Winter/Christmas Seasonal Beer Taste Test
by The MonkEarlier this month I conducted Mass in celebration of Winter and specially crafted winter and Christmas beers. A few parishioners gathered here at the Abbey for a blind taste test.
I went to my local purveyor of fine alcoholic beverages and selected a random assortment of winter and Christmas-themed beers, pictured below.
I had the flock take notes, and I’ll share a few of them with you:
Winter’s Bourbon Cask Ale
For an Anheuser-Bush product, it was surprisingly good. I mean, it wasn’t great, nor was it something that I would willingly serve to my friends, but it was passable as a beer. It was by far the lightest beer of the bunch, and probably the most easily drinkable. A nicely amber beer, effervescent and with a bit of cherry nose. Everyone noticed a bit of caramel, as well as a bit of vanilla. It was pretty well balanced, but just slightly too hoppy.
Full Sail Wassail
Easily the worst beer of the test. Poured dark amber with a decent head. It was entirely too hoppy for a winter beer, which are typically malty and higher in alcohol, for a warming effect. A couple of the tasters thought it had an orange-y finish, but ALL of us agreed that the aftertaste was like dissolved aspirin. Epically unappetizing.
Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale
Strong hoppy smell, with a thick head. More balanced than the others so far, but still way too hoppy. Its aftertaste is like black tea, with the attendant tongue tingling sensation. Also not good.
St. Arnold Christmas Ale
Most balanced, even tipping the scales toward maltiness. Brock (the founder/brewer at St. Arnold) is a big fan of using alcohol as a flavor, and it’s most evident in his Christmas and spring seasonals. Mouthfeel is thick, flavor is sweet, a hint of cinnamon and spice (and everything nice), and a little pumpkin for good measure. This is NOT a beer that you’re going to sit and drink a six-pack of, but it’ll go well with your Christmas dinner.
Breckenridge Christmas Ale
Everyone exclaimed at the aggressive floral aroma of this beer. It poured darker than it tasted, the mouthfeel was a little thin. Lightly hopped, several of us remarked about the “vegetable-y” finish. This was not my favorite, but the rest of the group liked it. Too bad SOMEONE brought so much of the Wassail…
Anchor Christmas 2007
SO floral and alcoholic that several of us couldn’t finish our samples. Smelled and tasted distinctly like perfume, prompting one taster (this was the last one we tasted, and these are high-alcohol beers) to write on her sheet “tastes like drinking perfume” twice. Only the second time is much less readable. Another taster said it was like drinking rosewater. I couldn’t stomach the rest of it after all these other decent beers. This is really disappointing for me, too, since I generally like Anchor’s beers, and the Christmas release is usually a treat. Maybe it needs a year to mellow, try it at the Saucer this time next year; they usually keep kegs from at least 3 years back.
Overall, I was not really impressed with our selection. I was surprised at the Winter’s Bourbon Cask Ale, but I was more surprised at how mediocre everything else seemed, with the exception of the St. Arnold Christmas, which was excellent as usual. This was a fun evening, and I’d particularly like to thank Jenna’s dad Tully for running the show and keeping the blind taste test blind.
Tags: beer, Beer Abbey, christmas, The Monk
2 Comments, Comments or Pings
Steve-O
Whither Rahr Winter Warmer?
Dec 10th, 2007
The Monk
Not available at the time of this test, unfortunately. I was given the privilege of trying a leftover bottle of last years batch, and it was delish! Perfectly mellowed, the flavors had blended together more, and the heavy alcohol note was nearly gone. Probably as close to a stout as Fritz will ever make.
I actually haven’t tried this year’s yet, but I plan to remedy that this weekend.
Dec 10th, 2007
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