2nd Annual Winter/Holiday Beer Roundup!

Our annual holiday beer post was a bit delayed this year as we spent the last week with a very spotty internet connection - but nothing stopped us from drinking through a season's worth of festive beverages and keeping notes. Consider our post a gift to you this last day of Hanukkah - and be sure to pick up anything that sounds good before they disappear from the shelves.

Methodology: Reviews are presented in order of preference, but obviously that does not mean all are endorsed or recommended. Tastings were conducted by Brittany and Craig jointly and edited and transcribed by Brittany. Samples were all 2008 bottles of beers specifically marketed as "winter," "holiday," or "Christmas" offerings, though many holiday beers we drank and enjoyed do not appear on the list because we did not remember to take notes. Findings are below.

1. Scaldis Noël (aka Bush De Noël)
The aroma is exactly, precisely like Twizzlers, with just a slight note of yeast. It is sweet, thick, smooth, malty and rich. There is just a note of warmth and a bit of a candy aftertaste. We are not 100% sure what makes this a holiday specialty, but it is a very nice after-dinner sip.

2. Anderson Valley Winter Solstice
Smells sweet and malty, hint of hops. Malt, clear vanilla, hints of spice. Not very complicated; seasonal and super drinkable. Craig does not love this, but it is the favorite of Scott, Britt, and Alex and has been reviewed here before.

3. Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel Solstice d'Hiver
Mild nose, little roasty. Roasty deep flavor, sweet, smoky, spicy. Great character, would drink again. Decidedly seasonal as well as tasty.

4. Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome Ale
Smells a little fruity. Taste is caramel sugar, dried fruits, light spicing. Finishes with a slight bitterness which is just enough to entice another sip. Well-balanced and totally drinkable. There is a reason this is a perennial favorite and stand-by.

5. Nøgne Ø Winter Ale (aka God Jul)
Big, fluffy head. Smells hoppy with a hint of roastiness in there. The drinking experience is very much like a porter. Chocolatey, a little strong (though you would guess less than it actually is), gentle sweetness. Thick and chewy but not flat or syrupy. Finishes a little too bitter, but overall really enjoyable and could act as a bridge beer between those who like winter beers a bit hoppier and the rest of us.

6. St. Feuillien Cuvée De Noël
Smells yeasty and spiced - particularly clove - and juicy. Very carbonated. The taste is not particularly wintery, though it is a pleasantly weighted Belgian. Good in general, but more spice would make it even better and more deserving of the "Noël" moniker.

7. Weltenburger Kloster Winter-Traum
Tart, lagery nose. Smells kind of like apple juice. Carbonation is a little light. A little extra malt body. A bit tangy - BA has this as a "Märzen/Oktoberfest", which makes sense flavor-wise. Fine, but no idea why this is branded for winter.

8. Samuel Adams Winter Lager
Slight nose - lagery, maybe a touch of sourness. Crisp, lagery body. Not super flavorful - including nothing deeply wintery. Fine with food, but a little dull on its own. Pretty much a winter barbeque beer if you have barbecues in the winter and you serve middling beer at them.

9. Blue Moon Winter Ale
This is not the worst winter beer on the market. Taste has some degree of vanilla, spice, and sugar to suggest that one might drink it during winter. It is quite cheap.

10. Altenmünster Winterbier Dopplebock
Almost skunky lagery smell. Sweet, thick, a little licorice in the finish. Craig rejects anything that even whispers licorice, but otherwise this is alright aside from the gross aroma.

11. Michelob Winter's Bourbon Cask Ale
We did not actually expect this to be good at all so the fact that it marginally exceeded expectations does not mean much. The label copy about sweet vanilla flavors and bourbon barrel aging were intriguing, but the Michelob/Anheuser-Busch brand name turned out to be the defining element. The vanilla character is strong, but unfortunately artificial. Other than being fake, the taste is decent-ish - but is so watered down an entire six-pack probably packs the flavor punch of a single good beer. Not gross, but not good either.

12. Moylan's White Christmas Spiced Winter Lager
Weird spice blend on the nose - not entirely harmonious. Crisp and lagery up front, same weird spices in the middle, kind of hop-dry finish. A winter spice lager is a different idea, but this does not really execute well.

13. Deschutes Jubelale
Nice dark color. Hoppy nose, but there is malt there underneath. A little sweetness up front, malty base, then plenty of herbal hops. Way too hoppy any time, but especially for a winter beer (but at least not citrus hops). Bitter aftertaste. Our experience seems to be rather different from most of the BeerAdvocates (our packaging looked very different, too) so we might re-test another bottle of this...

14. Southern Tier Krampus Imperial Helles Lager
Nothing makes this specifically a winter beer, other than the bottle which has one of those dreadful "evil elf" designs. Smells hoppy, green and herbal. Warm in the mouth - not quite burning, but the alcohol is very present. Lots of hops here: bitter and dry. Would be kind of gross in summer, but is gross and confusing in winter. Yuck.

15. Nøgne Ø Peculiar Yule
So much spice on the nose, and berries, maybe. Spice in the mouth too - bitter, sprucey. The spicing is a little too funky on this, and it finishes too bitter. They deserve credit for making something that is unmistakably holiday-themed, but lose points because it is kind of too unpleasant to drink.

16. New Belgium 2° Below Winter Ale
Green citrusy smell. Taste has a lot of hoppy bitterness that makes no sense for malty cold winter. Possibly more balanced than some West Coast holiday offerings, but we would not drink those either. Could not finish. Best feature: packaging features neither "naughty" santas nor "evil" elves.

17. Full Sail Wassail
Resinous hop nose, maybe some dried fruit. Malt base laced with hops - other than a prune-like note, it is hard to really taste what might be underneath. Hops are a little spicy. Finishes bitter and dry. sMaybe being named after a summer sport should have been a clue to skip this winter shipwreck. We kind of resent our local Whole Foods beer buyer (otherwise a cool guy) for stocking so many bottles.