I'll admit one of the highlights of the holiday season, at least at my age where I'm not breathlessly awaiting for St. Nick's arrival (well not quite as breathlessly anyway), is the arrival in stores of the various holiday brews and holiday beer variety packs.
One such pack I look forward to every year is the one from Sam Adams. Not because it's necessarily the best or the most intriguing, but it is among the most consistent of the microbrews available in New England. And it also has one of my favorite holiday offerings, Old Fezziwig Ale. I mean how can you not like that brew with that name? You don't even necessarily need to be a fan of Dickens or the immortal "A Christmas Carol", a character in that book being the namesake for the ale. I also find it quite tasty in a holiday spirit sort of way with the spices, etc. Being somewhat a slave to ritual I try to make sure the first and last special holiday beer I consume each season is an Old Fezziwig. When the last Old Fezziwig is consumed the holiday season is truly over.
But I digress. While Old Fezziwig was part of this year's Sam Adams Winter Favorites variety 12 pack this year, a couple of old standbys I'd always enjoyed were not. Specifically the Scotch Ale and the Holiday Porter. I always liked those two. 
There were some new varieties I had not experienced before, including the one pictured above, Juniper IPA. First of all may I point out the Guinness mug the beer is in. I have used it before in pictures but believe this time the harp logo on the glass is more visible than in previous shots. So wanted to point that out.
As for the beer. It will not be my favorite holiday brew, but it's not the worse either. And you have to give the people at Sam Adams kudos on coming up with something unique. It has the inherent bitterness and body of an IPA. But there the similarity ends. 
Your first sensation is tart, spicy, almost stinging as the brew hits your tongue. The juniper makes this a most interesting concoction. It helps if you're a fan of gin and luckily I am. And the flavor and body fill your mouth rather than disappear, but does not linger with any sense of unbalanced bitterness.
So it is a very enjoyable and special glass to hoist for the holidays. But a single glass is about all you'll be hoisting at one sitting. The unique stinging spiciness and flavor makes this a difficult beer if you're looking to down more than one of the same kind for a night. Definitely a good beer if you're drinking one, or to enjoy if you're going to be sampling more than one variety during the evening. A session beer, however, it is not.
Still for the uniqueness, flavor and balance and the taste of the holidays, I'm giving it 7 mugs out of 10. I will be happy if Juniper IPA is part of the Winter Favorites pack next year from Sam Adams.

First of all you are looking at two gifts here. The glass was a present from my brother and sister-in-law from a recent trip they took to Ireland. It came from the Guinness brewery. The beer is too dark or you'd be able to make out the harp logo on the glass. It's a really cool glass, I must say.
As for what is inside the glass that happens to have been a holiday gift, from the same brother and sister-in-law as it turns out. My nephew is in his first year at a school in Burlington, Vermont. For those not aware, Vermont, for a small state, is pretty big in the microbrew biz. One of the more popular is Switchback Brewing and its signature offering is Switchback Ale. 
As you can tell it is an amber-hued brew and pours with a nice head. It is an unfiltered beer that was originally only available in kegs. It has more recently been sold in bottles as you can see. I was careful with the first pour so it is fairly clear. The suggestion on the bottle though is not to worry about such things and let the unfiltered matter come through so you can enjoy the beer as originally intended. By the time I replenished the glass to finish the bottle the beer was not only amber, but hazy as well per the brewer's wishes.
I found the beer enjoyable, but ultimately not a brew that would be towards the top of my favorites. The beer has a decent flavor and hits the mouth with a slight, tingly, prickly feeling. The overall sensation though is not of a very strong beer, rather one on the lighter side for the color and pedigree. The taste leaves your mouth about the same time the beer does, and even leaves a slight bitter aftertaste that might interfere with drinking this beer through a long, cold winter night.
It was good, glad I tried it, but it didn't exactly knock my socks off. 
Maybe it was because it was a bitterly cold night and I was looking for something a bit more robust and so this struck me as being a bit on the light side. With a nephew in Burlington, Vermont (and a second nephew about 45 minutes away in Montpelier), I'm sure I'll have the opportunity to re-evaluate this ale at another time.
For now, I give it 6 mugs out of 10.

