It's Holiday Ale Time 12/9/2009

Eitan: Oh its the most wonderful time of the year, to find awesome Holiday Ale. After a few busy weeks of not being able to hang out and have some beer. Luckily we had some free time and the opportunity to have some Holiday Beers.

First up was the Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. I've had this beer before and I wasn't really crazy about it before. However, we had a bottle so it was time to give it another try. It was a pretty bad, still not super crazy about it, but definitely a decent Holiday Ale. It pours a nice amber color with a good amount of white foamy head. This beer is an IPA, and after smelling it, it definitely has a good amount of IPA characteristics. It has a nice hoppy smell, a fresh smell of citrus, pine and mix of spices. It had a slight hoppy taste, not as powerful as most IPA beers, a little bit sweeter. It also had a nice taste of red grapefruit, citrus and a bit of spices. It was a nice mixture of bitterness and sweetness without being too bitter. It had a medium body with a dry finish, and it was very smooth. This is a good beer to have if you like IPA beers but want some sweetness and spices for the winter brews.

The second beer was the St. Bernardus Christmas Ale. I was so excited to try this beer, I have been looking forward to tasting it as soon as I saw it was being sold in the area. Most of the other holiday beers that I have tried have been more of IPA style, I was very happy to see and Abbey Ale Christmas beer. This beer had a nice brown color with a hint of red. In the glass it looked a lot like fresh maple syrup from Vermont. It had a good amount of beige head, very little retention, but a nice amount of lacing. Right away the smell was very interesting. Not in a bad way, but in a very welcoming way. It took a few seconds to let all of the smell register. I don't think I've ever had a Abbey Ale holiday beer, so I took a bit to savor the interesting smell. The smell was sweet and fruity; mostly dark fruits and a hint of spice. It tasted very similar to the smell. A mixture of dark fruits, fig, plum and cherry. Unlike the Sierra Nevada and other holiday beers, it was very light on the spices. It had a nice medium body with a nice mixture of sour and sweet flavors and finishing of with a smooth sweet flavor. It was a different holiday beer, but very similar to the St. Bernardus taste. I was very happy with this beer and would have it many times over. So far the St. Bernardus beers have not disappointed. In fact, I should run out and get a few bottles of this before they are gone for the year.