Michael Jackson’s first category of Winter Warmers from the excellent Ultimate Beer is that of Bocks, so fittingly I chose the Bock Beer from Austria’s Augustiner Bräu brewery. This is brewed for Christmas—it could rightly be called Christmas Bock Bier (which is how BeerAdvocate lists it)—and it’s a bit elusive, judging by the scarcity of reviews online.

It’s a warming 6.5% alcohol, and of it the brewery says:

Christmas time is also a special time for beer drinkers – particularly so in Salzburg. This is demonstrated year after year, for great festivities need to be washed down with something "strong".
Available from the middle of November to the end of December, our festive Bock Beer is made using Stadlau Pilsen and Kara-Extra-Hell malts, as well as Hallertau-Spalt-Select and Saaz hops by Barth & Sohn, Nuremberg.

As scarce as it seems to be, this could stand to be the ultimate Christmas present!

BeerAdvocate score: 1 review, 4.05/5. RateBeer score: 2 reviews, 3.25/5.