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Regular readers and commenters may be noticing a theme the past week in Chicagoist's posts: they seem to be centered on alcohol. Between last week's hot toddy recipe and yesterday's glögg post (a recipe we alter slightly every year just to keep things interesting) it's almost shaping up like the twelve cocktails of Christmas.
So today we offer a post that requires no heating or mixing. Today we're talking about seasonal beers. There's no shortage of them. If you've been to a liquor store in recent weeks stocking up for a holiday party you know what we're talking about. It seems as though the shelves are so weighted down with winter ales, barleywines, white ales, and limited edition selections that you breeze right past them and grab the cheap stuff, or worse, the Coors-produced Blue Moon. It can be more intimidating than choosing a wine sometimes; you wind up picking a beer with a cute label that tastes like cold bath water. Chicagoist cut through the chaff and has compiled a listing of twelve seasonal beers for all budget sizes and palates. Maybe one of these will become your new beer of choice for snowy nights, maybe you'll go back to Blue Moon or a stout. At least we tried to give you some informed analysis, which is all we really want to do. Follow the jump and check out our twelve beers of Christmas.
These are the twelve beers that we compiled for your tasting pleasure. If you're curious print this out and hunt them down:
1) Goose Island Bourbon County Stout: Goose Island also makes a damn fine christmas ale- a spiced brown ale with a different spicing every year, but when we tasted this a few weeks back we were floored. And it wasn't just because of the 12 percent alcohol content. This stout is one of the maltiest we've ever tasted. After brewing it's aged for one hundred days in used bourbon casks, adding elements of charred oak and vanilla to the mix. It's almost too strong; if you're a patient person this is a beer that can afford to sit a while and mature like a wine. They come in four-packs like the rest of Goose Island's reserve line.
2) Anchor Christmas Ale: A longtime Chicagoist seasonal favorite, every annual batch is different, from the flavor to the label. Ginger seems to be a constant in the recipe for this brown ale. When it's decanted it's as dark as your favorite tavern. This beer pairs well with shortbreads, we kid you not. Beer geeks have been known to save annual vintages and compare them later.
3) Bell's Winter White Ale: Here's a great alternative for you Blue Moon zombies, as well as fans of Höegaarden and Celis White Ale. Made from American wheat and a blend of hefe-weisen and Belgian trappist yeasts this beer- when properly chilled and decanted- looks like a cloud in a glass. It has very prominent notes of citrus, cardamom, and banana.
4) Sam Smith's Winter Welcome Ale: A creamy, honey-colored ale with a smooth malt flavor and small bubbles on the head, this is another guilty pleasure for Chicagoist. This ale is brewed in honor of Wassail, the winter celebration (and hot ale drink) that predates Christian times. That should please the Bill O'Reillys and James Dobsons among us. Like Anchor Christmas ale each year's label for this is different. It also makes a tasty base for wassail.
5) Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale: A top-fermented red ale brewed from Chinook, Cascade, and Centennial hops, Celebration has a slightly dry finish bursting with flavors, most prominent among them caramel. This ale can sit around a bit after opening and takes to warmer temperatures very well.
6) Three Floyd's Behemoth Barleywine: The Munster, Indiana-based little brewery that could comes through with this rich barleywine. Deep amber in color with characteristics of grapefruit and pineapple on the nose and a subtle caramel flavor on the palate. Behemoth is a nice alternative to more well-known barley wines from Anchor and Dogfish Head. The cheeky label ain't bad, either.
7) Capital Brewery Winter Skål: The Middleton, Wisconsin-based brewery has brewed this warm amber ale with a smooth hoppiness. This is a nice beer to pair with the Christmas turkey.
8)Delirium Noel: Chicagoist starts to drool like Homer Simpson whenever we think of any of the Delirium beers. If you're familiar with Delirium Tremens or Nocturne then you have a good basis for what to expect from this beer. This grand cru-style ale is teeming with character and flavors ranging from tropical fruit and caramel with light spices and honey on the palate.
9) La Mere Noel: The bottle's painted to resemble a stone crock bottle and the label is enough to make any man turn into a Glen Quagmire. But this Belgian ale is no joke. Extremely yeasty with alcohol prominent throughout, with hints of berry, a golden color and a lingering finish that gets warmer as it lingers.
10) Regal Christmas Ale: A dark ale with hints of licorice and coriander and a clean white head that, set against the color of the body, is absolutely striking. This beer pairs well with spicy dishes- we recommend creole food.
11) Chouffe N'ice: This beer is bottle fermented. It has nice fruit undertones with light hops. This is also another beer that, if you're patient, can be stored and allowed to mature.
12) St. Feuillien Cuvee de Noel: This is a deep red cuvee ale with prominent spice notes and a thick head with medium bubbles. The malts add a wonderful caramel flavor to the ale with a distinct finish.
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Basically, Chuck's saying he's spent the better part of the past few weeks schnockered for the sake of reporting on the holiday adult beverages!
I just bought the Delirium the other day..mmmm, good.
Don't miss Bell's wheat ale series (2-4-6-8)!!!
Red Hook's Winter Hook is also really good and (relatively) cheap!
js
I picked up some of the India Pale and the 312 from Goose Ilsand the other day. "312 Urban Wheat" is a lame name for a beer, but it rocked my socks. The India, not so much. Still, reminded me Goose Island has some mighty fine spirits, some nasty bitter thing they had a while back turned me off them, and now I've learned the error of my ways.
You could also check out this sauced and saucy hacked Wal-Mart santa- the videos are hilarious:
http://members.cox.net/jmccorm/santa.html
Goose Island's Bourban County Stout is some powerful stuff. It has a unique taste and is meant to be sipped. After one drink, you will get a slight buzz. If you get the chance it's a great beer. Has anyone tried the Bell's Winter White Ale? Big fan of Bell's but I have not come across this beer, yet.
That India Pale Ale has to be the worst beer ever.
Sam Adams Summer Ale is pretty good. I'll have to try that 312.
/Turned into a wine drinker for winter. Half a bottle a day. Sweet drinking.
Thanks for this article. I've become more of a wine drinker myself these days, but I still love me some Christmastime ales. That Bourbon County Stout sounds awesome - I will be going on a search for that asap.
If you're ever in Fort Bragg, CA this time of year, the North Coast Brewery makes a great Winterfest ale. Had it fresh in their pub once and fell in love with it. They used to bottle it and distribute it a little - I got it at Whole Foods once years ago - but apparently they don't bottle it anymore.
Samiclaus Ale (available on draft at the HopLeaf) is a strong, mellow, very potent winter ale well worth a try.