Holiday Beers

Anheuser-Busch released their annual press release today announcing their holiday beers for this year. While cherry and chocolate beers may sound perfectly exotic don’t think that it ends there. Holiday beers, winter warmers, Christmas beers or whatever you want to call them come in almost every variety and flavor.

This is the time of year that brewers like to show off and produce some pretty spectacular beers. You’ll find fruit beers, spiced beers, beers with exaggerated styles, wood-aged beers and almost any other twist on beer that can be imagined for the next few months.

A couple of beers that I look forward to are Samichlaus and Anchor Christmas Ale. Samichlaus is a dopplebock that is brewed once a year on December 6 by Castle Eggenberg Brewery in Austria. The rich beer is aged for 10 months before bottling which produces a wonderfully complex and tasty brew. Anchor’s Christmas Ale is a little different each year. It is a dark ale with lots of spices blended in to make a wonderful beer. Don’t expect the typical autumn spices like cinnamon and cloves although they may very well be there. This beer is truly unique and always delightful.

Those are just a couple of my favorites. This time of year is a beer lover’s delight. Go to your local beer store and start exploring. And don’t forget about your local brewpub. Chances are they’ve got something special on tap for the holiday season.