{"id":7367,"date":"2018-12-10T18:57:49","date_gmt":"2018-12-11T00:57:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/tombedell\/?p=7367"},"modified":"2018-12-18T23:34:12","modified_gmt":"2018-12-19T05:34:12","slug":"12-beers-of-christmas-2017-reprise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tombedell\/golf\/lifestyle\/7367\/12-beers-of-christmas-2017-reprise","title":{"rendered":"12 Beers of Christmas 2017 Reprise"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Trio<\/a>\n

Gauging by the dynamic trio of beers shown above, the time has come to dive into the 2018 edition of the 12 Beers of Christmas. And here I haven\u2019t even recapped last year\u2019s effort yet!<\/p>\n

Well, that\u2019s the way it was with 12 Beers of Christmas 2017<\/strong>, a roller-coaster affair afflicted and disrupted by my upper respiratory affliction. But when all was said and done my initial review of the series, of Anchor\u2019s Our Special Ale<\/a>, managed to win the year\u2019s Best Beer Review award from the North American Guild of Beer Writers.<\/p>\n

While very pleasing, it does set a daunting precedent and suggests that there\u2019s nowhere to go but down. However, there\u2019s always the compensation of actually drinking 12 more interesting beers, not to be sneezed at, especially if I can avoid another cold.<\/p>\n

As noted in years past, the Anchor ale is the only beer that gets a repeat appearance, out of a sense of fealty for its historic importance and because it changes its recipe each year. Both the Sierra Nevada and Deschutes beers deserve a near-equal nod for their constancy and longevity and I wouldn\u2019t want to go through the holidays without either. Their recipes are largely unchanging however, so I\u2019ll stick with previous nods to Celebration Ale<\/a> and Jubelale<\/a>. (Interestingly, these meat of the order brews are all batting at about the same ABV average: Jubelale at 6.7%, Celebration at 6.8%, Anchor’s at 6.9%.)<\/p>\n

\"Jubelale2018\"<\/a>Jubelale does change its label each year, calling on the creative skills of artists local to the brewery\u2019s Bend, Oregon headquarters. This year the owners of the employee-owned brewery did the artwork themselves at an outdoor 30th anniversary celebration, armed with brushes, paint water guns, paint-filled water balloons and paint-smeared clothes and limbs to create an abstract expressionist work Pollack might have envied.<\/p>\n

But, to recap 2017, the 12 beers tried brought the total over the last six years to 72, all linked to below. It was a pretty good crop all in all, despite one gusher (Saison Saint M\u00e9dard Cuv\u00e9e de No\u00ebl) and one unknowingly purchased AB product (sacrilege!<\/em>), the Birra del Borgo 25 Dodici.<\/p>\n

Eight of the beers were at or over 8% ABV, raising the average to 7.7%. The outliers were the Rogue Yellow Snow Pilsner at the 5.5% low end and the Port Brewing Santa\u2019s Little Helper, not so little, at the 9.9% high end.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t need high ABVs to appreciate a beer, but it stands to reason that high-octane offerings will have greater depth and complexity that, if all the elements are working together well, will result in a memorable beer. That was certainly the case with the Port Brewing beer and Lost Abbey\u2019s Gnoel de Abbey (8.5%).<\/p>\n

There was also the delightful one-off of the Game of Thrones Winter Is Here entry from Ommegang. And the pleasant surprise of the Upslope Christmas Ale, the one beer I requested from a brewer last year. As it turned out, it was my favorite. As with Christmas itself, there\u2019s a lot of serendipity at work.<\/p>\n

The grand roundup:<\/p>\n

The 12 Beers of Christmas<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

2017<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"12<\/a><\/p>\n

1 Anchor Our Special Ale 2017<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>
\n 2 Rogue Yellow Snow Pilsner<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>
\n 3 Baird Jubilation Ale<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>
\n 4 Thiriez Bi\u00e8re de No\u00ebl<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>
\n 5 Saison Saint M\u00e9dard Cuv\u00e9e de No\u00ebl<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>
\n 6 Ommegang Winter Is Here\u00a0<\/a><\/strong>
\n 7 Birra del Borgo 25 Dodici<\/a><\/strong>
\n 8 Port Brewing Santa\u2019s Little Helper<\/a><\/strong>
\n 9 Lost Abbey Gnoel de Abbey<\/a><\/strong>
\n 10 N\u00f8gne \u00d8 Special Holiday Ale<\/a><\/strong>
\n 11 Upslope Christmas Ale<\/a><\/strong>
\n 12 Mikkeller Ris a la M\u2019ale<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

2016<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"12<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Anchor Our Special Ale 2016 <\/a>
\n2 Great Lakes Christmas Ale<\/a>
\n3 New Belgium Anne-Fran\u00e7oise Spiced Imperial Dark Ale<\/a>
\n4 Spencer Trappist Holiday Ale<\/a>
\n5 Le Trou Du Diable La Grivoise De No\u00ebl<\/a>
\n6 Blaugies La Moneuse Special Winter Ale<\/a>
\n7 Aegir Bryggeri Julebrygg<\/a>
\n8 Dieu du Ciel Solstice d\u2019hiver<\/a>
\n9 Haandbryggeriet Nissefar<\/a>
\n10 Allagash Hibernal Fluxus 2016<\/a>
\n11 Kerstmutske Christmas Nightcap<\/a>
\n12 Scaldis No\u00ebl Premium<\/a>
\n12 Beers of Christmas 2016 Reprise<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

