This time of year, it is time to take advantage of all the wonderful seasonal beers that come out and cannot be found the rest of the year.
Many breweries produce Christmas ales, usually brown to black, often spiced up with a variety of ingredients not found in more traditional beers. Most Christmas ales are rich and hearty beers, with a malty sweetness and spicy hop character. Holiday beers vary in sweetness, body, color, and spicyness, but all are perfect for the season. Best to try a few and find which ones you like.
One of my own personal favorite is the Anchor Steam "Special Ale" (see picture below) sold only November through January. It varies a bit from year to year, which makes it more interesting. It is always dark, heavy, mildly spicy, and plenty tasty. This year's is plenty dark, yet not too heavy, with pleasant spiciness and malty sweetness. Yummy!
If you have a Trader Joes near you, be sure to try their yearly Vintage ale, a usually black and fizzy mildly spicy but full-bodied ale, which will delight your taste buds. Again, it is a bit different each year and this year's is actually much lighter. The color this is more of a deep copper color, as opposed to the usual black. The body is nice although lighter than usual, and the spiciness moderate. It has a distinctly Belgian flavor and a mild but pleasant malty sweetness, it reminded me of a red Chimay. This is a nice beer, and quite different from the previous years'. When you go to Trader Joes, go ahead and buy a few of these guys. It is fun to keep some in storage and keep a couple to let them age a bit. They will develop a fruity complexity with time which is fun to explore after a year or two. TJ Vintage Ales are made and bottled by Unibroue, a brewery located in Quebec which produces some exceptional Belgian-style ales.
Also excellent is this year's Snow Cap Winter Warmer, from Pyramid Breweries. This one isn't quite as thick or dark, but is a very dark brown with a medium-heavy body. The spices are there, but so are the hops. This is great stuff too!
If you like your Christmas beers not too dark and thick, try Bad Elf from Ridgeway Brewing, in the UK. That one is just a lighter brown color and is a bit heavier on the hops (more bitter) while maintaining a holiday flavor. Nice beer.
And then Belgium produces some of the most celebrated Christmas, such as the Delirium Noel. This one comes in a white bottle with a pink elephant on it (serious!). It is a reddish amber color, with a mildly sweet, malty spiciness and is a classic for the style. It is best to consume it in a brandy-type of glass.
There are so many out there, just go and explore. Try a few and find out the ones you like. But don't let the holidays go by without trying some of those delicious beers you will not be able to find in just a few weeks.
So Merry Christmas, and go Beer shopping!
