Day 25 of the 2nd Annual Advent-ure Calendar

Day 25: Great Lakes Brewery Christmas Ale & Final Reflections

Well we made it! We survived another 25 day holiday beer advent-ure. For our final beer, as a group, we decided on Great Lakes Christmas Ale. As we mentioned in previous posts, this is the Cleveland staple when it comes to holiday ales.  Clevelanders tend to live and breathe this beer come Christmas time.  If you’ve been keeping up with us, you’ve probably realized that this beer isn’t necessarily our #1 favorite Northeast Ohio beer. From their website: “Do not open ‘till Christmas? Whoever coined that phrase obviously hasn’t tasted Christmas Ale’s fresh honey, cinnamon, and ginger flavors.”

REFLECTIONS

Beard & Broad
Beard: Yep, definitely liked Thirsty Dog’s 12 Dogs of Christmas more than GL Christmas Ale.  Not to say one beer is necessarily better than the other, I just don’t prefer this one.  The honey comes through very strong in this compared to 12 Dogs, and the spices feel more cooked rather than fresh.  I can understand why people still love this though, as I feel it’s more like the classic Christmas ales that are out there.

Broad: This year, this beer is pretty good. I feel very strongly that this recipe changes every year. I also prefer this one on draft with the cinnamon sugar rim on the glass. I feel that sometimes this beer is overly spicy. This year, it’s pretty good. It’s not too spicy but I definitely get the ginger, honey and cinnamon flavors. It has a very nice and smooth aftertaste. Its not too malty but it does taste very molasses-y to me but that could be the strong honey flavor.

Adam & Alex
Adam: GLBC Christmas Ale used to be what I thought of as “the” Christmas beer but now I just think it’s an overrated, generic winter Ale. It’s a nice mix of spices but to me it’s a second rate 12 dogs and overpriced on top of that.

Alex: I will always enjoy Great Lakes Christmas Ale. It’s the first Christmas beer I had ever tried, so it’s a nostalgic beer for me. It’s no longer my favorite, as 12 dogs now takes the cake in my opinion. It’s a warm tasting beer with cinnamon and ginger and a bit of honey.

Scott & CT
Scott: Christmas is here! I don’t know if it’s the fact that it’s Christmas or I just haven’t had a Great Lakes Christmas Ale in a while but this beer is fantastic. There’s a reason it’s so famous and drinking it today has reminded me why it’s so special. It takes like Christmas, spices and maltiness all here, but not too heavy or sweet to have a couple before the alcohol puts you on your butt. Cheers and Merry Christmas!

CT: This is the beer that represents Christmas for me. It’s the beer I base all of this off. Is it the best? No. Is it my favorite? No. But It’s the beer that started it all. It’s great. It will get you drunk. It’s the uncle that shows up and is a bit of a mess but it’s the uncle you wait all night to get to the party. It’s going to give you a hangover buts it worth it. It’s all cinnamon and a malty finish.

Lou & Jen
Lou: I feel like my craft beer love affair started with Christmas Ale, so it will always hold a big place in my heart. This year’s version is delicious with cinnamon and honey notes, and is smooth in all its malty glory. Nice way to finish this experience.

Jen: The Christmas Ale has been a favorite of mine since it first came out. I’m still a fan, even though I would prefer something a bit less Christmassy after experiencing this adventure calendar. Nevertheless, what’s not to like about this beer? I love the aroma of cinnamon, brown sugar and perfectly malty hops. The taste is the same. I can’t think about this beer without craving that delicious rim of honey and sugar. It’s a beer that was built to last, and I’m sure I’ll be drinking at least one of these every holiday season.

FINAL REFLECTIONS

Beard & Broad
Beard: I look forward to this every year and every year I’m also glad when it’s over.  Even though it’s a half beer with our significant other, it’s still drinking beer every single day and it can seem grueling at times.  But, I do always love the variety that’s out there and seeing how my preferences change year to year.  My favorites this year in no particular order: Stone Xocoveza, Columbus Citra Noel, Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale.  Those were just so different and broke the mold of the typical holiday beer.  As far as the staples, Fat Head’s Holly Jolly and Thirsty Dog 12 Dogs were the winners again.  I really want to do a blind taste test between those two and Great Lakes to see which comes out on top.  For the participants: Scott/Christa and Lou/Jen were welcome additions.  Scott/Christa are always trying new beers with us and Christa is especially excited when she discovers a new beer she likes. Lou/Jen were super fun because it seemed like they clashed with everyone else’s opinions on almost every beer, and that’s ok!  Everyone’s palate is different and there’s no right or wrong way to drink beer.  Adam/Alex were reliably enthusiastic as always, and I have to commend Broad on always being super organized and keeping this thing moving.  She’s the best and will always be my favorite drinking partner.

