It’s time for the Beer Advent Calendar again! Each day from the first through the twenty-fourth I pick a different holiday-themed beer. All for fun, of course, but wouldn’t it be cool if there was a beer-of-the-month club-type service that did this for real?

I’m starting this year as I did last year, with Anchor’s Our Special Ale (Christmas Ale). This is the thirty-second time they have brewed this beer (since 1975), and every year it’s a different recipe and a different label.

In fact, you can check out all the previous year’s labels on Anchor’s site. Very cool.

Over on BeerAdvocate, this year’s beer scores 87/100 with 98% approval from reviewers. From their reviews it sounds like a spicy beer with hints of pine and dark fruit.