Welcome to my blog, where I talk all things beer and tech.

The twelfth day of 12BeersOfXmas 2020, featuring Burning Sky Cuvée 2020.

12BeersOfXmas Day Twelve


It's time for the last beer of this year's 12BeersOfXmas, Burning Sky's Cuvée 2020, a blend of saison and lambic.

It's a beautiful beer; crisp, dry, fruity, mildly funky and with a big acidic hit. It does everything it says on the tin.

Here's to a better 2021!

![photo of burning sky cuvee 2020 beer in glass next to bottle](https://res.cloudinary.com/dqev9r6tl/image/upload/v1609448732/IMG_1258_2_o97tvj.jpg)


The eleventh day of 12BeersOfXmas 2020, featuring Elusive Brewing Barrel Aged The Wasteland.

12BeersOfXmas Day Eleven


I waxed lyrical about Elusive Brewing yesterday, so I'll get right down to the beer. Today it's the barrel aged version of Elusive's imperial stout, The Wasteland, aged in bourbon barrels.

It pours as dark as the night sky, with a minimal off-white head. The aroma and the taste is all bourbon, the barrel aging obviously having a profound effect on this beer. It's rich, boozy and warming with plenty of roasty and toasty notes resting underneath the duvet of bourbon.

Truly a deliciously decadent beer.

![photo of elusive beer in glass next to bottle](https://res.cloudinary.com/dqev9r6tl/image/upload/v1609362248/IMG_1255_2_l0hobb.jpg)


The tenth day of 12BeersOfXmas 2020, featuring Elusive Brewing Bee Strong.

12BeersOfXmas Day Ten


Well we're well and truly on the home stretch now folks!

Tonight I'm featuring a beer from my brewery of the year, Elusive Brewing. They've been knocking it out of the park this year, in very difficult circumstances, putting out an incredible range of beers along the way. From the Nelson Sauvin hopped farmhouse ale Lord Nelson, to the coffee porter Spellbinder, to the west coast IPA Oregon Trail, and all the ones in between, all the Elusive beers I've had this year have been consistently great.

The beer today is Bee Strong, a honey wee heavy. It's a very, very dark brown with a small white head and on the nose there's a deep, toffee-like maltiness accompanied by the aforementioned honey. It's almost identical tasting as it as smelling; rich, luxurious malts with a hint of honey and then a heavenly sweet finish.

A classic wee heavy with a fresh twist and another beer that Elusive can add to their illustrious list from this year.

![photo of elusive beer in glass next to can](https://res.cloudinary.com/dqev9r6tl/image/upload/v1609272891/IMG_1253_2_xxjgtl.jpg)


The ninth day of 12BeersOfXmas 2020, featuring Quirinus from Tegernseer.

12BeersOfXmas Day Nine


Today's beer is Quirinus from Tegernseer.

In the glass the beer is a deep copper with a nicely sized white head. On the nose it's the stereotypical 'liquid bread' that you'd expect from this style of beer, along with some toasty and caramel notes. The beer tastes initially a bit fruity, followed up by the deep maltiness that was so apparent on the nose.

Another brilliant example of German brewing, although I think the Ayinger Winter Bock from a few days ago pips this to the post.

![photo of tegernseer beer in glass next to bottle](https://res.cloudinary.com/dqev9r6tl/image/upload/v1609190221/IMG_1251_2_y0th8u.jpg)


The eighth day of 12BeersOfXmas 2020, featuring Avec Les Bons Voeux from Brasserie Dupont.

12BeersOfXmas Day Eight


Saison was one of the first styles that I really fell in love with. I'm not quite sure why. Firstly, it could be the romantic story about how Belgian and French farms would brew a low-strength pale ale to keep the workers on their farm hydrated during the working day. True or not, it's a cool story and definitely adds to the romanticism of saison. Secondly, as someone who was getting increasingly interested in brewing beer, I think that the fact yeast plays such a huge part in the flavour of the beer was interesting to me.

Anyway, on to the beer! Today it's Avec Les Bons Voeux from Brasserie Dupont.

The beer pours a deep, hazy golden colour, with a large white head. On the nose I'm getting a big hit of white pepper and a generous helping of barnyard funk. I'm not getting any funk when I taste the beer; instead it's all white pepper and spiciness from Dupont's world famous yeast. The finish is dry and lingering with a bitterness that I wasn't quite expecting.

This is an incredible saison, perhaps only bettered by another of Dupont's offerings, Saison Dupont.

![photo of avec les bons veux in glass next to bottle](https://res.cloudinary.com/dqev9r6tl/image/upload/v1609100884/IMG_1248_2_ulrdkt.jpg)


The seventh day of 12BeersOfXmas 2020, featuring Gun Brewery Barley Wine.

12BeersOfXmas Day Seven


Today's beer is a barley wine from Gun Brewery in Sussex, England.

The beer pours a deep amber with a medium-sized white head. There's big hits of toffee on the nose along with an orangey, marmalade character. There's a slight hint of alcoholic warmth on the nose as well, but it doesn't rear its head in the taste. The beer tastes rich and malty, with toffee coming through as well and then a short, almost tart finish.

