It's the most wonderful time of the year for beer drinkers Part 6: Christmas Eve and Day

On Christmas Eve I don't try any new beers. Instead I share my favorite Christmas/winter beers from past years and from earlier on in the current Christmas season with my brother. Above is a picture of this years Christmas Eve beers. As you can see, this year we had seven different beers and were jokingly calling it the feast of the seven ales. The above picture will replace the picture of me holding a glass of Mad Elf for the duration of this series as the intro photo for each post.

Now it's time to get back to the actual new Christmas/winter beers I tried. On Christmas I tried Nøgne Ø/Jolly Pumpkin/Stone Special Holiday Ale. The beer is brewed with "Michigan chestnuts, white sage from southern California and Norwegian juniper berries," according to the label. This three-brewery collaboration is a great idea. Each year the beer is being brewed in a different one of the three breweries. The recipe is the same each year, but the brewing and aging process is different each year, which I assume means they follow each breweries normal brewing and aging policies. I regret to say that I missed out on last year's version which was brewed at Stone in California. After seeing a picture of the bottle this year, I realized that I passed it up because it didn't look Christmasy enough. Another example of why you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. This year's edition was brewed at Nøgne Ø in Norway and is great and very Christmasy. It has a very unique aroma and flavor. It hides its 8.5% ABV just enough. The alcohol that is noticeable just adds to its Christmasyness. It's like an even better Arctic Circle Ale. There is juniper, spices, toffee, nutty malt, fruit, some sort of pine or spruce, licorice, pepper, cola; and when a little yeast got in the glass, some slight chocolate notes. I can't wait for next year's, which will be brewed at Jolly Pumpkin in Michigan where I'm assuming it will be aged in their famous wood barrels that ad a nice bit of sourness and some funk to all the beers I've tried from them so far.

I finished off Christmas with Mikkeller Santa's Little Helper 2009. It isn't very Christmasy, but it is definitely a Christmas gift from the brewery to the beer drinker. It is an even more special ale than their normally exceptional beers. This beer is brewed using a different recipe each year and is one of my favorites each year. It always seems to surprise me. The dominant flavor and aroma of this year's edition is moist coffee grounds that blend with piney hops, but there is also so much more. There's just layer after layer of flavor. It hides its 10.9% ABV extremely well. With a little less carbonation, I would considered this a perfect beer. The carbonation is so strong that it seems to hide some of the flavor. Thank you, Mikkeller, for a wonderful Christmas nightcap.

And thanks to anyone following this blog for being patient as I slowly get you up to date on the new Christmas/winter beers I've tried this holiday season. Drink it in.