favorite holiday beer?

[davesarman]

Wondering what people's favorite holiday beer is? What's the first one you can't wait to be released and you buy it as soon as you see it? I love this time of year, beer wise! For me, living in Minnesota, it would have to be Summit Brewing's Winter Ale. An outstanding English Style Old Ale. Rich, complex and warming. Not overly spiced like too many holiday beers. (Honerable mention to Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale and Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome!)

[Brewstervii]

Alaskan Winter Ale is my favorite!

[ckevink]

One of my favs is Anchor Steam's Christmas ale. Although the best holiday beer I've ever enjoyed wasn't bottled, but served at a brewpub in Albuquerque. Blue Corn Brewery's Sleepy Hollow (liquid pumpkin pie... mmmm).

[Beer Nazi]

I have not tried, but really want to try both Alaska and Summit Brewings ales.

My favorites are Young's Winter Warmer, Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin Ale and Anchor's Christmas Ale.

[billy frank]

I usually can't wait for the Sierra Celebration ale, followed by Pyramid Snow Cap, with Anchor taking the number 3 position, and that is mostly due to the fact that every couple of years they make an odd one. Always worth a try though.
Billy

[Alan]

My favorite this year is Sam Adams "Old Fezziwig Ale". It is a dark ale and subtly flavored with cinnamon, ginger and orange.

I'd like to get several cases of Old Fezziwig except it is only available 2 bottles at a time in a special 12-pack from Sam Adams. Also included in the 12-pack are a couple bottles of Cranberry Lambic. It is pretty good. Not like the lambics from Belgium but as good or better than most US brewed.

Also in the fridge right now I have Sierra Nevada Celebratiion Ale, Pete's Winter Brew and Shiner Winter Ale.

The Celebration Ale is almost too hoppy this year and at 6.8% ABV you can't quaff down 2 or 3 without getting a strong buzz. But you can't go wrong with this. I wish I could get my homebrew to taste this clean and crisp.

Pete's is also good this year. Not up to the level of Celebration Ale but yards better than the winter brews from other large breweries.

The Shiner Winter Ale is a big improvement over previous versions.

[BeerSponge]

Lets not forget New Belgium's Frambozen raspberry brown ale, a fine selection. And like above, you cant go wrong with Anchor's Christmas ale, a new recipe every year and a new tree on the label, very cool.

[Jason Evans]

Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale and Samuel Smith's Winter are great. When they are not available I go with Sam Adams Winter.

[Mopar Man]

One of the local ones I like is Legend's Brewing Compnay's Chocolate Porter. Very smooth and rich and the nose on it is wonderful. My wife loves it so much that she insists on buying as many 22 ounce bottles as we can afford and the store has when it comes out.

I also like Sam Adam's Old Fezziweg and one I enjoyed after hearing about it on the BBC of all places is an Austrian beer called Samiklaus which is casked for a whole year before release. It is considered a malt as it doesn't meet the German purity laws (like there that many virgins there in the first place) but it very full bodied and doesn't taste at all like it is 14% alcohol by volume.

[Joe7pak]

My favorite has always been Paulaner's Octoberfest, every september. This year's batch was strangely, hmmm, uninspired though. Usually the Ofest is fresh and full of flavors, like a fresh loaf of bread, but this year's was kind of bland, like a week-old loaf. I actually called the distributor here in Colorado ( Englewood ), and they said that they had heard no other complaints. Curious.
As to Christmas beer's , LeftHand's ( Longmont, CO ) XXXMas ale is aways a nice one to drink on a cold snowy night. A very light touch on the spices. Avery's ( Boulder, CO ) Old Jubilation is a wonderful strong ale, no spices, but a wonderfully thick mouthful of malt.
And, to wrap it up, Coor's Winterfest. Not as big or brash as most christmas beers, but an interesting, Vienna-leaning beer. I drink it on tap where I live, which happens to be Golden, CO., so it's fresh. I figure I should support the brewery just a little bit, since they constantly spice the air with the beautiful smell of brewing beer.

Bill

[Aleman]

Two favorites

Anderson Valley Winter Solstice
Slightly sweet...very drinkable

SandiClaus
An Austrian beer, 14% alcohol with a lagar yeast. Very powerful, full flavor, alcohol very evident. But warms the throat all the way down. Save it for a year or two to help meld all the flavors.

[billy frank]

Well I can honestly say that I have never had the New Belgium winter brew but, having tasted most of their other beers( Abbey Ale being my favorite), I sure do wish I lived a lot closer to that brewery.
Another one for the list I suppose.
Billy

[pstutzman]

Pyramid Snow Cap and Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale are both pretty hard to beat.

[tschmidlin]

Maritime Brewery's Jolly is excellent this year. I've had it on nitro and cask at their pub in Seattle - nitro is better imo. Also availble cask and regular.

[Brewstervii]

I thought of another favorite, it is called Jubelale. It is very tasty, but I don't remember who brews it.

[beer editor]

Originally posted by Brewstervii
I thought of another favorite, it is called Jubelale. It is very tasty, but I don't remember who brews it.

Deschutes (in Bend, Ore.) makes it.

