5 Beers to Christmas

It's collaboration time again, but this time between two breweries I'm only peripherally familiar with, Shmaltz Brewery (Behind He'Brew, The Chose Ale) in California and from Terrapin Brewery in Georgia.  Together they teamed up for Reunion Ale '11 - A Beer for Hope and I must say, I liked it a  lot.

This was a dark Imperial Ale clocking in at 7.3% ABV.  It poured with a huge head.  The beer was brewed with cocoa and it was immediately evident in the nose.  My first taste hit all of the major beer notes, cocoa, vanilla and a finish of chili peppers.  This was definitely a big malty beer, with the hops only playing minor parts to the major ingredients.  Although the peppery spice was present, it was almost in the background as much as the hops.  I do like peppers in my beer, so perhaps I was expect more after recently enjoying the spicy rides of Stone's Smoked Porter and Left Hand Brewing's Fade to Black.  That being said, this was a great beer. I need to grab another bottle before they are gone for the year.  Let's hope this is a collaboration that continues.