For Christmas I got a membership to the Michael Jackson Rare Beer Club for my boyfriend Adam (and ostensibly, for myself too – huzzah). Unfortunately, it has no connection with the Michael Jackson you’re probably thinking of. That would be awesome, but alas.

Now, I should probably mention that we kind of have the ghetto, hacked version of the club, because it’s expensive and I was having serious heartburn as to whether or not it would be worth it (I mean we could technically head over to Hop City once a month and get someone to hook us up with something funky). So, as a test run Adam will be receiving beer every other month until his birthday. The beer he receives will alternate between “rare” and “microbrewed.” I use quotations because the microbrewed selection is technically rare or limited run beer that we wouldn’t be able to find on our own. The rare selection is… ultra rare. One of our December beers is Kerstbier 2008 (Christmas Beer, pronounced cursed beer) from Klein Duimpje Huisbrouwerij (Tom Thumb Homebrewery, don’t ask me how to pronounce it) in Hillegom, Netherlands.

Each beer comes with a two-page write-up that is not only very interesting, but also helps to heighten the suspense and make each beer-tasting seem every bit as special as it apparently is. This beer is homebrewed. Homebrewed, In the Netherlands. Talk about something I would never get to have otherwise! Anyway, we are quite impressed, and I daresay beer reviews will begin popping up from time to time. Actually, I already can’t wait to tell you about the other December beer. The style became so rare at one point that it was almost lost to time! (Seriously, can you tell how stoked I am about this? Incidentally, there is both a benefit to being referred and a kick-back for referring someone, so if anyone is interested, drop me a line and we’ll work some magic.)

We were thrilled with our “cursed beer.” We’re going to have to work on our beer snob jargon, but here’s our official report on this, our first rare beer:
Adam: “Tastycakes!”
Me: “There’s definitely something different about this beer, but I can’t describe it. I like it, though!”
Okay, now here are some facts from a more credible source for those who may care: Kerstbier 2008 is a 8.5% alcohol by volume ale that is woody, earthy, spicy and not overly malty.

Anyway, it was all in good fun. Nice to do something that feels both special and educational. Hooray, beer!

emily

Nerd. Foodie. Gamer. Homecook. Perpetual planner. Gardener. Aspiring homesteader. Direct response graphic designer. I use too many damn commas.