2015<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The 12 Beers of Christmas 2015<\/p><\/div>\n

1 Anchor Our Special Ale 2015<\/a><\/strong>
\n 2 Jewbelation 19<\/a><\/strong>
\n 3 Warsteiner Winter Special Edition<\/a><\/strong>
\n 4 Jolly Traveler Winter Shandy<\/a><\/strong>
\n 5 Magic Hat Feast of Fools<\/a><\/strong>
\n 6 Page 24 Bi\u00e8re de No\u00ebl<\/a><\/strong>
\n 7 AleSmith Double Red India Pale Ale<\/a><\/strong>
\n 8 Smuttynose Smistletoe<\/a><\/strong>
\n 9 Wychwood Bah Humbug Christmas Ale<\/a><\/strong>
\n 10 Ridgeway Lump of Coal<\/a><\/strong>
\n 11 De Ranke P\u00e8re N\u00f6el<\/a><\/strong>
\n 12 The Bruery 8 Maids-a-Milking<\/a><\/strong>
\n12 Beers of Christmas 2015 Reprise<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The 12 Beers of Christmas 2014<\/p><\/div>\n

1 Anchor Our Special Ale 2014<\/a><\/strong>
\n 2 Harpoon UFO Gingerland<\/a><\/strong>
\n 3 Hanukkah, Chanukah Pass the Beer<\/a><\/strong>
\n 4 Guinness The 1759<\/a><\/strong>
\n 5 Samuel Adams Merry Maker Gingerbread Stout<\/a><\/strong>
\n 6 Elysian Bifrost Winter Ale<\/a><\/strong>
\n 7 Ommegang Adoration Dark Winter Ale<\/a><\/strong>
\n 8 Deschutes Jubelale<\/a><\/strong>
\n 9 Petrus Winter #9 Ale<\/a><\/strong>
\n 10 3 Sheeps Ewephoria<\/a><\/strong>
\n 11 Baladin N\u00f6el<\/a><\/strong>
\n 12 St. Bernardus Christmas Ale<\/a><\/strong>
\n12 Beers of Christmas 2014 Reprise<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"12<\/a>

12 Beers of Christmas 2013<\/p><\/div>\n

1 Anchor Our Special Ale 2013<\/a><\/strong>
\n 2 Tro\u00ebg\u2019s The Mad Elf Ale<\/a><\/strong>
\n 3 Victory\u2019s Winter Cheers<\/a><\/strong>
\n 4 Magic Hat\u2019s G-Thing<\/a><\/strong>
\n 5 10 Barrel Brewing Pray for Snow<\/a><\/strong>
\n 6 Corsendonk Christmas Ale<\/a><\/strong>
\n 7 Mahr\u2019s Br\u00e4u Christmas Bock<\/a><\/strong>
\n 8 Sixpoint Global Warmer<\/a><\/strong>
\n 9 N\u00f6el des G\u00e9ants<\/a><\/strong>
\n 10 Mikkeller Hoppy Lovin\u2019 Christmas<\/a><\/strong>
\n 11 Harpoon Winter Warmer<\/a><\/strong>
\n 12 Dupont Avec les Bons Voeux<\/a><\/strong>
\n 12 Beers of Christmas 2013 Reprise<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

2012<\/strong><\/p>\n\"st<\/a>\n

1 Anchor Our Special Ale 2012<\/a><\/strong>
\n 2 Nogne \u00d8 Winter Ale<\/a><\/strong>
\n 3 Samuel Adams Winter Lager<\/a><\/strong>
\n 4 Southern Tier 2XMAS<\/a><\/strong>
\n 5 St. Feuillien Cuv\u00e9e de No\u00ebl<\/a><\/strong>
\n 6 Delirium No\u00ebl<\/a><\/strong>
\n 7 Newcastle Winter IPA<\/a><\/strong>
\n 8 Jolly Pumpkin Noel de Calabaza<\/a><\/strong>
\n 9 Gouden Carolus No\u00ebl<\/a><\/strong>
\n 10 Otter Creek Winter Red Ale<\/a><\/strong>
\n 11 Magic Hat Wooly<\/a><\/strong>
\n 12 Element Winter Ion<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gauging by the dynamic trio of beers shown above, the time has come to dive into the 2018 edition of… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":7894,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[939,627,18],"tags":[749,26,60717,174722,174725,676069,2045,632,975741,634,992256,597,1002722,720],"class_list":["post-7367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beer-on-tap","category-tap-beer-of-the-week","category-lifestyle","tag-christmas","tag-oregon","tag-deschutes","tag-our-special-ale","tag-celebration-ale","tag-christmas-beers","tag-bend","tag-anchor","tag-12-days-of-christmas","tag-san-francisco","tag-jubelale","tag-california","tag-12-beers-of-christmas","tag-sierra-nevada"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tombedell\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/12\/Trio-2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tombedell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tombedell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tombedell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tombedell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tombedell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7367"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tombedell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7367\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7904,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tombedell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7367\/revisions\/7904"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tombedell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tombedell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tombedell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tombedell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}