A Nice Winter Dozen

One of my perennial holiday favorites has just landed in my beer fridge: Saranac's 12 Beers of Winter, and it's the first time in memory that each beer in the box is a personal palate pleaser. This year's half dozen pairs include their Bohemian Pilsner, Rye IPA, Vanilla Stout, Big Moose Ale (an American pale ale), and two new creations, Lake Effect Lager and India Copper Ale.

So far I've sampled a few of them: the pilsner is nice and crisp, with enough malt to prevent one's teeth from chattering; the Big Moose is a good cousin to a Sierra Nevada pale ale, a good balance of big hop bite and malt in the back; the lager is nice enough, a bit darker than a Yuengling, but missing the nutty finish of Vitamin Y; I like the Rye IPA most of all so far, with a decent hop bite and an earthy rye flavor that makes it a good choice for a hoagie, cheesesteak or burger pairing.

I'll be sampling the Vanilla Stout tonight in our weekly beer chat, The NO BULL INN, on http://www.starchat.net/ at 11 PM EST, Tonight's get-together will be all about stouts. Hope you can bring one to our chat and join in! It's a blast, with beer drinkers from coast to coast.

Grab a couple of these Saranac 12-packs this winter. It's their strongest holiday lineup in quite a a few years. Cheers!

CELEBRATION!!!

Those of you who know me well know that my all-time favorite beer is Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale (SNCA, all acronymed out), a seasonal beer that comes out in time for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year enjoyment. Well, the 2008 version of SNCA is out now and it's as great as ever, but I have to wonder if they tweak this beer from year to year, as Anchor Brewing Co. reportedly does to its holiday seasonal, Our Special Ale. I happen to have the 2006 and 2007 versions of SNCA in my beer fridge (yes, a dedicated beer refrigerator, a DBR, since we're acronyming today--I promise to stop, I really do), and I think this year's Celebration is sweeter, maltier and rounder than the previous two years. I've always appreciated SNCA's balance of hops and malt, and its versatility with food, especially hearty holiday stuff, but I think this year, Sierra Nevada dialed back the hops a bit, which is fine by me, I do like maltier beers sometimes (like Oktoberfests and porters and doppelbocks). I'd grab some of this stuff ASAP, before it's all gone, and if you see it on tap, definitely have a pint. Just remember who introduced you to your new favorite beer.