![photo of gun brewery barley wine in a glass next to the can](https://res.cloudinary.com/dqev9r6tl/image/upload/v1609011726/IMG_1245_2_h3vvto.jpg)


The sixth day of 12BeersOfXmas 2020, featuring Anchor Christmas.

12BeersOfXmas Day Six


It's Christmas! There was really only one beer I was going to pick from my line-up to feature today, and it's Anchor's yearly Christmas release. A Christmas tradition that I've sadly not really kept up for the last few years.

The beer pours a very dark brown, almost black, with a large light brown head. The aroma is like a sweet coffee, almost mocha like, with a citrusy orange character trying to peek through. The beer tastes quite interesting. When I saw how the beer looked I was expecting a bigger body, but it's light and breezy and going doing very easily indeed. The flavours are quite light as well, there's a bit of chocolate and coffee and a pine/spruce like flavour but none of the heavy roasted notes you'd expect when you look at the beer.

Merry Christmas!

![photo of anchor christmas beer in a glass next to the bottle with a christmas tree in the background](https://res.cloudinary.com/dqev9r6tl/image/upload/v1608900808/IMG_1244_2_ljgjjs.jpg)


The fifth day of 12BeersOfXmas 2020, featuring St Bernardus Christmas Ale.

12BeersOfXmas Day Five


Yesterday's post was a bit of a love letter to German brewing so I feel like today I have to show some love to the other legendary brewing country, Belgium. I find that Belgian beer is the bold and brash cousin to the subtleties found in Germany. They certainly both have their place and I'm as much a fan of Belgian beer as I am German.

Today's beer is St Bernardus Christmas Ale from the St Bernardus brewery in Watou, Belgium.

The beer pours a deep brown, with a large fluffy white head that disappears quickly. The aroma is rich and fruity; the taste is initially quite sweet and fruity, before giving way to a dry, spicy and herbal finish. It's a 10% beer that's sitting in my glass, but the drinkability is incredible. There's absolutely no hint of the beer's strength, except for the fact that after taking a sip the cold winter night feels just a little less cold. It's the perfect winter beer. Rich, dark, warming.

I only wish I'd picked up a 750ml bottle instead of a 330ml.

![photo of st bernardus beer in a glass next to the bottle](https://res.cloudinary.com/dqev9r6tl/image/upload/v1608842330/IMG_1243_2_nr40az.jpg)


The fourth day of 12BeersOfXmas 2020, featuring Ayinger Winter Bock.

12BeersOfXmas Day Four


Day four already?! Time flies when you're having fun... Today I'm drinking Winter Bock from Ayinger Brewery in Bavaria, Germany.

German beer is a particular love of mine. From Kölsch to Hefeweizen, Bock to Helles, there's a German beer for every occasion. There's a certain subtlety and balance to most German beers that just draws me in to them, and of course there's an incredible skill involved in brewing the perfect Helles or Kölsch. As a homebrewer and ex-commercial brewer, I'm in awe at some of the skill displayed in German beer styles.

Today's beer is no exception to my love of German styles. It pours a very dark brown with a large off-white head. The aroma is all malt; an incredibly inviting rich breadiness fills my nose and I'm craving one of my wife's freshly baked loaves. The beer tastes similarly to how it smells, there's no noticeable hoppiness and the yeast character is incredibly clean, allowing the rich breadiness to really shine through and take a well deserved centre stage. All I can think about after taking a sip is the next sip and I'm through the beer in record time.

Ayinger, take a bow!

![photo of ayinger beer in a glass next to the bottle](https://res.cloudinary.com/dqev9r6tl/image/upload/v1608756486/IMG_1242_2_oymzbs.jpg)


The third day of 12BeersOfXmas 2020, featuring Tempest Old Parochial.

12BeersOfXmas Day Three


Tempest Old Parochial was the first ever barrel aged beer I drank, and I featured it in my 12BeersOfXmas all the way back in 2013. We've both changed a lot in the intervening years, myself having transtioned into a brewing career and then out of a brewing career, so let's see if I enjoy it as much as I did back then.

The beer pours a dark brown with a very minimal head, and the aroma is overwhelmingly caramel and burnt sugar with just a sliver of the Scotch whisky barrel that this beer spent so long sleeping in. In the mouth it's more of the same, but this time the whisky barrel is not pulling any punches. The beer has a huge body and a sweet, whisky-esque finish that lingers all around your mouth.

This is a style of beer and a strength that should encourage sipping, but in my case I'm simply enjoying it too damn much.

![photo of beer in a glass next to the can](https://res.cloudinary.com/dqev9r6tl/image/upload/v1608670066/IMG_1240_2_vf4av4.jpg)


The second day of 12BeersOfXmas 2020, featuring Six Degrees North x Alvinne Quad.

12BeersOfXmas Day Two


My second beer this year is a Belgian Quad brewed in collaboration between Six Degrees North based in Stonehaven, Scotland and Brouwerij Alvinne based in Zwevegem, Belgium. It was very kindly gifted to me by my friend Sean as part of a little Secret Santa I organised a few weeks ago.

