Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
The winter ale from Two Beers Brewing in Washington State is named for a piece of winter gear that you probably need your wits about to work.
“Dark and toasty, this warming winter ale offers notes of chocolate, date, plum, and orange with a dash of hops. The deep dark color and full flavored finish pair perfectly with winter nights, outdoor adventures, and holiday celebrations.”
Fort Collins Brewery has a Big Shot for the holidays.
“A wonderful winter warmer, Big Shot Hazelnut Brown Ale will leave you wishing the season would never end. Its smooth, nuttiness flavors is the perfect finish to a long day of playing in the Colorado sunshine, or maybe just wishing you had been.”
Time to get a little chocolately today as the winter warmer heads to not so cold San Diego and Helms Brewing for Chocolate Night.
“This Imperial Stout is brewed with an immense amount of barley to attain its “warming” qualities at 9.7% ABV. In addition to the malts, a large amount of oatmeal is added to provide a creamy mouth feel and billowy head. Ghiradeli Milk Chocolate is added to the boil, while premium vanilla extract is added post fermentation to round everything out.”
Our next holiday treat is for even the naughty people on Santa’s list. From the state capital of California comes Nice Lager from Rubicon Brewing.
“With the holidays upon us, we welcome you to a NICE holiday lager. Floral on the nose, spicy on the palette, and with caramel through to the finish, this hop forward lager is just what you’ve been asking for. Some good deeds do go unpunished.”
Staying in the realm of Christmas cans we get Jubilant with Avery Brewing.
“Our winter strong ale has a gorgeous mahogany hue, a hint of hazelnuts, and a finish reminiscent of mocha and toffee. No spices, just a perfect blend of five specialty malts.”
Day 10 of the Christmas Ale countdown leads us to Astoria, Oregon and Fort George Brewing for cans of Magnanimous IPA…
“Fort George presents to you its latest seasonal collaboration, Magnanimous IPA, a joint effort with Earth & Sky Farm of Oregon City. Bestowed with generous amounts of hand-harvested Grand Fir tips and bountiful additions of Simcoe and Chinook hops, Magnanimous IPA offers a noble blend of lush piney hops and fresh evergreen aroma.”
We head to the land of misfit beers for this installment of The Session hosted by Jay Brooks and the Brookston Beer Bulletin.
“For seasonal beers, the Solstice/Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza/Mithra time of the year is my mostest favorite. This past weekend, we had our fifteenth annual holiday beer tasting for the Celebrator Beer News, and sampled 42 of this year’s Christmas beers. Here’s how I’ve described them in the introduction of the tasting notes for the holiday edition each year:
Holiday beers are by design no one style, but are a chance for individual breweries to let their talent and imagination run wild. At the holidays, when people stop their busy lives and share some precious time with family and friends, the beer they choose should be equally as special as the time they’re sharing. So a holiday beer should be made to impress, to wow its audience, to stand out. That’s the only criteria that should be met by one of these beers. Will it impress? Different breweries, thankfully, do this in many, many different ways. Some use unusual spices or fruits, some use special malts or hops, some use other uncommon ingredients like spruce or rye, and some make a style that itself is unusual. So there’s nothing to tie these beers together apart from their celebration of the season. That makes it both a delight and a challenge to judge. Ultimately, perhaps more than any other tasting, these beers are simply a matter of what you like and our judging is a matter of what we like. So try them and discover for yourself the many flavors of this holiday season.”
The day after Thanksgiving, I head out to beer shops and stock up on Holiday beers even though the weather is far from frightful in Los Angeles. Invariably, my wife will ask why there is significantly less room where the leftover turkey and fixin’s should be as I crack open my first Christmas beer of the season. I love the variety of holiday ales first and foremost and it is seems to be the only time of the year where an IPA seems out of place, despite the dilligent work of Sierra Nevada’s Celebration and others.
For this Holiday fueled Session, I want to list (despite my deep-seated aversion to listicles) what I deem to be the ESSENTIAL holiday ales. The beers that you drink when you decorate the tree or wrap the presents or while other people open presents and you get a break from your own gifts.
1. Anchor Merry Christmas – Happy New Year
The streak is at 41 this year and it is literally the first holiday beer that I pour each year. I even keep a few past years on hand to compare and contrast with.
2. Deschutes Jubelale
The artwork can be hit or miss and I do long for a photography version on of these years, but this is, along with beer # 3 my home state of Oregon go-to holiday tipple.
3. Double Mountain Fa La La La
With all due respect to Celebration. This is the hoppy Christmas beer that I look forward to. Maybe it is the stars on red design but it is a repeat buy for sure.
4. St. Bernardus Holiday Ale
This beer just tastes and smell’s like a kitchen at Christmas.
5. Trader Joe’s Vintage Ale
$5.99 for a 750ml beer is a steal and a half. And this beer is just so good. Very close to St. Bernardus and another beer that gets cellared and brought out as a “fancy” beer for guests.
6. Eagle Rock Jubilee
My local. There winter warmer for Los Angeles has had in past been very evocative of fruitcake in some years and I can’t wait to try it in regular and barrel-aged versions as well as part of a mixer with their IPA, Populist. Where it becomes Populee!
Once I get through that list, I start looking for new holiday ales to see if any will make the cut for seasonal standards. Right now I am looking at a Boulevard Snow & Tell and a Bell’s Christmas Ale. The former has expanded their offerings here in L.A. and the latter just entered our stores with a splash this year. And maybe I will sneak other Winter IPA’s into the mix, I hear there is a new Green Flash IPA out there. Better get out and check the stores.
I hope that you survived Black Friday and Cyber Monday and any other days of the week in this holiday season and are ready to sample all the Christmas beers out there. Here is what is on tap for December on the blog.
~ e-visits to three breweries that brew beers with figs
~ special reviews of holiday beers plus a special Anchor Holiday Ale review
~ Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark
~ Holiday Beer Daily started last month and continues up to Christmas.
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world
~ … and Session # 106 is all about the holiday ales
Here are two events to get your December started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) December 5th – Smog City + Vagabond Cheese pairing
2) December 17th – Beachwood 9th Anniversary
We go a little off the beaten snow path for the 5th beer of Holiday Ale season….
A Weiss beer based Shandy from Leinenkugel’s.
“A shandy is a beer mixed with a little something extra, and our new Leinenkugel’s Spiced Pear Shandy is our refreshing winter beer inspired by the season. Made from a mix of our traditional Weiss beer and pear and spice flavors, our Spiced Pear Shandy has a balanced spiced pear taste with notes of cinnamon and nutmeg.”
A little more mercantile than merry but also democratic. That is how Mobcraft in Wisconsin rolls when they brew. And this time to honor of internet buying they have a barrel aged cherry accented stout to help you get through the checkout process.
“Cyber Monday is a smooth, full bodied, black as night stout with plenty of bourbon on the nose and hints of tart cherry. It’s heavy mouthfeel leads into distinct flavors of whisky and cherry that ends with a nice long toasty finish. This Russian Imperial Stout with cherries was aged for 10 months in 12 year bourbon barrels.”