co.

Location:  Chicago, IL

ABV:  7.5%

IBU:  38

Good for drinking if:  You're an IPA fan and you want to be able to say "see, I like winter beers."

Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  3.5

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: The Last Three Beers

Thanks to a work holiday party and traveling over the weekend, I've fallen behind on my beer advent calendar, so I had to sacrifice and drink two beers tonight and will likely have to do the same tomorrow night.  Just remember, to quote the great Bryan Adams, everything I do, I do it for you.

Beer 15 in the advent calendar was another interesting one.  It was from Riverlands Brewing, which is in suburban St. Charles, and it was party of their Pastry Power series.  From what I have gathered from Untappd, that's a pastry sour series with beers that taste like different pastries or pies.  Basically, it's the type of sour beer I can enjoy.  This one was Holiday Cheers, and it was made with apple, cranberry, and cinnamon, which gave it a nice sweet, festive flavor to balance out any sourness.  

Name:  Pastry Power:  Holiday Cheers

Brewery:  Riverlands Brewing Company

Location:  St. Charles, IL

ABV:  6.0%

IBU:  N/A

Good for drinking if:  You want to drink your pie.

Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  4

Sweet 16 was one of the all-time winter beer stalwarts, Great Lakes Christmas Ale.  It's one of the best, most consistent Christmas ales, and I look forward to it every year.  You should too.

Name:  Christmas Ale

Brewery:  Great Lakes Brewing Company

Location:  Cleveland, OH

ABV:  7.5%

IBU:  30

Good for drinking if:  You need a great beer after a day of jury duty.

Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  4.5

Number 17 was from Alarmist Brewing, in Chicago's Sauganash neighborhood on the northwest side.  Toke is a smoked helles.  I have a complicated relationship with smoked beers.  There are some smoked porters and stouts that I love.  On the other hand, I've had some rauchbiers -- or what one of my friends calls "the ham beers" -- that basically taste like you're drinking a campfire.  This one was somewhere in between.  With lagers, it's tough for the smoke flavor not to overwhelm everything, and this one was pretty good.

Name:  Toke

Brewery:  Alarmist Brewing

Location:  Chicago, IL

ABV:  5.0%

IBU:  N/A

Good for drinking if:  You want a poetic beer as you watch your fantasy football season go up in smoke because you started Christian Watson in your flex spot instead of Chris Godwin, Cordarrelle Patterson, Raheem Mostert, or AJ Dillon, all of whom would have won you the week and advance you to the semis.

Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  3.75

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: Cruz Blanca 3 Kings

The 14th selection in my beer advent calendar was an interesting one.  Even if it wasn't my favorite beer, it's the kind of beer that I love to see breweries putting out at the holidays.  Cruz Blanca, in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood, started as a brew pub/Mexican restaurant, in part by Rick Bayless.  I don't believe he is associated with Cruz Blanca anymore, but they still have great food and pretty good beer.  3 Kings is branded as a Christmas Punch Ale, and it has guava, hibiscus, tamarind, currant, orange, and cinnamon in it.  It's not the kind of beer that I would typically drink, but if you're drinking it and in the mindset that it's supposed to emulate a Christmas punch, it works.

Name:  3 Kings

Brewery:  Cruz Blanca Brewery

Location:  Chicago, IL

ABV:  8.0%

IBU:  N/A

Good for drinking if:  You want the taste of a holiday punch without the, uh, punch.

Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  3.75

Retro Video of the Week: "Jingle Bell Rock" by Hall and Oates

This week's Retro Video of the Week comes from the most successful duo in rock and roll history, Hall and Oates.  In 1983, they released a cover of the classic Bobby Helms' holiday hit, "Jingle Bell Rock."  As if a Christmas single from Hall and Oates wasn't enough, they gave us two videos, one with Daryl Hall signing lead and the other with John Oates singing lead.  Both videos feature G.E. Smith dressed in geriatric drag and playing a guitar.  It's a win-win-win.

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: Short's Snow Globe

Unlucky #13 in the beer advent calendar was another IPA.  It's the first American beer in the advent calendar from a state other than Illinois.  Short's Brewing is one of the many wonderful craft breweries in southwestern Michigan, and they make a lot of great beers.  Snow Globe is deemed a hazy double IPA, and I do tolerate hazy IPAs better than non-hazy IPAs.  Still, it's too hoppy for my tastes.

Name:  Snow Globe

Brewery:  Short's Brewing

Location:  Elk Rapids, MI

ABV:  8.1%

IBU:  87

Good for drinking if:  You didn't drink enough at your Tuesday night alumni board holiday party.

Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  3.5

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: The Last Three Beers

I've slacked on posting the last couple days, and I even forgot to drink a beer yesterday, so I had to swallow my pride and drink two today.  Here are the last three:

Beer #10 in the advent calendar was a variant of a great local porter.  Ravinia Brewing started in Chicago suburb Highland Park, and then a few years ago, they opened up a brew pub in the city's Logan Square neighborhood.  The Baldwin porter is a good one, and for the holidays this year, they put some Connect Roasters coffee in it for Cafe Baldwin.  Despite that I don't drink coffee, I very much enjoy coffee-infused beers, particularly the darker one.  This was nice and roasty, and the coffee flavor was just the right amount.

