Want to know more about the seasonal history of beer, and what to drink and when? Buy the book here (UK & international): shop1.camra.org.uk/product/a-year-in-beer-a-beer-lovers-guide-to-the-seasons/
Any chance that there is another shop where I dont pay the same amount for shipping (to switzerland) as for the book itself🙃? Keep up the great vids, I have been hooked for about a year now, always looking forward to your new videos💞
For the southern hemisphere Christmas beer is likely an ice cold macro lager, and probably a carona with lime as we eat prawns anything else that doesn't remind us of how hot it is! For us we have winter ales instead although we also have Christmas in July so we get it twice! 🍻
After generally overlooking them as 'novelty' beers, I tried McChouffe and the De Ranke and St. Bernardus Christmas beers in recent weeks and I was very pleased! They're definitely going to be a feature of future Christmases.
Well done! Love the Norway history. I just had the St. Bernardus Christmas at our Belgian cafe last weekend. Lovely, but I prefer their Abt 12 for the holidays. It may be difficult to find in the UK, but the Anchor Christmas Ale is my absolute favorite of the style. It has all of the winter flavors you discuss, but is not high ABV compared to the typical offerings. As sessionable as a Christmas ale gets, but still has full complex flavors without being overstated. Precise, restrained and still bold.
If you really want to try the "Christmas" beer from Chouffe, try the - N’ice CHOUFFE... You won't regret it and it sure is one of my favorites during this season. Awesome episode 🍻🥳
Awesome video, I’ll have to give these a try! One of my favorite Christmas-time beers is actually a cranberry wheat ale. Love the style and it’s real easy drinkin’.
Alright! I finally get what Christmas beer is in a more anglosphere context then, I suppose. Anything that ties into rich Belgian ale a good time in my opinion. In Sweden (and perhaps the rest of the nordics), Christmas beer is quite simply dark lager. All the large brewery brands are various flavors of light lager, and come Christmas they all put out a dark Christmas variant. It’s a good time for me, as I really like a dark malty lager.
For my personal choice around Christmas it's got to be a dark Belgian in the 9-11% range, once they get over 12% they get too syrupy for me, Bush de Noël for example is too much. Next I want some sort of spiced/rye/cinnamon porter, that Brew York Christmas beer, well the 2020 one, I just remember being a coffee stout which isn't Christmassy to me.
Great video! You should do a review of American Trappists like "Spencer Trappist" and see how their process/ traditions align to the original trappist and rate them. Would be cool
Stumbled upon your channel and as a South African I must say, your logo looks so similar to the Cape Brewing Company. Great content though, keep it up!
Great video. I love fall and winter beers. I live near the only trappist brewery in thr united states. They make a great holiday. Its a dubbel with xmass spice
Christmas alse in germany are completely different. Usually a lager or a zwickl, only slichtly stronger as the base beer, similar to the Octoberfest beers. In Belgium, the christmas ale market has completely exploded in the last 10 years. Many years there was Speciale Palm, Gordon Christmas and Stille nacht (Dolle Brouwers) Gordon Christmas is still my favourite and indeed is a scotch ale.
In Germany a Festbier ( festival beer?) is produced for easter or christmas, sometimes als for nonchristian events ( Münchner Oktoberfest or Stuttgarter Volksfest). This are mostly ,Märzenbeers' , a stronger version of german beer types ,Hell' or ,Export' , mostly 5,5 to 6% Alc., rarer 6,1 to 6,4%. Over 6,5% it is ,Bockbier' ( Beertype invented in Einbeck town).
I'll be getting in plenty of St. Bernadus. I'm not big on Belgian beers but I absolutely love their Christmas Ale. I've also spotted a nice looking local Winter Warmer, and Hook Norton's new Greedy Goose is INCREDIBLE on cask. 🍻
I do love a Xmas beer but this year i've invested in a couple of Founder's Canadian Breakfast stouts (2019), expensive but definitely going to be worth it, I had one gifted to me for my birthday last month and it was glorious!!
Interesting question. It might begin with harvest ales/October beers - historical beers made every harvest with the new season's hops and malts. Usually VERY strong (up to 14%) and aged for at least a year.
