Christmas/Winter Ales

It's no secret. I love Christmas. I love the season and all of the festivities that go with it. One of the things I have found over the past few years is that Christmas time also brings out a lot of seasonal beers in the so called Christmas/Winter Ale style. I made a trip to my favorite liquor store yesterday and found a host of offerings I plan to sample over the next few days.

I started with two of them last night. The first was Anchor's Christmas Ale. It was one of the first Christmas style beers I ever tasted and it is just as good this year as the first time I sampled it. It is almost a Mahogany in color and has an aroma of malt, citrus and spice. The taste is almost that of molasses with a hint of citrus. It finishes strongly with a bitter hop taste.

The second was New Belgium's 2 Below. It is orangish in color. It has an aroma of toasted bread, citrus and even a little chocolate. The taste is that toasted white bread and a wild flower hoppiness. It also is quite good. But, if I had to choose between the two I drank last night, I would go with the Anchor Christmas Ale.

The Christmas Ale is As Good as Ever

I had a chance to try Schlafly's 2008 version of Christmas Ale last night. And, yes it is as good as I recall it being in the past. To borrow from the Schlafly web page on this fine beer, Christmas Ale is "A full-bodied amber ale to spice up the holidays. ‘Tis the season to enjoy this rich and flavorful ale made with orange peel, cloves and spicy hops."

The description is good but believe me not as good as the beer. I plan on having my share of this fine nectar in the next two months.

And the Winner Is...

Boulevard Brewing's Nutcracker Ale is the winner of this year's best Christmas Ale.

I sampled the Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale while smoking the hens this evening and it is good. But, to me it tasted a whole lot like their Pale Ale. In my opinion Nutcracker had the best all around taste this year. It is hard to rank them because they are all very close, but after Boulevard I would say Sierra Nevada and Schlafly's Christmas Ale are even and then Breckenridge's Christmas Ale is next. Like I say it was hard to compare them because of them all being good beer. But I like the Boulevard product best.

More on Christmas Ales

I had a chance to taste the Breckenridge Christmas Ale Saturday night. It is a pleasing strong ale with a distinctive hoppiness and flavored with Carmel. It also tastes a little like there's a hint of raisin.

It has a dark brown color and has an alcohol by volume of 7.4%. It is as good as Boulevard's offering and a little better than Schlafly. But, all three of them are very good. I will sample the Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale tonight or with Christmas dinner tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Christmas Beer

As regular readers know, I like my beer. I also like the beers produced at this time of year. Most micro-breweries make a Pumpkin Ale in the fall. These are fine beers. But the best seasonals of the year in my opinion are Christmas Ales. They are usually higher in alcohol volume than other products and are usually dry hopped with the bittering Chinook hop and then finished with Christmas type seasonings such as Orange peel or carmel or molasses. They all have a fairly high IBU. (A brewing industry measure of bitterness).

I have tasted Schlafly's Christmas Ale and Boulevard's Nutcracker Ale. They are both fine beers. I think the Boulevard offering is a little better and a better value as it is priced less expensively than Schlafly's Christmas Ale.

I have also located and will soon sample the Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale, and have also found a six pack of Breckenridge's Christmas Ale. I will let you know what I think as soon as I sample them. And if you know me that will be very soon!