Picked up a six-pack in honor of my brother (always one of his favorites) and I'm reminded that this beer is hoppier than I always remember. I guess I'm expecting rich maltiness like a brown ale, but the piny hops (along with estery warm fermentation) really balance this into a rather crisp beer -- really hiding that 7% ABV, I'll add. Pretty nice beer from a now macro-owned brewery.
I bought my Christmas cellar collection, despite the doctor's warning: my sugar level will rise again!
I always wait until December starts before drinking my Christmas/Holiday/Winter beers since I still have to finish the ones I bought for Halloween and Thanksgiving. The biggest pain is keeping SN Celebration Ale cold enough and long enough for it to still be hoppy when I do.
I took a flyer on it thinking it'd be sort of like a sweeter doppelbock, and instead it felt as if I had cough syrup thrown in my face. I exaggerate of course, but medicinal taste was very obvious. Checked the dates, which is a good idea there - they still have some Metropolitan cans in the fridge, but no, it's fresh.
A lot of the Belgian winter/Christmas/New Year ales are just spicy due to the yeast, but have no spices added to them.