The beer pours a very deep brown with a small off-white head. On the nose I get masses of dried fruit along with a Belgian yeast spiciness. It smells rich and boozy, almost giving away its 11% but after taking a sip you'd definitely be forgiven for thinking it's perhaps 7 or 8%. Dried fruits and caramel/toffee are the dominant flavours I'm tasting, with a bit of spicy yeast character underpinning it. The finish is a bit too sweet for my own personal tastes and I think some more carbonation could lift the whole beer up a notch.

All-in-all, a very enjoyable beer ever so slightly let down by two small points.

![photo of beer in a glass next to the bottle](https://res.cloudinary.com/dqev9r6tl/image/upload/v1608583661/IMG_1232_2_nan7ak.jpg)


The first day of 12BeersOfXmas 2020, featuring Kernal Imperial Brown Stout 1856.

12BeersOfXmas Day One


Every year, my friends over at the [Beer O'Clock Show](https://twitter.com/beeroclockshow) organise an event called [12BeersOfXmas](https://twitter.com/hashtag/12BeersOfXmas). The idea is to drink a beer every day from the 20th December until New Year's Eve. Most people feature special or strong beers in their line-ups, but there's no rules. Just drink a beer each day and get involved in the conversation on Twitter.

For my first beer this year, I'm drinking Kernel's Imperial Brown Stout 1856.

The Kernel Brewery have been quietly plugging away since 2009, never really causing a fuss, but being very much enjoyed by those in the know. Their branding is incredibly understated but instantly recognisable. I don't see Kernel very much in Scotland, but when I see Kernel, I buy Kernel. There aren't many breweries as consistently good at such a wide range of styles as the Kernel.

The beer is absolutely remarkable.

On the nose there's everything you'd expect from an imperial stout; coffee, chocolate and roasted malts but I'm also getting a slight hint of smokiness and an almost whisky like character. I also get a slight hint of whisky barrel aging, perhaps as a result of the smokiness.

After taking a sip, I'm immediately struck by the body of the beer. It's incredibly thick and rich, coating the mouth and hiding its 9.5% ABV very well. The flavours on offer are much the same as the aroma, but the hint of smokiness and whisky barrel isn't coming through as much. It's all coffee, chocolate and roasted malts followed up a big, bitter finish.

![Alt Text](https://res.cloudinary.com/dqev9r6tl/image/upload/v1608496275/IMG_1231_2_izvuep.jpg)


A quick guide on how to stack HTML elements on top of each other.

How to stack HTML elements


I recently had to build this. It's a button with a separate image behind it, providing a cool background effect to the container the button is in.

![Alt Text](https://res.cloudinary.com/dqev9r6tl/image/upload/v1608476635/htmlstacking_vdojgu.png)

At first, I didn't have a clue what to do. I'm familiar with `z-index` but I'd never used it to stack elements directly on top of each other like that.

After a bit of Googling and speaking to a colleague, here's what I ended up doing.

```
<div class="container">
   <img class="image" src="">
   <a href="" target="_blank" class="btn">Button</a>
</div>
```

### The container

```
.container {
  display: flex;
  align-items: center;
  justify-content: center;
  float: left
}
```

I'm using flexbox here along with `align-items: center` and `justify-content: center` so that my image and button are both centred inside the parent container. Depending on your needs this may not be the right solution for you. You can read more on flexbox by following the link at the bottom of the page.

`float: left` here isn't needed for the actual stacking of elements, but in my case it was needed to ensure that the component is left-aligned relative to some text above it, but also that the image stays centred behind the button.

### Image

```
.image {
    z-index: 1;
    position: absolute;
}
```

I've given the image `z-index: 1` and `position: absolute`. Absolute positioning essentially pulls the element out of the normal document flow meaning that surrounding elements won't be affected by this element.

### The Button

```
.btn {
    z-index: 2;
}
```

With `z-index: 2`, and absolute positioning on the image this means the button is nicely stacked on top of the image.

## Wrapping up

These basic properties should give you a button stacked nicely on top of an image. This is because the button is now acting as if the image wasn't even there. So rather than getting positioned next to it, it is now on top of it.

If you'd like to learn more about flexbox, absolute position or relative position then check out these great MDN links about [Flexbox](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Glossary/Flexbox) and [CSS positioning](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn/CSS/CSS_layout/Positioning).

I'm keen to hear if there are any other ways this could be tackled, or any ways my implementation could be improved. So please leave get in touch on Twitter with your implementation.


12BeersOfXmas Day Twelve

31st December 2020

12BeersOfXmas Day Eleven

30th December 2020

12BeersOfXmas Day Ten

29th December 2020

12BeersOfXmas Day Nine

28th December 2020

12BeersOfXmas Day Eight

27th December 2020

12BeersOfXmas Day Seven

26th December 2020

12BeersOfXmas Day Six

25th December 2020

12BeersOfXmas Day Five

24th December 2020

12BeersOfXmas Day Four

23rd December 2020

12BeersOfXmas Day Three

22nd December 2020

12BeersOfXmas Day Two

21th December 2020

12BeersOfXmas Day One

20th December 2020

How to stack HTML elements

19th May 2020