Weyerbacher Winter Ale

As I wrote a couple of posts ago, now is a great time of year for Christmas beers. Last night I had the chance to try a Weyerbacher Winter Ale. I appreciated this ale for a couple of reasons. First, it's called a Winter Ale rather than a Christmas ale. Now, I love the holiday season as much as the next person and don't want to get in to a heated debate over whether you should say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays". But the bottom line is - I don't celebrate Christmas. And I do enjoy beer. So this seems very inclusive (which, I should point out, doesn't mean I won't enjoy a beer called a Christmas beer. It was just nice to see one that wasn't). Second, it's got a really good taste at a low ABV - both of which I'll get in to more below.

Weyerbacher is a great brewery located not to far from me in Easton, PA. They make one of my favorites - the Double Simcoe IPA (which I'll be reviewing soon). I've also had their Imperial Pumpkin ale (one of the best pumpkin ales I had) and the Harvest Ale, which is really wonderful and made from hops that they harvest themselves.

But back to the Winter Ale. It pours a nice hazy, deep brown that shows some red when held up to the light. The smell is that of winter - nutmeg, allspice, roasty chocolate malts. I really enjoy the flavor of this beer - I think it's nicely balanced and not overwhelming... anything, really. Some of the other Christmas beers I tried were so malty - a little too malty for my taste (which shouldn't be surprising, given my love for the hops!). This one is very, very drinkable to me. Notes of chocolate, some toffee, caramel malt came through with just a bit of hops in the background.

Earlier I mentioned the ABV - it comes in at 5.6%, making it very easy to enjoy more than one on those long, cold winter afternoons you're stuck inside. Not surprisingly it's only available November - January, so be sure to grab one while you can.

'Tis the season - Christmas Ales

It's the most wonderful time of the year. And not just because of the holidays. Now is the best time of year because of all the great holiday beers that are available.

This is my first holiday season as a real craft beer drinker. Last night I had an introduction to a variety of these beers at the Tria Fermentation School's Hoppy Holidays class. It was led by Don Russell (aka Joe Sixpack), who did a great job of schooling us in the advent of Christmas beers, as well as imparting some interesting tidbits along the way (like the history of St. Nick, the origins of the first image of Santa Claus, some truly great vintage ads of Santa hawking beer). All this while teaching a class of students who became quiet loud and unruly as the tastings continued.

Here is the line up we had along with where they're from and the ABV of each:

Anchor Christmas Ale (San Francisco, CA) - 5.5%
Brasserie Dupont Avec Les Bon Voeux (Tourpes-Leuze, Belgium) - 9.5%
Jolly Pumpkin Noel de Calabaza (Dexter, MI) - 12%
St. Feuillien Cuvee de Noel ( Le Roeulx, Belgium) - 9%
St. Bernardus Christmas Ale (Watou, Belgium) - 10%
De Struise Tsjeeses (Woesten-Vleteren, Belgium) - 10%
Troegs Mad Elf (Harrisburg, PA) - 11%
Samichlaus (Eggenburg, Austria) - 14%

So after looking at the ABVs, you can probably figure out why we were all so boisterous towards the end of this class.

It was an eye-opening experience. These were much different tasting than my usual IPAs! But some of them - particularly, for me, the Dupont Avec Les Bon Voeux and De Struise Tsjeeses - were really awesome. I think I liked those two best because they were the most mild of them all. Many of the others were very malty, and, in the case of the Jolly Pumpkin, very funky - which is because the brewer uses a yeast that makes it taste funky on purpose (it's also fermented in wooden barrels and then the different barrels are blended together).

Any one of these beers would make a great stocking stuffer for the beer lover on your gift list. For the beer lover who likes to read (which perfectly describes me) pick up a copy of Don Russell's book Christmas Beer, which tells the story of Christmas beers and has a list (compiled last year) of the 50 best Christmas beers.

Here's to holiday cheer with some Christmas beer!