Holiday Beers (2025)

Southern Tier - 2XMAS

Way too much spice for me - like drinking potpourri. It is extremely rare for me to not finish a beer - but this is one that I did not. Oh well.

 

Well if today is for domestic holiday ales with national distribution, then I have none to report.
But I will say that I miss Anchor, for whom I collected all but one of their Special Ale bottles in this century. And the same year Anchor went belly-up, I sold the house and had to simplify my life for retirement so I recycled my prize collection. So much for tradition !

However in case I don't post for tomorrow's Belgians, I've already repeated 2 go-tos: St Bernardus and Delirium Noel.

For our final day of the regionals... I still need to go shopping. Cheers !

 

Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome Ale.

Malty as I remember, great golden color.
Classic English hops, well worth a revisit.
Cheers and Happy Holidays!

 

I haven’t had a chance to pick up any more holiday releases, but still have this one-

Cheers!

 

I had this ale for the first time last week. I really like it. The honey notes are really good and the barrel is subtle. Very good!

 

Ok after that last one, going with a fool proof.

Sierra Nevada - Celebration

I have forced our cat Maude into participating in the festive spirit

 

The Holiday beer that drinks great even in August!

 

Single of this





3.64 overall

Pours an effervescent copper with 2 fingers of sand colored head. Traces of head retention & lacing

S: Brown bread, noticeable cinnamon

T: Follows the nose, dryness, a touch of woody/spicy hops up front. A touch of Carmel sweetness, dryness & woody/piney hops as this beer warms up & just a little orange. Finishes dry with woody hops, oranges, caramel & a little cinnamon

MF: Medium body, fairly firm carbonation, decent balance

Not a bad offering as single, easy enough to drink, this works as a seasonal offering, met expectations. Glad they showed restraint with the spices

 

It boggles my mind when I read the multiple posts saying that the spices in Fezzi are evident, even saying 'more or less prominent than last year,' or two years ago, etc. The first time I had Fezzi was probably 10 years ago and I tasted very subtle spices, but the richness of the malt is what caused me to really like the beer.

I've been saying ever since then that the brewery is at fault by cutting so far back on the spices like they weren't even there anymore. So reading these posts that mention spices has caused me to realize that it's my taste buds that have dulled over the years. I can certainly taste the sweet spices in some holiday beers as evidenced by my post that's coming in the next few minutes, but Fezzi is just below my taste threshold to enjoy the spices in it anymore.

I'll find out more with tomorrow's post in this thread because I plan to drink a '24 & a '25 version of Fezzi in a comparison.

 

I’ll be curious as to your take. I definitely enjoyed it more when it was warmed up. Personally I wouldn’t call it very spicy, but we all are differently tuned into flavors and aromas. Tasted much more like a regular brown ale (a style I enjoy) when warm. Cheers.

 

Used to get this down here

 

Good to know, might have to revisit

 

I went out for lunch today and decided to have a holiday beer on tap to start things off for me. So Dark Horse Brewing's 4 Elf Winter Warmer is what I'll add here. It's a sweet spiced beer which is far from my favorite style. Oh, it's an accurate example of the style and is probably what the brewer wants the taste to be, but I think the spices are overdone. Not to complain about everything though, the Black Beer Chili and the smoked, pulled pork sandwich were very good.

 

Sam Adams Winter White Ale, 5.7% ABV; 3.53 overall. Spices are a bit heavy handed & a little less sweetness in the orange flavor for me

 

Forest & Main Brewing (Ambler, PA) brews an annual tribute to Celebration, called Merriment. This can is courtesy of @thebeers

 

Been a couple years since I’ve had the O’Dell Isolation Ale. Might be a couple more before the next.

 

I enjoy the winter warmer series from storm breaker each year, but this one is overpowered by the boysenberry but balances with toasty malts, slight earth and tobacco more as it warms. Aggressive for
style. Bartender Nick doing good work tonight. Happy holidays everyone!