Wood Booger Top 5: Christmas/Yule Beers

There are many things about this time of year I love; the Christmas songs, the decorations, the lights and Santa, but there is another thing I love and that is the Holiday Beers. While I love the beers of the winter season as a whole in honor of Yuletide this Top 5 will be for Christmas/Yule Beers.

Honorable Mention 1:  Anchor Christmas Ale Series from Anchor Brewing Company. This is the first of my two Honorable Mentions. The reason I am doing two is I like Anchor annual offering and I have been drinking it Holiday releases since 2008. It is always a solid 3.75 to a 4 which means it is a good Christmas beer.  BeerAdvocate Average Rating – 3.75.

Honorable Mention 2:  Bad Elf Series from Ridgeway Brewing. This is a series beer, but unlike Anchor’s offering it is a series that where each beer is a spinoff of the original Bad Elf. This line features five beers in the series Besides the afford mentioned Bad Elf there are the Very Bad Elf, Seriously Bad Elf, Criminally Bad Elf and Insanely Bad Elf. Now I must say I have had three of these; the Regular, Criminally and Insanely. While all the ones I have are good Insanely is probably the best.  BeerAdvocate Series Rating – 4.

Number 5: 2XMAS from Southern Tier Brewing Company. This is double spiced ale brewed in the Swedish tradition of Glögg. But let me say it is better than any Glögg I have had. I really enjoyed it and it is the first of Southern Tier offerings in the Top 5. BeerAdvocate rating – 4.

Number 4: Trader Joe’s Vintage Ale by Unibroue. This is another series beer that I have enjoyed since 2009. While it has Trader Joe’s name on the front, inside it is all Unibroue. This Quebec brewer is IMHO the best in Canada and they show there skill with this strong dark Belgian Ale. While it will differ from year-to-year it is always good. If you need a reason to go to Trader Joe’s this is it. BeerAdvocate Series Rating – 4.

Number 3: Lump of Coal from Ridgeway Brewing. A lump of coal, this is what one is supposed to get from Santa (and the Krampus) if your naughty. However, St. Nicholas may have to rethink this because this is one Lump of Coal I will take, anytime. It embodies what I love about this time of year, thick, rich, dark stouts and this is one. It is not the best stout, but it is one of the best specific Christmas Stouts. BeerAdvocate rating – 4.25. 

Number 2: Krampus from Southern Tier Brewing Company. I think it is easy to see that Southern Tier is the masters of the holiday beer. They produce the twin towers of autumn with the Pumking and Warlock. As seen above they also produce the 2XMAS and once again they have a winner with the Krampus. Now there is not a better name or bottle design for a Yule beer than one that takes its title from one of my favorite Christmas figures in the Krampus. As cool it is on the outside is outstanding where it counts in the bottle. This beer is another reason to love the Krampus. BeerAdvocate rating is 4.25.

Number 1: Santa’s Butt from Ridgeway Brewing. When you see this beer on the shelf it is almost impossible not to stop and take a look, I mean it has a picture of and is called Santa’s Butt. To be fair Ridgeway is an English brewer and a “butt” is a certain sized barrel used for beer. While the name may grab your attention what is in this “butt” should too. This is a winter porter and is everything a dark beer should be. The label on the bottle says “And Santa sat on his great butt, enjoying a hardy brew…” and I don’t think he would be disappointed by this one with his name. BeerAdvocate rating is 4.50.