I am having a Winter Warmer/Christmas Ale (Seasonal) tasting this weekend. First, It doesn't NEED to be a winter warmer. More so SEASONAL to the climate and Holiday. That said... Looking for some advice on any Breweries, Brands, Styles, Orders and/or finger food to compliment it. As it stands now, I'm thinking... 1: Hoppin' Frog 'Frosted Frog' 2: Anderson Valley 'Winter Solstice' 3: Great Lakes 'Christmas Ale' (Warm spiced with brown sugar and a cinnamon stick) 4: Corsendonk Christmas Ale 5: McChouffe N'ice 6: St. Bernardus Christmas Ale 7: Thirsty Dog 'Barrel Aged 12 Dogs of Christmas' I can sneak in a Porter or Stout... I want to keep it seasonal though, as I try to have one monthly and feel that stouts and porters will be up in January or February. Thanks in advance for your input! Cheers~
Highland Cold Mountain is by far my favorite Winter beer, it's worth trading for. Mad Elf is also a holiday staple.
Samuel Smiths Winter Welcome is one of the beers that got me into craft. I look forwatd to picking up a couple of bottles each year. I also think Troegs Mad Elf is a great holiday beer. As far as food, how about mushroom and goat cheese tartlets
That's a great list / I would say deschutes jubelale and Alesmith Yulesmith are surprisingly good - and available everywhere
Yes, both beers listed above are top-notch winter seasonals! Also Victory Winter Cheers was a lighter and very good seasonal this year. Don't be afraid to sneak in a Sam Adams Winter Lager, it's pretty underrated IMO!
Delirium Noel Ridgeway Insanely Bad Elf Sam Adams Merry Maker Gingerbread Stout Had all three within the past 2 weeks and would recommend them to anyone.
just did a winter beer swap based on research on internet and came up with 8'selections. Have only had four so far but you must include Fireside Chat by 21 amendment it is amazing. Had Full Sail Wassail Winter, and Old Man winter by Southern tier. old Man Winter is excellent and Wassail is above average but not my style it's and English ale with a smooth finish. I found top 10 winter ales in Gayot.com to be helpful. All over the internet people are praising Jubelale by Deschutes but it is in my fridge untouched as of yet. Good luck with the party.
So far Jubelale has been the best winter warmer or Christmas ale that I have had. I am sorry but great lakes was a malt bomb and had plenty of ugly sediment in it. Upslope christmas ale was weak and flat and mad elf was ok but for $15.49 I expected greatness.
Gotta try, recommend adding Widmer Brrrrr! My review is below: Winter Warmer Taste Off: Widmer Brrr prevails at 4.1 over RedHook Winter Warmer 3.6. The former is a must try; here's my review: (let these warm a bit...) Widmer Brrr 4.1 look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4 Another good winter warmer, a MUST! alternative to Celebration ale and others, you must try it. A: Pours mahogany, clear amber in color, with a 1-2 finger very THICK head with lasting and tons of lacing. Sticky. Very good looking winter ale, among the best and yes it does matter. S: At first I thought this smelled too faintly compared to the robust look and taste. But it's winter, and since we want more aroma, sip, swirl, and let it warm - then it's a great bouquet! Once warmer: hoppy, citrus, floral, bread and caramel. A flower sandwich. Great with cheese, soup, pizza. T: Follows the smell and brings much more interest: Spice and pine. Good bitterness. Great long interesting twisting finish, twisting like a candy cane of caramel, pine and bitterness. Floral and citrus ride on core of bread and caramel. Almost a bit salty, makes me want a pretzel. I really like the orginal, muscly taste, this is what makes it a must try. M: The body is medium as is carbonation, good weight and feel as a winter warmer must. Alcohol well hidden, but warming... D: Widmer Winter Warmer - Well done! I really like this beer and it gets better as it warms. Lots of long-lasting flavor.
Very nice beer style idea for a tasting. If Rush River distributes to OH, they have a winter warmer that is worth trying.
I had three winter warmers today with more to come. Sam Adams Winter Lager and Frankenmuth Christmas Town Ale are OK but do not distinguish themselves. But the Dark Horse 4 Elf is excellent. If you can find it, I highly recommend it.
I've only had two winter warmers. Deschutes Jubelale was the first and I enjoyed it a lot. I'm currently drinking Boulevard Nutcracker right now and I've gone through 3 of them in the past hour. Needless to say I'm enjoying that one quite a bit as well. New Glarus should be coming out with a winter warmer soon so that will be next on my "To Drink" list. Everything they make is fantastic so I doubt it'll disappoint.
I really like the Boulevard Nutcracker this year, as well as GD Hibernation (need to get more of both of those, now that I think about it). Deschutes Jubelale was pretty good, and Alaskan's Winter Ale was interesting with the spruce-tips. I thought the Upslope Christmas Ale was good, too, but my wife thought it was gross, and she usually likes abbeys, so take what you will from that.
