This month is hosted by Phil Hardy at the Beersay blog.
“The idea for me was based loosely around the visits of three ghosts to Ebenezer Scrooge, but relayed in a post about the beers of Christmas past, present and future.
What did you drink during Christmas holidays of old, have you plans for anything exciting this year and is there something you’d really like to do one day, perhaps when the kids have flown the nest?
Do you have your own interpretation, was Scrooge perhaps a beer geek?
Or maybe it’s all one day. What will you drink Christmas morning, Christmas afternoon and what will you top off the holiday with that evening?
Just a few examples there, but the idea was to keep the topic as open as possible to allow you free rein to write about a subject with a seasonal twist in whatever way the title grabs you.”
I was a bit stymied by this topic which is to be expected since Los Angeles is not known for needing wintry beers. For some reason the winter warmer tastes a bit better when there is a chill in the air. But then the fine folks behind the colLAboration beer gardens announced their winter beer garden at the new Golden Road brewery and a festivus of an idea popped into my head.
Every year I plan on going to the Holiday Ale Festival in Portland and every year, I miss out for one reason or another. But if the Ghost of Christmas Beers Past could grant me a wish, I would love to go back to last year’s festival and try the Cascade sours, the bourbon barrel ales and after enjoying Sleigh’r and Imperiale from Ninkasi Brewing, I really would like to have tried their Unconventional Imperial Stout with Lavendar , Taragon, and Heather.
The Ghost of Christmas Beer Present will not stop me from heading to Golden Road Brewing tomorrow. They will be debuting their next two brews at the latest colLAboration. They are “Brewer’s Choice” beers, which were “developed collectively by the entire GRB brewing team, are perfect for the holidays and an amazing follow up to the limited edition (and nearly gone!) Burning Bush IPA.”
My glass will be filled with Rye on the Palate and Shwartz Stout. And then I will buy more of the new Lagunitas Sucks Holiday Ale which is perfect for us in L.A. since it is a light, fruity IPA. Perfect for the typical warm days we have this time of year.
In the future, I hope to have my own December Ale festival. Hopefully, the Ghost of Christmas Beer Future will be able to help me think of a catchy name first. Because, I would love to have vertical tastings of Bruery “Days of Christmas” beers, Jubelale from Deschutes and maybe even Jubilee from my local, Eagle Rock Brewing.
Maybe I will start this year. From acorns do mighty oaks grow. I have some Anchor from ’08 down in the cellar somewhere.
Most of the posts for this session are loaded with sentimentality. This one just excites my inner-beer geek. Winter seasonals are hit-or-miss for me. The wet-hopped IPA’s are awesome and gone before you know it. However, nothing beats a great imperial stout or a tart sour with dinner. Winter warmers rarely impress and I’d rather warm my belly with a good barley wine. Good post!
The one thing that makes Holiday beers so interesting is the fact that you never know what style will be used. The ability to have pretty much any style translated through the Christmas prism is cool to me. That sais though I love my IPA’s, I rather imbibe a good strong ale or or barleywine too.
Really interesting this for me Sean, as here in the UK Christmas is normally a chilly affair. Dark, heavy seasonal beers start to appear in late October with every conceivable Christmas angle being covered by December, I hadn’t thought of the folks like yourself who live in the sun. Some interesting beers on your agenda though and some I wouldn’t mind sampling in the UK this Christmas. Thanks for helping to keep my tenure of The Session a successful one.
Cheers Phil
Thanks for the fun topic. I always like the ones where I have to think about it and mull it over. If you ever make it to L.A., drop me a line and I can point out where to go and buy you a pint.
Sean
Here’s a link to last months round up of Decembers which I hosted over in my blog Beersay. Thanks again for posting.
Session #58 A Christmas Carol – Final round up http://wp.me/p1mN8x-O7
It would be great if you could add me to your blogroll and twitter followers
Cheers
Phil
@filrd
beersay.wordpress.com