Some pretty good holiday ales this year lets begin:
(The heavenly pumpkin of citracado)
Stones latest collaboration ale with the ridiculous french name is a winner. complex. and easy drinking. when i first read the label i was blown away with the fact that they used yams. wtf? yams? I was sold. cost about $3 a 12oz bottle here in southern California and is only sold in singles. this has got to be the best holiday ale ive tried so far this year, very unique. it also contains a number of spices ive never heard of. toasted fenugreek, lemon verbena and birch bark. this is what i love about stone, they take the crazy experimental mindset of a homebrewer and blow it up on a commercial scale. 5/5
Sierra nevada 2011 celebration ale
What i like about holiday ales is theyre only around for a limited time so you know they were made recently and havent been sitting around in the back of a store for awhile. they taste fresh.
This years celebration ale is very tasty, hoppy and fresh. A holiday IPA using sierra nevadas own whole cone hops grown locally on their estate. Nice firm bitterness and fresh hop aroma, slight carmel notes and a nice rich copper color. also has that slight sierra nevada signiture hop spiciness in the backround. i love it 4/5.
Samuel smith winter welcome ale
This years winter welcome ale is just as good as last years . nice balance of caramels and spices. ''should be contemplated by an open fire'' as their label suggests, or give it to kids before they go sledding as the labels picture suggests. 3.5/5
Avery brewing co: Old Jubilation ale
First time having this. not bad. defenitly has a holiday flavor to it if that makes sense.
their site says they dont spice it but they use bullion hops which im not familiar with. im not sure if id drink a six pack of it because its pretty rich but then again if i was to go hiking in the snow on some day in december, sure i would. so im gonna say this ones best drank while on a snowy forest hike midwinter. 3/5 pretty good
Deschutes : Jubelale, a festive winter ale
I really like Deschutes. they have some real tasty beers inversion ipa, mirror pond pale ale. and i cant wait to try this years abyss. however i wasn't too happy with jubilale. it has a rich holiday flavor that doesn't sit well on my palate, almost like one of the specialty grains has been over used. it has a slightly over powering holiday spice taste to it. now im not saying to avoid this beer. not at all. there's a time and a place for every beer of course. this beer is best before and during a nasty holiday family fight. you know the ones that explode and people end up leaving and not talking anymore and you have that bitter nasty hatred inside towards one another. i would be slamming these things. 2.5/5
well those are the holiday ales ive tried so far and i hope to try more soon. now on the homebrew side of things, just last saturday i brewed up 5 gal of stones bitter chocolate oatmeal stout clone. and tasty mcdoles amber ale recipe. those should be handy for the holidays and good all around drinking. all post when done.
Purulence/Amaymon split
What better way to finish off a beer review than to post some fuckn death metal? Purulence is a hidden gem for me . the guitar player steve went on to join gorguts after purulence dissolved. his schizophrenic riff structures are amazing in these songs and i can really see how he added to the gorguts and negativa sound. i would crank this shit after pounding some holiday beers and getting in that nasty once a year holiday family fight!
cheers!!
