Not into "holiday" beers!

Have you tried Hardywood GBS? That might just change your opinion on this post...

 

I find it hard to put seasonal brews into one category. In the fall, if you don't like the pumpkin offerings then lean more toward octoberfests or more hoppy harvest ales (founders is a great example). During the winter months there are also a variety of seasonal offerings such as the "spice bomb" winter warmers, seasonal stouts/porters, or even hoppier offerings such as celebration.

It's just about finding which seasonal style you prefer for whichever season you're drinking in.

That's my two cents at least!

 

Yardwork & swampass = the spice of life, man

 

I also tend to stay away from the winter seasonals. I find many to be far too spiced/overly flavored to drink more than one or two at a time. Same with pumpkin beers. On the flip side, some of the best beers I've ever had have been Oktoberfests. They tend to be much more balanced (IMO) than the winter warmers I've tried.

 

Well, I certainly fit that pattern. I don't like Belgians and I don't like seasonals. Maybe you could get a big fat research grant to study this curious phenomenon.

 

I wish a brewery would get away from the whole spiced beer thing and brew the PINIEST FARKING BEER EVER and call it a <Badass Brewery here> Christmas Tree IPA. I'm talkin' Ruination/Hop Stoopid type IBUs and in-your-face Pine flavor. I'd drink that all December.

Sierra Nevada is on the right track though.

 

when I think christmas/ winter seasonal beers I think
1. The most over the top gimmicky names
2. eating pine needles.
the best winter seasonals for the most part stay away from over the top names , have complex rich flavors but stay well balanced. Personally Id prefer to not to have any spices overwhelm my palate.

Right or wrong if the name of the beer is something ridiculously corny it loses some credibility with me winter season beers in particular are the worst offenders.

Im going to make up some names off the top of my head for winter beers. there may me beers already out there that I'm not aware of with these names

yellow snow, reindeer poop, Hoppy Holidays, coal dumper, clogged chimney, North pole dancer. While I enjoy some winter seasonals breweries should focus more on the beer then the name

 

I'd buy a kegerator, just for that beer.

 

true, but harpoon winter warmer is a simply named beer with a horrible taste.

 

I've tried a few Xmas brews and IMO they're all terrible. 2X Winter is like sucking on a Cinnamon stick.

 

This. There are certainly good seasonals out there but some, particularly pumpkin and "holiday" get screwed up more often than not. I feel like too many of them get overpowered by spices and/or have a bad combination of spices. Almost a gimmicky amount of spice.

In the fall I drank a boatload of Southern Tier Harvest (which I would gladly drink year round) and this winter I've been drinking a boatload of SN Celebration (which I would gladly drink year round).

 

My 2 picks as well. Arguably not "holiday" beers, but rather seasonals available at the same time as holiday beers, that are infinitely better than the holiday-branded options.

 

Too bad Doppelrock has been discontinued in bottle form...I loved that beer!

Oh Fran, why have you abandoned Pumpkin Ales? I know it's not stylish for a BA to be into pumpkin beers, but I never grew out of them. Maybe you just need to try the right ones (Williamsburg Alewerks, Evolution Jacques), Fran? :-)

 

You're making a joke, right?

 

Anyone remember like 2-3 years ago when there were a handful of pumpkin beers out there and they ranged from decent to pretty good? Now there's like 100 different ones, most of which are bad?

 

Belgian Xmas ales like Delirium and Corsendonk kick the crap out of any winter warmer I've had. That being said the Nogne O version of Special Holiday Ale is the best I have had.

Pumpkin Beers can be hit or miss, but as far as I have seen, Elysian kicks ass

 

then have a holiday stout, bud. Great Lakes Blackout comes to mind.

yea, well then call me unstylish. I love Pumpkin beers (just not Terapin Pumpkinfest).

 

It's really uncanny how similar your tastes are to mine. I'm starting to think we were separated at birth. Well done 'bocks of any kind are so hard to come by in America. Too often they're under attenuated and over hopped. Now here's where I make my plea to Sierra Nevada to bring back Glissade.

 

Yeah I always dug Doppelrock . . . with the introduction of this new spring DIPA, that will mean that their seasonal 4-packs will be a Russian Imperial Stout, two DIPAs, and Nosferatu which, while being a stock ale, apparently, is really just kind of like a well-toasted, red DIPA in my mind. I liked that the Doppelrock added some real diversity.

As for pumpkin ales, I think I just got burned out. I am always open to a new beer though, and I haven't ruled out any style completely. Still disappointed I missed out on Autumnation actually, that sounded like a pumpkin beer I'd enjoy!

 

It's entirely possible. And I agree about the American bocks, they just don't seem right to me. Mehrg.

Brew any saisons lately, btw? I've been thinking I need to just start brewing myself in order to sate my apparently endless thirst for dry saisons and hoppy pales. Maybe it's the weather here in Florida.