Here is yet another of the brews given as a gift. Technically I was given a twelve pack of the Sam Adams Winter Classics. Included in the collection was this offering that was new this holiday season. At least I had never come across it before.
This is Samuel Adams' Cherry Chocolate Bock. 
As you can see it is quite opaque. Dark and hard to see through as well.
It certainly is full of both cherry and chocolate flavors.
The first impression that hits you as you begin to drink is the cherry flavor. It is both sweet and a bit tart. Then after a few seconds in the mouth you get a flash of the flavor of chocolate. I swear when you swallow the beer there is a taste akin to a Cherry Coke. In a beer you ask? Yes and as annoying and cloying as that sounds, somehow it works. It is as stated above both sweet and tart and yet you know you're drinking a beer and not soda.
And the brew does go down very smoothly. Still it is too heavy and too sweet to be one of those "all night" or "session" beers. But one or two to celebrate the holidays, or to take the chill out of the winter air? It will do that just fine.
I give it 7 mugs out of 10. 
I'll admit that I was chagrined that some of the old standbys that have been in the Sam Adams Winter Classics variety pack in past years were not there. Favorites like the Holiday Porter, or the Scotch Ale. But some of the new offerings were interesting and tasty. The Cherry Chocolate Bock certainly is that. I look forward to it being included in next year's grouping. They just better never replace Old Fezziwigg's Ale!

Another day, another Christmas gift goes down the old gullet.
This time around it is another offering from Berkshire Brewing Company in Massachusetts. This one is entitled, "River Ale". It is alternatively billed as a "Dark American Wheat Ale".
Hey and while we're at it, I'm taking advantage of this opportunity to show off another holiday gift. The beer glass with the Edwards crest on it came courtesy of my brother and sister-in-law. Cool if I do say so myself.
Now on to the beer.
I liked it - plain and simple, I liked it. And plain and simple is a good way to describe the beer.
First impression is that compared to many microbrews in general, and brews from Berkshire Brewing Company in particular, this beer is on the lighter side. And indeed I read later that it is only single hopped so as not to overpower the characteristics of the wheat ale. Mission accomplished.
Basically this is what you would expect from a wheat ale. There is that prickly feeling on the tip of your tongue associated with most wheat ales. It definitely gives the impression of spiciness. I detected an almost citrusy quality. The beer was light. It was smooth. You could drink it for an extended period of time quite easily if called upon to do so.
It's just that of all the microbrews and all the wheat ales available to choose from, it just wasn't that interesting. I guess you'd say it lacked in complexity.
But on the plus side, no real complaints. It was as advertised and was very drinkable. You could do worse. But you could also do better.
I give it 6 mugs out of 10.

A couple of things.
First, how do you like the holiday glassware? Yes, at the time of this tasting the Christmas decor and other accroutrements were still out. Interferes with judging the color and density of the brew, but hey it's the holidays! These glasses are only out from Thanksgiving through shortly after the New Year so I like to use them. And with normal wear and tear (and having had two sons in the house through the years) we are down to five of these glasses remaining.
Second, you'll recall from the previous post that I received some fine brews as Christmas gifts this year and promised to share them with you (vicariously only - I'm not filled with that much holiday spirit!) in the coming weeks. 
First up is one of the offerings I was given from Berkshire Brewing Company of South Deerfield, Massachusetts. As you can tell my gifts are of the 22 ounce variety. This particular brew is their Black and Tan Ale.
I liked it and enjoyed drinking it. It is heavy and as you can tell, even through the holiday glass, has the opaque, dark coloring to match. I like strong, sturdy brews, so that did not bother me. However while I enjoyed it, the Black and Tan does not end up toward the top of my list of favorites. The bitterness is a little too pronounced for my liking and is not sufficiently offset by the flavors of the beer. So the impression that strikes you first, and that you are left with, is simply that, a strong, flavorful, but ultimately overly bitter brew.
Of course I would gladly accept it again as a gift and would have no problem drinking it. Because it is well made, and certainly is not a weak concoction. It just doesn't make the top of the list.
I give it 7 mugs out of a possible 10 on my subjective scale. Enjoyable, not for those who find Bud Light a bit on the heavy side, complex and drinkable, just a tad too bitter to achieve a greater score.
Until next time have a good one, while I decide which gift to drink and write about next.
 

New Year's Resolution: Blog more. Blog regularly.
New Year's Resolution: Drink more good beer.
New Year's Resolution: Tour local microbreweries and brew pubs.
New Year's Resolution: Discover more good microbrews.

Will be sharing more with you all shortly. Santa Claus was very very good to me. I received large bottles from Vermont microbreweries since a nephew is now going to school in the Green Mountain State. 
And a cousin gave me gifts of several 22 oz. bottles from Berkshire Brewing Company in South Deerfield, MA. We began to detect a theme.

I'm looking forward to drinking these gifts and sharing my impressions with the rest of you. You know, the gift that keeps on giving.

Hope you had a great Holiday season and here's to some great brews in 2014!