Preaching for my choir here - if you can get beers from eastern Canada, get the "Réserve de Noël" from Les Trois Mousquetaires brewery. Literally Christmas in a glass. Gingerbread, fruitcake, evergreen smell at 10,5%. It's a wonder! Better yet, age it 3 years. Delighftul
I didnt forget it! We have had it in many videos as it is my favourite. But it is such a unique beer I didnt think it really fits with the wider narrative
I have a hard time clueing into the herbalness of Christmas ales. Just had Gouden Carolus Noël over the weekend, but it was not really my cup of tea. But I just bought Delirium Noël, because pink elephants in christmas hats, am I right?
Had this beer couple weeks ago and i got to say its AMZING GREAT FLAVOR bought it at TRADER JOES those that are in the U.S.A really RECOMMEND cheers ! 🍺🍺🍺
how about a christmas beer alignment chart where the x-axis is "its a sweet dark strong beer -> any dark ales are ok -> anything goes" and the y-axis is "its just beer -> it can have christmas related spices in -> anything goes". historical traditionalists go in the top left - scotch ale, rebels in the bottom right - raspberry sour. in the middle is true neutral - dark beers with christmas spices
Christmas beer was invented when marketers dreamt up romantic stories about poorly, brewed, homemade beer. Christmas beer was originally produced during Prohibition, and the ingredients came from a market. Across the aisle from the baker's malt, and baker's yeast in the market was the herbs and spices that were added for flavoring the beer because hops were difficult to obtain. When Christmas beer is produced from single temperature infusion, the beer is American, home brew style, Christmas moonshiners beer, with a good story behind it, and some recipes.
An enjoyable romp thanks. But I felt you missed out a whole chunk of info, viz a viz UK Winter Ales. In the late 70's I was introduced to Youngs Winter Warmer (wow) and I soon realised that most (all) breweries produced a winter warmer of some type. I always hunted these down with relish come November. Gales was a particular favourite of mine. At some point in the past 20 years, winter brews seem to have morphed into Xmas Ales noted by the cliched Xmas label. I do feel that a review of the winter output of traditional regional brewers is long overdue. For me, I already have a case of Sam Smith's Winter Welcome waiting to be opened on Xmas Day :) Keep up the great work.
Wait Jonny... What do you mean by Back to the Future Part II is the best one? It's the ugly duckling of the trilogy.. Sorry had to say it. :) Great video, and loving the book! Cheers!
Want to know more about the seasonal history of beer, and what to drink and when? Buy the book here (UK & international): shop1.camra.org.uk/product/a-year-in-beer-a-beer-lovers-guide-to-the-seasons/
Any chance that there is another shop where I dont pay the same amount for shipping (to switzerland) as for the book itself🙃? Keep up the great vids, I have been hooked for about a year now, always looking forward to your new videos💞
For the southern hemisphere Christmas beer is likely an ice cold macro lager, and probably a carona with lime as we eat prawns anything else that doesn't remind us of how hot it is! For us we have winter ales instead although we also have Christmas in July so we get it twice! 🍻
Schneider Weisse - Aventinus is always Christmas to me; it's a beautiful boozy liquid Christmas pudding. I try to a get a few bottles every year.
Is it lager beer or Weiss beer?
@@superhugeawesomestuf I think it's classed as a Weizen Doppelbock.
Indeed a strong, dark wheat beer. Beautiful, beautiful beer and ace with a mince pie.
"If somebody's allergic on my street, their probably in trouble at this point" was the best line of the whole video!
St. Bernardus Christmas Ale, Celebration, and Aventinus (not brewed for Christmas, but tastes so Christmasy) are my 3 go to’s.
After generally overlooking them as 'novelty' beers, I tried McChouffe and the De Ranke and St. Bernardus Christmas beers in recent weeks and I was very pleased! They're definitely going to be a feature of future Christmases.
Christmas is when I pull out my trusty Sierra Nevada Barrel-Aged "Narwhal's!" I find they always bring out the Xmas spirit!
was just lucky enough to pick some up at the brewery in NC!
