XMas Ales and Ribeye Roast

For various reasons, the "SheppyBrew Christmas Dinner" was on the 23rd this year.

If you've been following along for awhile, you may have figured out that one of my favorite things to make on holidays is Ribeye Roast.

I only really get it when there are holiday sales for them at our local grocery stores. This often happens around Christmas, and I picked up one on sale this year to make.

Another thing you probably know if you've been following this blog for awhile is that every year (since I started brewing way back in 2009) I brew an "X-Mas Ale".

Back when I bottled most of my beers, I always saved 6 or so bottles to do vertical tastings in future years. Now that I keg, I have pretty much gotten away from that, but I still have some older "X-Mas Ale" bottles in my fridge.

While making my Ribeye Roast this year, I pulled out a bottle of my 2011 X-Mas Ale (Hazelnut), a bottle of my 2012 X-Mas Ale (Peppermint), a bottle of Breckenridge Brewery's Christmas Ale, and poured a pint of the 2023 X-Mas Ale.

My wife (aka the SheppyBrew Beer Model) and I gave them a try together.

I was pleasantly surprised how well the older two beers have held up.

Honestly, I thought the 2011 X-Mas Ale tasted better than I remember it tasting fresh. The hazelnut really complimented the winter warmer base.

The 2012 X-Mas Ale was the Beer Model's favorite of this group. My least favorite, but I still thought it was good.

 For whatever reason the head on the 2012 X-Mas Ale dissipated almost immediately. It didn't really diminish the drinking experience at all.

I liked the 2023 X-Mas Ale best. I'm not sure it really tastes "Wood Aged". I should really try to remember to try to save this for awhile to see if the wood flavor increases over time.

Not sure I'll remember to do that.

I cooked the Ribeye Roast indirectly for about 3 hours while drinking the beers.

It was fun.

,

Around dinner time, the internal temperature was around 125 or so (maybe a bit less in a few spots) and I put the meat over direct heat for about 5 minutes per side.

The meat turned out medium rare (maybe more on the rare side).

This is how most prime rib people like it, but I think I would have liked it a bit more done on the edges. Next time, I'll want to try to remember to give myself more time.

Regardless, it was great. Luckily, my kids and wife are used to the way I cook beef, so they were not afraid of a little pink color.

Yummy! If I see these on sale again, I'll try to grab another.

I think I may do another X-Mas Ale vertical tasting before the end of winter too.

As always, stay tuned on the regular SheppyBrew Channels to see what is happening with beer and other things: SheppyBrew's Facebook Page; Sheppy's Twitter Feed; SheppyBrew's Instagram Page; and SheppyBrew's Website.

Go Blackhawks!