I think this is the first year I’ve picked a Texas beer: Saint Arnold Christmas Ale. I don’t normally associate "Texas" with "beer" (other than Shiner and—originally—Celis), but there’s been something of a craft brewing renaissance happening in Texas, I understand, so I thought it was high time. Saint Arnold … Continue reading

I admit I picked today’s beer based on the name alone: Ho! Ho! Christmas Ale from Diamond Knot Brewery in Mukilteo, Washington. Diamond Knot is a waterfront brewpub overlooking Puget Sound, north of Seattle. You won’t their beer bottled—particularly not the seasonals—so you’ll have to visit the brewery itself (or … Continue reading

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, … Continue reading

Today’s pick is Wild Goose Brewery‘s Snow Goose Winter Ale. This beer hails from Frederick, Maryland, and is classified by the brewery as a "strong English Ale" at 6.2% alcohol. Wild Goose prides itself on brewing English style ales and mentions that they brew with Ringwood ale yeast, a distinctive … Continue reading

An American classic, Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale is today’s pick. This intensely-hopped IPA sits at 6.8% alcohol and is widely regarded as one of the best American seasonal beers out there, as well as one of the oldest—it was first brewed in 1981! Like a lot of these seasonals, this … Continue reading

I’ve been noticing—and been intrigued by—beers from Norway more and more lately, so I decided to pick a Norwegian beer for Day 5: Nøgne Ø God Jul. This is brewed in the style of a strong (8.5% alcohol) English Porter (according to BeerAdvocate; I might call this a Baltic or … Continue reading

Nothing says Winter Warmer like an English ale, so I decided for Day 4 to go with a classic: Fuller’s Old Winter Ale, a 5.3% alcohol seasonal available December through January. This is a full, malty beer with nutty overtones and dark chocolate character well-balanced with classic English hops. Perfect … Continue reading

This is the first year I’ve highlighted McMenamins‘ seasonal offering, Kris Kringle, and even though you can find it all over the Pacific Northwest—if you’re near a McMenamins, that is—you can only find it here. This is a brewpub-only beer. Each year’s version of this is a bit different—I don’t … Continue reading

From Kiuchi Brewery in Japan comes my pick for Day 2: Hitachino Nest Celebration Ale. I picked it in part because a Japanese holiday ale intrigues me, and in part because there’s some interesting details about this beer to dig up. You’ll notice from the brewery’s website and the picture … Continue reading

Sweet! It’s spreading—the Bottles of Barley blog today posted the first of a daily "25 Beers of Christmas" series. For the Christmas season, I’ve decided to do a review of 25 different beers, one each day in December, just like a beery advent calendar. I will be focusing on Christmas … Continue reading