Holiday Beers Part III - The Best of the Best of Christmas

Eric and I are working hard for YOU...drinking, tasting, enjoying, giggling, dancing, falling down. It's all for JOURNALISM! No, it's really not. It's all for the simple enjoyment of BEER. And what says holidays like beer? Well, that's simple. MORE BEER! And that is what we have for you. More beer. With this list, our final of 2013, we bring the the best in holiday brews from our findings. The ones that made us laugh and cry. The ones that made us stop, look at one another, and exclaim, "Holy shit...that's tasty..."

So here you go...

BROOKLYN WINTER ALE
I like Brooklyn beers. I had been a virgin to their skills until this year when I started finding Brooklyn Lager at all the ska shows I was at around New York City. I quickly became a fan. Eric already knew. Then one hot day this summer before boarding a booze cruise, Eric and I stumbled into Molly's Shebeen on 3rd Ave (one of my now favorite spots) and found Brooklyn Brown on tap. We had several. I fell in love. So naturally when we saw Brooklyn Winter Ale in our travels to review holiday brews, it was immediately in my hand to purchase. This beer was a delightful deviation from what we has been experiencing in other holiday beers. There is no spice. No heaviness. No hoppy taste. This beer is clean, crisp, and veeeeeeery easy going down. It tastes like the most delicious light brown ale you ever had...if there was such a thing. I liked it so much, I went back and got a six pack the next time I felt like having a beer. In our discovery with sampling holiday beers, there are some that are one at a time, classy glass, slow drinkings. There are some that you take one sip of and decide you are pretty much done with. And then there are some that you know you will enjoy again and again and again in any kind of company. This is THAT beer. It's simple and good. Nothing flashy, nothing fancy, just really good beer. Brooklyn is good at that.

SHIPYARD PRELUDE SPECIAL ALE
Special, indeed. HOLY CHOCOLATE CHRIST. This is a good beer. I mean, probably the best holiday beer out there (in Amanda's humble opinion). Ship Yard does beer right. They have a pretty incredible Fall brew as well so I was expecting something good. I was not expecting something THIS good. As I sipped, I must have remarked to Eric 20 times that it was a really good beer. He tasted it as well, and agreed...and might have been a little sad that he was not the person who selected that one from the batch for tasting. Maybe its the water up there in Maine, but something was done incredibly well with this beer. Its nutty and smooth. A deep amber color. A real rich flavor but subtle in how its hits your tongue. When I got to the bottom of the bottle, I was sad. I was really sad. I kept looking at it to make sure there was really no more in there. To make matters worse, it is near impossible to find here in NJ! I even used the beer finder on the website and there is nothing in 10 miles listed! Eric and I went out on a search for it to our favorite beer spot which we thought had everything. They had exactly one bottle left. I left crying. This beer seriously is that good, friends.

SMUTTYNOSE WINTER ALE
Oh, these cats do it right. Eric and I already knew we loved New Hampshire's Smuttynose anything. He introduced me to their Old Brown Dog last winter and I fell in love. (you like browns? Check that one out...) We have purchased the sampler case on a few occasions and enjoyed them all. Their beer is just really well made. Its clean and tastes of the care they put into brewing it. Naturally we knew the Winter Ale would not let us down, and it did NOT! Its a complex brew with notes of fruity, notes of nutty, and an all around warm and yummy finish. This is the kind of beer Eric and I will fight over the last bottle of, and true to form...we did. Its perfect with snacks and even more perfect with laughs and friends. Thankfully we found this one to be readily available around us because I have a feeling it will be in our house pretty often this winter. Look for the bottle with the lovely lady on it.

TROEGS MAD ELF
It's maddeningly good! Is maddeningly a word? Well it is now. Our friends at Troegs over in nearby Hershey, PA created something sinfully delicious with this brew. Its a pretty reddish/orange ale in the glass with a warming finish and notes of cherry and honey on your tongue. Eric hogged this one all for himself. He describes it as very drinkable and solid. Heavy on the alcohol content at 11%, but no one is complaining! Subtle fruit and spice notes and very nicely aromatic. It's a tasty one! It's super good on it's own as a social sipping beer or at a gathering with good folks and great conversation. On a side note, we happened upon an enormous gift bottle of this on our way back to the beer spot. And I mean enormous. It was 101 oz. Need a gift for a friend with good taste? Or a lot of them in one place? That is available! I am sure you would be a hit with a six pack too.

And that's all folks!

I'm not saying we won't be back with another installment...because by now you know us...and we probably will!

What has been YOUR beer of choice this holiday season??? Let us know! We will feature it on a future blog!