Why am I drinking a Christmas Ale…on New Year’s Day?

This is a good question. Perhaps it’s because I bought too much beer for the Christmas season. I don’t know exactly why – there are no rules, really, around Christmas Ale. You drink them before Christmas, during Christmas, what’s wrong with a week after Christmas? Bell’s does good work, so why not give their Christmas Ale the week after test? Bells will still be ringing for awhile, right?

Ring some Bells for… Bell’s Christmas Ale

First of all, I don’t get into the hype around these things. In fact, first time I had one of these Holiday brews, I was all like…I ordered Sierra Nevada! But their Holiday Ale – maybe it was called “Christmas Ale,” but I’m afraid of overusing the keyword here – came in a bottle with a red label. I wanted a green label. Waaah!

Then there was the time I had the Great Lakes Christmas Ale for my post-Christmas birthday – it was a milestone birthday and, well, I got knocked out.

Anyway, this here bad boy from Bell’s had to be picked up because, well, it’s from Bell’s and their Oberon earned its stripes many years ago.

Taste

Hoppy, not too much so. They tell us on the bottle that it’s made with 100% Michigan barley malt – there’s a bit of a malty aftertaste, which I like. Not overflowing with weird, goofy spices – that’s something I don’t want out of my Christmas Ales. (Like going to Starbucks and ordering a double half-caff mochachino with two shots of gingerbread. No thanks.)

Profile

5.5% ABV. Can’t find IBU info – I’m guessing it’s somewhere in the 25-30 range – but here’s a link to the site.

Value

With any of the special series brews from any of the regional craft brewers, you’re paying more – $9-$12 for a six-pack. Is it worth it? Sure, in this case. It’s a quality beer.

Metasip Grade: B+

We couldn’t go much higher, as this one didn’t have us going batty – maybe it’s because the waters were sullied by some of the other experiences we had with holiday brews. (Watch this space for another review that still has us befuddled.)