Prosit,
Stan

[Aleman]

I am adding an internet link to one of the few web-based beer stores that will ship many of these great beers. Some states do not allow this, check yours. Shipping is costly, but for GREAT suds...does it really matter?

http://horsebrass.com/belmont_station/bst_map.html

[tjthresh]

You really can't beat Sierra Nevada Celebration.
So far this year I have have hade Boulder Igloo (good), New Belguim Frambrozen (a must have), and Anchor (too much nutmeg). I think I'm going out for more tonight!

[HumbertHumbert]

I think the Jubeale is from Aass, a Norwegian brewery.

[Aleman]

I am stopping on the way home to pick up a case of North Coast Brewing's Old Stock Ale. It is a limited release (1,200 cases) with a starting gravity of 1.100. It should be 8-10% ABV. I had my local store order it and can't wait to sample. Although most will go into aging for next year.

[kberchto]

My year-in year-out favorite is Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. This year I've enjoyed the Sam Adams collection sold at Costco: 24 bottles, 4 each of Old Fezziwig, Winter Lager, Cranberry Lambic, Vienna, Boston Lager and Light. Can't beat the price!

[beerguy101]

Deschutes Brewing in Bend, OR brews Jubelale.

It is VERY good this year.

[daveg]

Today I picked up the following:
Sierra Nevada Celebration
Samuel Smiths Winter Warmer
Anderson Valley Winter Solstice
Corsendonk Christmas Ale (gift)
Sam Adams Triple Bock '95 reserve (gift)

And still got some Anchor Special Ale in the fridge.
How's the Dogfish Head World Wide stout? They had that too, but I wasn't sure if it's worth the $6.50 a bottle, but I'm sure I'll pick one up to try it here soon.

[daveg]

Well, after trying several winter ales, here's my ranking:

Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome
Anderson Valley Winter Solstice
Anchor Special Ale
Stoudt's Holiday Reserve
Sierra Nevada Celebration

[chadwickgrant]

By far, Portland Brewing Co.'s Bobby Dazzler was my favorite beer of all time. I would wait patiently every holiday season for the past three years to get it.

My guess was always that it was an approximation of the "Coronation Ale" in Graham Swift's excellent novel, WATERLAND.

Now it looks as though they're not going to brew it any more, and are replacing it with MacFrost, a Bavarian bock. This is a tragedy.

In my opinion, Sierra Nevada's celebration ale is similar, but not quite as good. If anyone knows of a worthy brew to carry on the flame of Bobby Dazzler, please post it here.

Thanks.

[njvikefan]

Sierra Nevada Celebration. Always wonderfully hoppy.

[BigIndieBeerMan]

My favorite winter beer is Middle Ages Wizard's Winter Ale. It's the perfect brew for those cold winter nights.

[BigIndieBeerMan]

Although my favorite winter ale is still Wizard's Winter Ale, I've added a new favorite holiday beer. I've read a few posts talking about Old Fezziwig and I was intrigued to try it - although, because I'd just purchased Saranac's 12 Beers of Christmas and have half a case of Killian's in my cellar, I hadn't counted on buying any more beer until I saw the Sam Adams case in the supermarket. I didn't even go down the beer aisle because I knew I'd be tempted, and that we were running out of room in the garage. But there it was, stacked beside the checkout counter. There was only 2 cases left...I had to get it then or miss out for another year. I figured Santa must have known how much I wanted to try Old Fezziwig, and put the case there just for me. I picked it up and ran to the register. So, as I sat in my living room last night watching the crappy TNT remake of A Christmas Carol I felt it fitting to pop an Old Fezziwig. I was not disappointed. It's my new favorite Christmas beer. I'll definately have a case next year when it comes out.

[Boto]

My favorites this year were Corsendonk Christmas and Delerium Noel.:)

[tavernjef]

I enjoy the Pyramid Snow Cap and Apricot around the end of Winter and during X-mas and the rest of the cold weather days I enjoy drinking all sorts of stouts.

Just last week I stumbled upon a case of Bell's Special Double Cream Stout and just has to try it. Nice frothy head and thick creamy taste with lots of body, yummy. I also had to get the Bell's Java Stout, wow, what a punch, it was like drinking some kind of liquored up coffee thing. Nice, thick, and rich with all sorts of coffee, chocolate, nutty flavor.
I think I might have to move to Kalamazoo.
Thank you Bells for makin' so many of my favorites.
I'm keepin my eye out for the next Cherry Stout batch:)

[schuman1973]

My fav. is Lakefront Brewery's Pumpkin Ale. It is avialbe only October and November. It has a great spice taste. It always puts me in the Thanksgiving sprit. Also like others have said the Anchor Christmas Ale is fantastic.

[sierraman]

By far my favorite time of year for enjoying beer. All time favorite Holiday beer is Anchor Holiday Ale. I usually buy at least one magnum and a few 12 ouncers, drink the magnum and some of the others, and store at least one of the 12 oz. bottles. Right now I have one bottle of each year from '98 to '02. This past December I enjoyed two older bottles, a '97 and a '98, which were outstanding. I think five years is about as long as I would lay it down. It really changes the character and it is a blast to compare from year to year. I discovered Pyramid Snowcap this year and enjoyed it very much. Looking forward to getting some more next year! Other favorites: Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale and Smith's Winter Warmer. Used to regularly get WinterHook but haven't seen it in a couple of years. I typically like to buy 3 or 4 of my favorites and try something new on top of that, but it's hard to find many where I live now.