pizen: Speaker2Animals: CavalierEternal: Hail to the king, baby.

[drinkwiththewench.com image 265x500]

Absolutely. TFA list fails big time. Friend in LA who tried it a few years ago while visiting had me ship him four cases -- it was worth the ~$400 to him.

TFA: We bought 11 beers at Decatur's wonderful craft beer store, Ale Yeah so our selection was only limited to breweries that distribute in Georgia.

Well that's retarded. Great Lakes wins big time; glad to see others agree.

IPAs suck.

They are for lazy/bad brewers who add "more hops" to cover their mistakes.

Speaker2Animals: CavalierEternal: Hail to the king, baby.

[drinkwiththewench.com image 265x500]

Absolutely. TFA list fails big time. Friend in LA who tried it a few years ago while visiting had me ship him four cases -- it was worth the ~$400 to him.

I finally got to try some this year. Great stuff. When did it run out in your area?

every Christmas ale I've tried has sucked. Perfectly good beer ruined by an assload of mulling spices.

Santa got a DUI (new window)

I boosted a few limited edition Anchor Steam Christmas Ale glasses from a bar near my house in SF a few years back. The glasses are way better than the beer.

Christmas ales often fail. Sam Adams seasonals are absolutely undrinkable, their octoberfest tastes like skunky Heineken, and their Xmas ale does not taste much better.

Bah! For one bomber of those brews I can buy a sixer of this:

mrlewish
IPAs suck.

They are for lazy/bad brewers who add "more hops" to cover their mistakes.

Don't worry, your taste buds will mature some day and you will out grow the sweet, easy drinking beers.

FWIW, though. you are right. It is real easy to hide lots of flaws with hops. I just happen to put them in because they taste good. My latest batch of black IPA was the favorite of my "beer club" (The people at work who buy the ingredients for me in exchange for some of the beer :)

TheManofPA: Speaker2Animals: CavalierEternal: Hail to the king, baby.

[drinkwiththewench.com image 265x500]

Absolutely. TFA list fails big time. Friend in LA who tried it a few years ago while visiting had me ship him four cases -- it was worth the ~$400 to him.

I finally got to try some this year. Great stuff. When did it run out in your area?

I usually try to stock up in early December. Of course, it helps that I can walk to the brewery in 10 minutes.

that should be "sleigh'r" subby, as in Ninkasi

/dnrtf, opening a Jolly Roger in 4... 3... 2..

Troeg's Mad Elf is quite good too.

Lagunitas Sucks

came here to put in a vote for the great lakes

Schlafly Chrismas is a tasty treat. Also Boulevard Nut Cracker is the tits.

I'm drinking Saranac Big Moose Ale tonight, understandable that they wouldn't have it in GA though for trying. It's a little more bitter than what I'm used to, but for $12.99/case you can't beat it in my rural area (less selection) for flavor.

JustFarkingGreat

Lagunitas Sucks

Well done, you made me look. Trade you jobs?

\Loves me some Hop Stoopid and Brown Shugga.
\\The Doppel Weizen is sublime too

If only I had the ability to visit all the wonderful beers in the country

I'm not a big fan of Christmas beers since they're usually just regular beer with a bunch of spices thrown in.

That said, my local grocery store sells giant bottles of the stuff. Was thinking about getting one to make up for the fact that I don't have a Christmas tree.

/loves Tripel

/only one I could think of
//not particularly fond of the stuff

my favorite "christmas" beer:




/jewish, so i prefer my brews to be non-denominational

This Christmas, let your loved ones know how much they really mean to you.

Another vote for GLB. Hands down the best I've tried. I'm not even a GLB groupie like I used to be - I think they need to refresh their line of bottled beer (I don't make it to their brewery, ya know, like ever). But the Christmas Ale is what it is all about biatches.

itsfullofstars: every Christmas ale I've tried has sucked. Perfectly good beer ruined by an assload of mulling spices.

not all of those are spiced....

I do not like spiced ales either, but a couple of those are good beers....

/beer snob

gabethegoat: my favorite "christmas" beer:

[whiskeygoldmine.com image 240x300]


/jewish, so i prefer my brews to be non-denominational

well he was a real dude supposedly. there are plenty of alcoholic beverages honoring specific historical figures and i could care less what they actually did.

gabethegoat: my favorite "christmas" beer:

[whiskeygoldmine.com image 240x300]


/jewish, so i prefer my brews to be non-denominational


are you a big Freaktoberfest fan?

I dig Shmaltz, love the kitsch.

/not Jewish

I've had none of those on the list but clearly, those beers suck.


Shiner Holiday Cheer doesn't suck.

carry on.

dustlesswalnut: pizen: Speaker2Animals: CavalierEternal: Hail to the king, baby.

[drinkwiththewench.com image 265x500]

Absolutely. TFA list fails big time. Friend in LA who tried it a few years ago while visiting had me ship him four cases -- it was worth the ~$400 to him.

TFA: We bought 11 beers at Decatur's wonderful craft beer store, Ale Yeah so our selection was only limited to breweries that distribute in Georgia.

Well that's retarded. Great Lakes wins big time; glad to see others agree.

The Great Lakes Christmas Ale is a fine brew, but fairly pricey in my experience. That's why I went with the Bell's Christmas Ale when I got sent out to do the Thanksgiving-eve beer run. Both are delicious beers, but the Great Lakes is the superior of the two.

Thanksgiving Weekend Beer CSB time. The beer run began like this: my father said to me, son, here's $40, come back with three six packs. I came back 30 minutes later with a Bell's Double Cream Stout, a Bell's Christmas Ale, and a Shorts Black Cherry Porter. The bottles that survived Thursday and Friday were taken to the tailgate at Michigan Stadium today, to which was added another Bell's Christmas Ale six pack and a Sanders Chocolate Stout I found in the back of the fridge. Of the 25 bottles in this tale 3 remain, I am deeply ashamed of this.

Yeah yeah yeah...I don't see Old Fezziwing on the list so pshaw.

CavalierEternal: Hail to the king, baby.

[drinkwiththewench.com image 265x500]

Tastes like a shot of vodka with winter-related spices. Pretty nasty.

As a consolation, so does every other Christmas Ale I've tried, and the rest of Great Lakes stuff is pretty good.

JustFarkingGreat: Lagunitas Sucks

Heh. I have a friend who pronounced it "Lah-gwin-tas" for a long time. We never corrected him because it was so funny.

And this link has been up for over an hour and only 38 comments? Where are all the Fark beer snobs?

Try this:


It's inexpensive and surprisingly good. Or maybe not so surprising- it's brewed by Unibroue.

surprised not to see mad elf on the list.

Saint Arnold Christmas Ale is my favorite seasonal beer.

I wish I could just buy 6-packs of these:

Came here to give props to Old Fezziwig. S.A. needs to get back to selling them by the 22. Or start selling them by the case. Sucks having to buy a whole 12 pack of winter brews just to get two beers.

All of you suck. Your choices are unmitigated brewing disasters. I present you with the one true Christmas Ale:



/Abita Springs, La., short hop from New Orleans

mrlewish: IPAs suck.

They are for lazy/bad brewers who add "more hops" to cover their mistakes.

Completely agree. They're also for brewers that haven't gone full grain yet and try and over the syrupy sludge they use for malt. Im a fan of IPAs, but they definitely seem to be the last bastion of the home brewer that just cant figure out how to balance flavors and/or get the most out of their malt.