Broad: This has truly been an advent-ure! I really enjoyed this experience. We tasted so many different beers and so many different kinds. I learned that not all holiday beers need to be super malty or overwhelming with holiday spices. I found out that I really like holiday wheat beers. No surprise, considering I really like wheat beers but I normally associate them with summer.  I would say that the winner of the group was Stone Xocoveza. It’s just such a great beer but it does not make me think of the holidays. I would probably say that my favorite Christmas beer is either 12 Dogs or Holly Jolly. If you’re trying this at home I do have some advice. Make sure you have a committed group. It may not seem like a lot to have to split a beer between two people every night. But then you have to factor in writing a review and taking a picture too. Things come up and schedules can be busy. Also, make sure you have people who are up to trying new beers. We’re lucky we had such a great group of people who were up to trying new stuff and drinking beer every night! I really loved experiencing this with people who aren’t huge beer drinkers or haven’t tasted a lot of different brews such as Scott/CT and Lou/Jen. I was always anticipating their reviews. Adam/Alex were on top of their game as usual too.

Adam & Alex
Adam: This endeavor has once again confirmed that northeast Ohio is the Mecca of holiday ales. We’re spoiled to have so many great choices because the overwhelming majority that we’ve tasted from other areas just aren’t that great. What I think stands out most is when breweries try something different. Holiday wheats or holiday spiced IPAs. With so many breweries doing generic versions of winter warmers loaded with cinnamon and nutmeg, it was refreshing to try a larger variety this year. My final thoughts are that I wish more breweries realized that not every winter beer needs to be 10% ABV and loaded with cinnamon. I look forward to drinking spring beers now more than ever but I love this experience of trying different beers and doing it with a group to see everyone’s reactions (and pictures of course)

Alex: I feel like for the most part, I ranked the northeast Ohio beers highest in my list of beers this year. I remember really loving the Stone Xovcoveza, being quite an it different from the other beers and a nice change of pace. I definitely think I enjoyed this years beer selections more than last years so kudos to everyone for picking some good beers! Merry Christmas!!!

Scott & CT
Scott: Final thoughts: 25 winter ales is a lot of winter ales. I loved the experience, loved most of the beers and looking forward to finding new beers again next year. I’m happy to say I found at least 3-4 new favorites, but I also found that my tastes didn’t change. I’m still in love with Belgian, wheaty beers. Merry Christmas and see you next year!

CT: I figured all the beers I’d be drinking would taste the same, some variation of Great Lakes and Holly Jolly. I thought I knew what was what. But man was I wrong. I’ve learned that there’s a special kind of greatness in a chocolate-y malty ale. I’ve learned a Belgian doesn’t fix everything. And I’ve learned that blindly reaching for the decorative bottle doesn’t work. You need to know what you like, what pairs well and what doesn’t. You need to understand that Christmas beers come and go but Cleveland is forever.

Lou & Jen
Lou: Overall, this past month has been a blast, I’ve learned a ton about beer and how to annoy my wife with requests for her daily review. Thank you to Ben and Julia for putting this together and inviting us on this adventure. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all.

Jen: It has been a pleasure participating in the beer Adventure calendar this season. As a new mother and full-time graduate student it hasn’t always been easy to get out my reviews each night (in some cases it was even a struggle to get it done by the next morning). I didn’t think I could get sick of the traditional seasonings of a Christmas ale, but I definitely have. At times I did feel guilty giving less than satisfactory reviews of some of the beers, but I did my best to be as honest as I could for every review. Sometimes it was very hard to pick out specific ingredients and I often felt like I was shooting in the dark with my descriptions. It was definitely challenging to dig deeper than, “I don’t like this”, or “this beer was great”. I know I am not a beer connoisseur and I appreciate everyone for being patient with me and allowing me to ramble and expand my beer palate a bit more over the last month.