Name:  Cafe Baldwin

Brewery:  Ravinia Brewing Company

Location:  Highland Park, IL/Chicago, IL

ABV:  6.3%

IBU:  35

Good for drinking if:  You need a little pick-me-up because your water heater broke.

Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  4.25

Beer #11 -- which I forgot to drink yesterday -- is a repeat from last year's beer advent calendar.  I'm not complaining.  Vixen is a variant of local brewery Around The Bend's delightful pistachio cream ale, Vera.  They add cinnamon to Vera, but not too much.  The result is a pleasant, easy drinking seasonal beer that counteracts some of the heavier winter beers this time of year.

Name:  Vixen

Brewery:  Around the Bend Beer Company

Location:  Chicago, IL

ABV:  5.0%

IBU:  11.4

Good for drinking if:  You're livin' on the edge of a broken heart.

Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  4.25

Today's beer was from a local brewery that I've never heard of.  Egad!  Azadi Brewing is apparently some sort of collaboration between suburban brewery Miskatonic and city brewery incubator Pilot Project.  Jaago is titled a "chicory amber ale," which is a new one for me.  I love amber ales, and the chicory adds some roastiness to it.  

Name:  Jaago

Brewery:  Azadi Brewing Company

Location:  Chicago, IL

ABV:  6.0%

IBU:  N/A

Good for drinking if:  You're watching your alma mater's soccer team lose a heartbreaking national title game in a sudden death penalty kick shootout.

Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  4.25

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: Half Acre Tend

Unfortunately, there are some IPAs in every beer advent calendar, and I endured one today.  According to the can, Tend from local stalwart Half Acre is deemed a "Winter India Pale Ale."  I don't know what that means, but it was still hoppy, so I wasn't a big fan.

Name:  Tend

Brewery:  Half Acre Beer Company

Location:  Chicago, IL

ABV:  6.8%

IBU:  N/A

Good for drinking if:  After watching your last remaining hope in your World Cup pool lose on PKs, you get some redemption when your alma mater's soccer team dominates their national semifinal game while you decorate your Christmas tree.

Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  3.5

Hair Band Friday - 12/9/22

1.  "Hell is Living Without You" by Alice Cooper

2.  "Fight For Your Life" by Y&T

3.  "Light Up the Sky" by Van Halen

4.  "Cumin' Atcha Live" by Tesla

5.  "Patience" (live) by Guns N' Roses

6.  "Get Ready" by Bon Jovi

7.  "Revelation (Mother Earth)" by Ozzy Osbourne

8.  "Hungry for Love" by Whitesnake

9.  "Dreamer" by Europe

10.  "All Over Now" by Great White

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: Roaring Table Chocolate Gearbox

Today's beer was right in my wheelhouse.  An 8% export stout with cacao nibs and vanilla, Roaring Table's Chocolate Gearbox was a delightfully roasty stout.  The chocolate flavor was very prominent, but it was more of a dark chocolate flavor, so it wasn't too sweet.  All in all, it was a pleasant beer to drink while watching my favorite holiday movie.

Name:  Chocolate Gearbox

Brewery:  Roaring Table Brewing

Location:  Lake Zurich, IL

ABV:  8%

IBU:  N/A

Good for drinking if:  Enjoyed in the warm embrace of kith and kin.

Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  4.25

Retro Video of the Week: "Driving Home For Christmas" by Chris Rea

Now that we're in December, it's time for some holiday-themed Retro Videos of the Week.  First up is husky-voiced British singer-songwriter Chris Rea's song "Driving Home For Christmas."  It's a schmaltzy, jazzy pop song, kind of in a '50s crooner style.

Rea wrote the song nearly a decade before he recorded it, inspired by being stuck in traffic while driving home to Middlesbrough from London. Snow was falling, and he noticed how miserable all of the other drivers looked.  Despite its tongue-in-cheek beginnings, it's a pretty standard Christmas song.

Though originally a B-side in 1986, it was officially released as a single in 1988 as part of a Christmas EP.  It only reached #53 on the UK pop charts that year.  However, as holiday songs tend to do (especially in the UK), it has appeared on the UK pop charts every year since 2007, and it actually went to #10 this year and last year.

The video is just shots of people driving on a Dutch highway while Rea and his backing band play in an snowy halo.

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: Middle Brow Mozart

The 7th beer in my advent calendar was a nice lager from local nano brewery Middle Brow, who cans their beers at another local brewery, Great Central.  Mozart is, appropriately, a Vienna lager.  It's not very wintery, but it's a very good, biscuity Euro-style lager.  It's definitely the kind of beer I could see drinking in a Alpine bier garten.

Name:  Mozart

Brewery:  Middle Brow Beer Company

Location:  Chicago, IL

ABV:  4.5%

IBU:  N/A

Good for drinking if:  You're watching someone on your alma mater's basketball team get the third triple-double in school history while you're hanging lights on your Christmas tree.

Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  4

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: Spiteful Jingle Balls

Beer #6 in the advent calendar was a selection from another local Chicago brewery, Spiteful.  Billed as a winter ale brewed with spices, Jingle Balls is a pretty solid winter ale.  You can -- or at least I can -- taste some cinnamon and maybe some nutmeg or vanilla.  It has kind of a hoppy bitter finish, so it's not my favorite winter ale, but it's still pretty damn good.

Name:  Jingle Balls

Brewery:  Spiteful Brewing

Location:  Chicago, IL

ABV:  6.7%

IBU:  N/A

Good for drinking if:  You realized you were totally derelict in your Krampusnacht responsibilities and failed to bind ill-behaved children in chains and throw them into a lake.

Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  4

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: The Last Four Beers

I've been slacking on posting over the last few days, but rest assured, I haven't been slacking on drinking holiday beers!  Here are the last four beers from my advent calendar.

Beer #2 was from one of the Chicago suburbs' many great breweries:  Phase Three in Lake Zurich.  They're probably most well-known for their IPAs -- which I don't go for -- but they also make fantastic dark beers.  Their contribution to the advent calendar was called Run Run, which is a gingerbread porter.  It was on the lighter side of porters, which is fine with me.  I thought this one was a little bit of a miss.  It was good, but kind of too heavy on the cream or lactose.

Name:  Run Run Gingerbread Porter

Brewery:  Phase Three Brewing Company

Location:  Lake Zurich, IL

ABV:  6.5%

IBU:  N/A

Good for drinking if:  You need a beer to drink before you float to a Dead cover band show.

Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  4

Beer #4 was, unfortunately, an IPA.  It was bound to happen.  Old Irving Brewing is a great local brewery whose Krampus barrel-aged stout series is a personal holiday favorite each year.  This one was Wytchwood, an IPA with three types of hops and spruce, which I suppose is what qualifies it as a holiday beer.  It's most redeeming quality was that the ABV is 6.66%.

Name:  Wytchwood

Brewery:  Old Irving Brewing Company

Location:  Chicago, IL

ABV:  6.66%

IBU:  55

Good for drinking if:  You want to use hops to wash away your optimism that your men's national soccer team had a chance against the Dutch.

Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  3.25

Last night's selection was from another local brewery, Forbidden Root.  They sometimes do some funky things, and this one is called Gingerbread Wheat, but it's described as a "bock beer with ginger, vanilla beans, and spices."  At 7.5%, it packed a nice punch, but it didn't taste that heavy.  All in all, pretty solid.

Name:  Gingerbread Wheat

Brewery:  Forbidden Root Brewing Company

Location:  Chicago, IL

ABV:  7.5%

IBU:  N/A

Good for drinking if:  You want to drink your graham crackers.

Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  4

Tonight's beer was from Mikerphone Brewing, another suburban gem.  They also like to do some weird shit, and it usually works.  This one was called Make My Wish Come True, and it's a wheat beer with cranberry and cinnamon that I think was made especially for the Beer On The Wall advent calendar, as Beer On The Wall's logo is on the label (not on the part in the photo above).  This was much more tart than I was expecting, and I'm not a huge fan of sours.

Name:  Make My Wish Come True

Brewery:  Mikerphone Brewing Company

Location:  Elk Grove Village, IL

ABV:  4.5%

IBU:  N/A

Good for drinking if:  You're looking for something to make you pucker after picking up your family from the airport.

Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  3.5

Hair Band Friday - 12/2/22

1.  "Breaking the Chains" by Dokken

2.  "Crying Shame" by Faster Pussycat

3.  "Yesterdays" (live) by Guns N' Roses

4.  "Life Sentence" by Junkyard

5.  "Mad Hatter" by Bonham

6.  "Della Brown" by Queensrÿche

7.  "Brain Drain" by Jackyl

8.  "Give Me All Your Love" by Whitesnake

9.  "Don't Wait For Me" by Thunder

10.  "I Can't Drive 55" by Sammy Hagar

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: St. Bernardus Christmas Ale

Admittedly, I broke into my beer advent calendar a day early because I have shit going on tonight, and I wanted to drink a beer while watching the IU/North Carolina game last night.  The first beer in my beer advent calendar is one of my favorite winter beers:  St. Bernardus's Christmas Ale.  I had the pleasure of going to Belgium a few months ago, and I soaked up as much of that country's wonderful beer as I could, including several from St. Bernardus (though obviously not the Christmas Ale, as it wasn't available yet).  St. Bernardus is a former Trappist brewery located in Watou, a small town in West Flanders on the French border.  I've enjoyed every one of their beers I've had, and their Christmas Ale is a top notch Belgian strong ale.

Name:  St. Bernardus Christmas Ale

Brewery:  Brouwerij St. Bernardus

Location:  Watou, Belgium

ABV:  9.8%

IBU:  N/A

Good for drinking if:  You're watching two college basketball blue bloods battle it out.

Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  4.5