Show Us Your Holiday Beers!

Oooh, interesting idea. I’ll be back tomorrow.

 

Alaskan Winter Ale - Had this on tap at my local beer store/tavern. It's listed as an Olde English Ale, which is probably why I found it to be milder in flavor than an Old Ale. It's not bad but I wouldn't celebrate the hardiness of the winter season by drinking more of these.

 

@Beer_Classical_and_Jazz
Here are the notes from this beer's BA page which read like the description was written by the brewery. I have had old ales from other breweries that had a richer malt character which is what I was looking for here. I now see that the brewery was trying to give the beer something that is not in the definition of the style by using spruce tips. The spruce taste likely overcame the malt richness that I wanted, thus some disappointment. (Although the spruce taste itself wasn't evident, it changed the taste character of the beer.) So not quite to style, and the resulting disappointment make it just okay.

English Olde Ale. Traditionally malty with the warming sensation of alcohol, Olde Ales are brewed in the fall as winter warmers.

Brewed in the style of an English Olde Ale, this ale balances the sweet heady aroma of spruce tips with the clean crisp finish of noble hops. Its malty richness is complemented by the warming sensation of alcohol.

Alaskan Winter is made from glacier-fed water, Sitka spruce tips and a generous blend of the finest quality European and Pacific Northwest hop varieties and specialty malts. Our water originates in the 1,500-square-mile Juneau Ice Field and from the more than 90 inches of rainfall we receive each year.

 

Here's a post in favor of holiday beers with spruce tips. Fort George Magnanimous IPA is one of my favorite seasonals because the spruce tips and complementary hop bill result in a beer that tastes like Christmas in a can.



There is the Queen of Hops and the King of Fir. And as long as this beer is available, I will grab it greedily.