Warm yourself with holiday ale
by Mark Tichenor and Bruce Lish

Well, the Earth made it to another December without getting clobbered by an asteroid or steaming all its life alive under an escalating cloud of greenhouse gas, and the Holidays are here once again. We think there’s plenty of reason to celebrate, and, as always, craft brewers agree.

Aside from year-round offerings, many breweries brew specialty ales for the Holiday season. Often, these beers evoke aromas and flavors traditional to Christmas. And since a beer is enjoyed by multiple senses at once, a brewed holiday ale can truly be a pint of Christmas cheer.

However, since there’s really no particular style guideline, brewers can also use their holiday ales as a chance to showcase their creativity. So (caution, Christmas cliche in this sentence) they’re beers even Grinches can enjoy.

One suggestion of ours would be Mad Elf, from Tröegs Brewing Company in Harrisburg, PA. A consistent favorite among beer lovers, the Elf pours a rusty amber, with heady dark fruit notes wafting into the nose. Big in alcohol and body, the malt slams through on the swallow, bitterness caressing the sides of the tongue while honey, plums and cherries pop up in front, and gradually fade in a sweet, lingering finish.

Another classic favorite is Anchor Christmas Ale from San Fran’s Anchor Brewing Company. This beer is basically the epitome of Holiday beer spice. Spruce, pine and nutmeg spike out of a malty gingerbread base. We haven’t tried a beer that tastes more like Christmas than Anchor; the spices verge on overwhelming. However, this beer cellars really well. Buy a couple six packs in 2008 and crack ‘em open in December 2009, and you’ll have a real treat.

You also have a couple of options for a true Western New York Christmas. Custom Brewcrafters, in the distant metropolis of Honeoye Falls, brews their enormously popular Wee Heavy Winter ale, fashioned in the sweet Scotch ale style, with a subtle spicing that coyly reveals its components and yet defies definition. It’s slightly smoky, cinnamon-tinged character offsets the malt for a warming, complex body.

The Rohrbach Brewing Company also makes Kacey’s Kristmas Ale, a  darker ale that uses chocolate malt (the name is a description of the malt roast, there’s no actual cocoa added) to evoke a chocolate essence, with whole cherries added to the brewkettle, giving the finished beer a decadent praline quality that pairs well with Christmas desserts, such as, um, uh, figgy pudding.

Our personal favorite Holiday beer, however, eschews spices, fruit, and seasonal gimmickery. Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale stands alone as a titan of beer. Instead of tilting toward malt sweetness, Celebration bursts out as a boldly-hopped amber colored American IPA. Its spicy notes come as a product of the hops. In fact, the only thing that makes this paragon of the strong IPA style a holiday beer at all is the label. Celebration would be excellent year round, but unfortunately, its availability is limited to October through December.
So plop your overfed, overshopped Holiday butt down in front of a roaring fire, or in a cozy corner of your favorite pub, windows steamed white against the cold. The holiday season is a hectic time, and there’s nothing like a holiday ale to take of that load.

Bruce is a certified beer judge and commercial brewer. Mark owns a laptop and likes beer. For more on beer, check out the beercraft blog, updated regularly, at http://www.beercraftsite.com. Send your questions, suggestions, or comments to beercraft@rochester.rr.com.