Beer Me: Top 5 Christmas Ales - According to Me

I have been lax in my beer drinking. My apologies. This is a fantastic time of year for beer lovers. The brews are warming and rich with flavor. Perfect for a snowy eve. Today, I'm bringing you 5 of my favorites, in no particular order. OK, the first one is my absolute favorite, but the rest are in no particular order. And they're all good.

1) Troeg's Mad Elf

Source

This is the most expensive one at around $15.99 for a 6-pack (or it may be a 4-pack). It's also sold in 22 oz. bottles and is 11.0% ABV. But....it's worth it.

From the site: "The Mad Elf is a cheerful creation to warm 

your heart and enlighten your tongue. The combination of 

cherries, honey, and chocolate malts delivers gentle fruits 

and subtle spices. Fermented and aged with a unique 

yeast, this ruby red beer has significant warming strength 

that underlies the pleasant character of this intriguing yet 

delicious Ale. The Mad Elf is a jolly and delicious beer for 

 the holidays."

2) Southern Tier 2XMAS

Absolutely love Southern Tier and their beers. They make my favorite fall beer, Pumking, so it's only fitting that their Christmas offering is high on my list as well. I wrote about them last year HERE.


3) Thirsty Dog 12 Dogs of Christmas

Now, I heard rumor that the brewer of 12 Dogs used to work for Great Lakes Brewing and tweaked their Christmas Ale recipe to come up with the 12 Dogs of Christmas. I don't know if that's true or not but it seems plausible. This is for sure one of my favorites. I wrote about it last year HERE.


4) Fat Head's Holly Jolly

Source

Fat Head's consistently puts out some quality beers and this Christmas is no different. I believe this is a new offering from them this year and it's a winner! Full of spice!

From the site: "Once upon a frozen evening way up north, a 

sweet local honey named Holly inspired our Jolly Fat Man 

(as only Holly can) to create this festive spiced holiday ale. 


We think you will enjoy his holiday creation with it's aromas 

and flavors of Christmas day. Sweet malt, ginger, honey 

and cinnamon spice. Sip this by the fire with your significant 

other. Who knows, maybe it will lead to a little inspiration of 

your own. From our Jolly Fat Man to yours, Happy Holidays."


5) Rivertown Winter Ale 

Source

This is the Christmas offering from Rivertown but because it's a Winter, I'm hoping it will stick around through the new year. Let me say, the 6 pack we just recently purchased ($8.49) was the freshest I had every tasted! Like it came directly from the bottling line and into my glass 30 minutes later. Holy moly!

From the site: "Winter spiced ale is our winter seasonal offering. 

With its thick body, creamy head, ruby hue, and big bold flavors 

with hints of caramel, toffee, and cinnamon, it is sure to keep you 

warm through the cold winter nights. "


I did not include Great Lakes Christmas Ale. Blasphemous, I know. Truth be told, I do like it. I just like the ones I listed better.

Happy Beering!

Christmas Beers, First Installment

I know I already blogged about the gingerbread beers so technically this isn't the first installment but this will be the first multi-beer post. Cool?

This is Southern Tier Brewing Co.'s holiday beer 2XMAS. (duh) It was one of the first ones out this season and we actually tried it a few weeks ago but I forgot to blog about it. I am a big fan of Southern Tier in general and their seasonal beers are unmatched (Pumking anyone?). So, I was pretty excited to try this out.

From the website: "We were inspired by a Glogg party, deciding on the spot to brew a beer in this Nordic tradition. 2xMas ale combines traditional brewing ingredients with fig, orange peels, cardamom, cinnamon, clove and ginger root. "

Sweet sassy molassy, I liked this one a lot. at 8% ABV it's got the extra warming quality you expect from a holiday brew. I loved the combination of flavors too. Nothing screams CHRISTMAS like the spices listed above. Recommended glass is a snifter which is what I used. It really lets the flavors expand. If you don't have a snifter, you should really invest in one. Mine was $2.00 and it really helps certain beers. This 6 pack retails for $10.99 so not the cheapest but expect most Christmas beers to be a bit pricier. 

Sam Adams' has a couple new Christmas beers every year. If you can get your hands on the mixed, seasonal 12 pack, you won't be sorry. White Christmas Ale is new to them this year.

From the website: "As crisp as the first snowfall of the year, this unfiltered white ale is blended with holiday spices including cinnamon, nutmeg, and orange peel.  The familiar citrus and wheat characters of the ale are complemented by the warmth of the spices for a festive brew that’s perfect for the season."

I liked this one too but John thought they missed the mark on it. If you are a fan of Blue Moon or Hoegaarden, you'll like this one. I know it calls out the same flavors as the 2xMas but these are VERY different beers. The 6 pack usually runs about $8.99 but if you don't want to commit to 6 of these, there are 2 in the multi-pack so you can try them in there.

And for your viewing pleasure, a couple we tried in North Carolina on vacation. 

First, here is only half of the craft beer aisle at Total Wine & More which we discovered in Raleigh. From this side and the other side, you can mix your own 6 pack, priced per bottle. The nice Kroger by us also lets you do that but the selection is tiny. We were like kids in a beer candy store and it took a LONG time to make our choices. They had so many we had never heard of. It was insane! The nice thing about this is the ability to try so many varieties without having to buy a whole 6 pack of something you might not like.

Apologies in advance that I did not instagram these pics all pretty. Please forgive me.

This one was okay but not nearly as gingerbread-y as the Merry Mischief I wrote about the other day. 

This is the End of the World Midnight Wheat by Shock Top. John's had his eye on this for awhile because of the curious addition of chocolate, chilies and other spices. Yes, I said chili. However, there was no heat in this and very little chocolate. Kind of a disappointment.

Festive Ale is the Christmas offering from SweetWater Brewing Company located in Georgia. It was okay but not too memorable. It's also probably hard to come by, depending on your geographic location. Flavors of cinnamon and mace and smooth drinking but not terribly special.

What's been in your glass lately? Any good Christmas beers to put on my list to try?

TELL ME!