OK it's full blown December with only 14 days until Christmas and I promised I'd write about Christmas beverages at some point this year so here we go.
First off despite my "nom de Blog" I drink as much beer, well more in total volume, as wine so it's a subject near and dear to me. The first beverage I have post work is always a beer and over the course of the Holiday season many hops will have given their lives so that I, and mine, can be happy.
Please spend a few extra pennies over the holidays to drink quality over quantity, remember "Friends don't let friends drink Kokanee" or PBR for that matter
Beer is a wonderful thing, this summer I explored the many facets of Hefeweizen but cooler weather calls for more hops so here are my "Beers of Christmas".
CutThroat Pale Ale is a delicous hoppy Pale Ale brewed in the Okanagan by Tree Brewing. Tree has gone through many changes since it's inception in 1996 but they are now making excellent beers across the board and this full bodied hoppy "Classic" pale ale is a great beer......period . It's available in 6 pack bottles ($10.75 for 6X341ml), or even better in 500ml cans ($2.15 per) at most BCLDB stores.
Pilsner Urquell is the original Pilsner and still a classic example of the Pilsner style, please don't compare this to the Pil with the bunnies on the label . Urquell was the original Pils and along with many Euro varieties offer crisp hoppy goodness year round - $12.99 for 6X330ml bottles or $2.34 per 500ml can.
If you find Urquell too assertive I recommend trying out the lighter German Pils such as Konig $2.25 per 500ml can, or the newly listed Wernesgruner Pils, $2.10 per 500ml can.
Last of the beer, but definitely not least is Guinness, there used to be a Guinness and campaign back a few years with the tag line:"Guinness, in a can .....Brilliant . Truer words are rarely spoken, the classic sweet/bitter velvety Irish stout in a 440ml can of "Draught" is a holiday tradition in my house and generally my choice of beverage while cooking the Christmas dinner (8X441ml cans $21.78). The only drawback is the smaller can, 500ml is my preference for serving size, but we all have to make concessions.
One further "beerish" product of note is Weston's Organic Cider . This is a dry. crisp cider made in the traditional English style, it's not cheap at $4.85 for a 500ml bottle but it is far and away the best apple cider I've tasted in a long time . Delicious chilled it's also great when "mulled", ie: heated with some nice aromatics like cloves and cinnamon . Perfect for wassailing .
In the next day or two I'm going to move on to bubbles and white wines for the holiday season so keep checking the blog.
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