BEERS OF THE SEASON

The PIttsburg Post Gazette did a wonderful story on the beers of Christmas. Needless to say, we would have been much happier had they called the story something else, but the story is worth reading if you are a beer aficionado. We have no idea which of these beers is ok to drink, but we thought you might enjoy reading about some of the beers out there at this time of year.

Special beers bring season’s best flavors to party

Thursday, December 01, 2005

By Bob Batz Jr., Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

C’mon, everybody, sing: It’s the most wonderful time of the beer!

Andy Starnes, Post-Gazette

For winter and the holidays, as per centuries of tradition, many brewers create extra-special brews — for partying, gift-giving and just sipping in front of a roaring fire or space heater.

These seasonal brews tend to be stronger in alcohol, the better to warm us, and frequently are sweetened with spices and other flavorings. They’re available for only a few quick months. A few creatively change every year.

Even the names are fun, from Blue Ridge Snowball’s Chance to Cropton’s Rudolph’s Revenge to Sam Adams Old Fezziwig, billed as an orange peel-, ginger- and cinnamon-flavored “Christmas cookie of a beer.”

I love Christmas cookies as much as the next person, but I’d rather have them with my beer than in it. Know that as you read my recommendations, joyously researched and subtitled “Twelve Beers of Christmas.”

Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. For me, there’s no holiday celebration without Celebration Ale, which is one of my favorites, period. I love everything about this California redhead, from the hoppy-but-also-malty taste to the poinsettias and cozy cabin on the label. Delicious on draft, it’s 6.8 percent alcohol by volume, which is how we’ll measure the others.

Penn Brewery St. Nikolaus Bock. I can’t wait for the arrival of this Santa, from our own North Side. Back in ’94, this nectar fueled the Best Office Christmas Party Ever. At 7.5 percent alcohol, this “M?nchener dunkel bock bier” is dark and roasty. Even the paper that wraps the bottles is gorgeous. I promise the 2005 me has been good. Same with the 2005 St. Nick.

Anchor Christmas Ale. This San Fran seasonal is more a sentimental favorite, as I find its Christmas tree-in-a-bottle flavoring to be a bit much. But I love that the recipe changes every year and has now for 31 years, and I try to sip one each season. (You can see all the different tree labels — marking “the joy and celebration of the newness of life” — at www.anchorbrewing.com/beers/labels–layout.htm). This ale is strong enough (this year’s is 5.8 percent alcohol) to cellar for up to several years.

Great Lakes Christmas Ale. This one also has spices and honey, but always is remarkable for its restraint and drinkability. Just be careful, because it’s 7.5 percent alcohol. The Cleveland brewer notes that it “goes particularly well with the fruit cakes … of the season,” to which I can attest, because I have it each Christmas when I visit my family.

Troeg’s Mad Elf Holiday Ale. I didn’t think this would be to my taste, but this beautiful red Harrisburg brew is distinctive. It weighs in at a mad 11 percent alcohol and is brewed with cherries and honey atop chocolate malt, yet doesn’t taste like it came from a soda fountain. (I’m looking forward to trying another Pennsylvania winter ale, Stoudt’s new chocolate nut brown, that’s brewed with cocoa.)

Corsendonk Christmas Ale. I don’t drink a lot of Belgium’s acclaimed brews, but I loved this one, with its complex but smooth fruitiness (8.5 percent alcohol). Belgians aren’t cheap, so to really impress, go with this, or Gouden Carolus Noel or Delerium Nocturnum Noel (both 10 percent alcohol and roughly $12 per 25.4-ounce bottle).

Edenton Winter Cheer. If you like stout, try this 5.2-percent-alcohol Raleigh, N.C. “royal stout.” I saw a guy buy a bottle based on the woman in a Santa cloak on the label.

Samuel Smith Winter Welcome. This genteel Old World brew, from Tadcaster, England, is simply a honey-colored classic (6 percent alcohol).

Wild Goose SnowGoose. From Maryland’s Frederick Brewing Co., this medium-body brown brew always wings me back to the early days of the micro revolution (6 percent alcohol).

Weyerbacher Winter Ale. In a field that can get a bit too sweet, this dark, malty, 6.1-percent-alcohol Pennsylvania brew is nicely dry. We can only hope our Pennsylvania winter is, too.

Bell’s Winter White Ale. Wheat beer is a summer thing, but this Kalamazoo, Mich., brewery offers a light (4.5 percent alcohol) and spicy version now.

Rogue Santa’s Private Reserve. The Newport, Ore., brewery — another of my favorites — takes its standard red ale and stuffs it with double the hops, including a mystery variety head brewer John Maier dubs “Rudolph.” It’ll make your nose glow (5.5 percent alcohol); the snowflakes on the 22-ounce bottles do. You can get one and a glass in a wooden gift box.

All these brews should be available locally, at better bars, distributors and six-pack shops (you might have to call around or ask yours to order something).

Wherever you go, you’ll find a range of choices to try, including Winter Warmers (Lancaster and Harpoon); Winterhook (Redhook); Winter Solstice (Anderson Valley); Old Man Winter (Southern Tier); Winter Storm (Clipper City); and Snow Storm (Schell).

New this season, Anheuser-Busch is rolling out two seasonal rarities: Celebrate by Michelob (a 10-percent alcohol, vanilla-laced, bourbon-barrel-aged “sipping beer” in 24-ounce bottles) and Budweiser Brew Masters’ Private Reserve (an 8.5 percent alcohol beer in a 46.5-ounce magnum bottle).

Some six-pack shops and bars put together gift baskets. Or buy a gift case. Saranac annual “12 Beers of Winter” variety pack includes its Wassail and two new brews. Sam Adams is again offering its “Winter Classic” mixed case of Old Fezziwig, Cranberry Lambic, Holiday Porter and Winter Lager. There’s even a “Scrooge & Marley” sampler case of four Christmasy beers, including a Jingle Bell Bock. Did we mention all the great names?

Britain’s Ridgeway Brewing offers a four-pack of Warm Welcome Nut Brown Ale, Bad Elf Winter Ale, Lump of Coal Dark Holiday Stout and Santa’s Butt Winter Porter.

It makes a “Very Bad Elf.”

A “Seriously Bad Elf,” too