@@mattashley3076 I found a four pack at a mini mart in Austin a few months back.
Well done! Love the Norway history. I just had the St. Bernardus Christmas at our Belgian cafe last weekend. Lovely, but I prefer their Abt 12 for the holidays. It may be difficult to find in the UK, but the Anchor Christmas Ale is my absolute favorite of the style. It has all of the winter flavors you discuss, but is not high ABV compared to the typical offerings. As sessionable as a Christmas ale gets, but still has full complex flavors without being overstated. Precise, restrained and still bold.
the 2021 Anchor Christmas ale is amazing!
I've had a fair lot of the Brew York Christmas beers over the years and I'm yet to regret going for one.
My absolute favorite!!!!
Nothing better around Christmas time than delirium noel and mince pies
Amen. Or a westmalle dubbel and mince pie. A tradition of mine.
Its the most wonderful time of the year....oh yes!
Cheers from Cyprus!
Loved the beer history!! Great content!!
If you really want to try the "Christmas" beer from Chouffe, try the - N’ice CHOUFFE... You won't regret it and it sure is one of my favorites during this season. Awesome episode 🍻🥳
A great beer we have featured many times on our annual Christmas vid!
@@TheCraftBeerChannel 🍻🥳❤️
I picked up a Pere Noel Exceptional Christmas Beer recently, and it was…well, exceptional. Exactly what is needed on the cold nights!
Awesome video, I’ll have to give these a try! One of my favorite Christmas-time beers is actually a cranberry wheat ale. Love the style and it’s real easy drinkin’.
Shiner Holiday cheer is a pretty good one
Hardywood out of Richmond VA makes some excellent Christmasy ginger bread stouts this time of year. Highly recommend
Alright! I finally get what Christmas beer is in a more anglosphere context then, I suppose. Anything that ties into rich Belgian ale a good time in my opinion.
In Sweden (and perhaps the rest of the nordics), Christmas beer is quite simply dark lager. All the large brewery brands are various flavors of light lager, and come Christmas they all put out a dark Christmas variant. It’s a good time for me, as I really like a dark malty lager.
For my personal choice around Christmas it's got to be a dark Belgian in the 9-11% range, once they get over 12% they get too syrupy for me, Bush de Noël for example is too much. Next I want some sort of spiced/rye/cinnamon porter, that Brew York Christmas beer, well the 2020 one, I just remember being a coffee stout which isn't Christmassy to me.
Great video! You should do a review of American Trappists like "Spencer Trappist" and see how their process/ traditions align to the original trappist and rate them. Would be cool
Interesting thought! Will add it to our video brainstorm list!
Merry Christmas to you Jonny and Brad!
Another great video Johnny. Man I love Christmas!
Stumbled upon your channel and as a South African I must say, your logo looks so similar to the Cape Brewing Company. Great content though, keep it up!
Cracking video as always Johnny, very informative!
Cheers!
Still hoping to find one of the St Bernardus bottles with the winking monk!
Great video. I love fall and winter beers. I live near the only trappist brewery in thr united states. They make a great holiday. Its a dubbel with xmass spice
Spencer! Only had the original beer from them but it was great!
Christmas alse in germany are completely different. Usually a lager or a zwickl, only slichtly stronger as the base beer, similar to the Octoberfest beers. In Belgium, the christmas ale market has completely exploded in the last 10 years. Many years there was Speciale Palm, Gordon Christmas and Stille nacht (Dolle Brouwers) Gordon Christmas is still my favourite and indeed is a scotch ale.
In Germany a Festbier ( festival beer?) is produced for easter or christmas, sometimes als for nonchristian events ( Münchner Oktoberfest or Stuttgarter Volksfest). This are mostly ,Märzenbeers' , a stronger version of german beer types ,Hell' or ,Export' , mostly 5,5 to 6% Alc., rarer 6,1 to 6,4%. Over 6,5% it is ,Bockbier' ( Beertype invented in Einbeck town).
Tell you what Johnny, I've a couple of Rochefort 10's that are going to be my wife and my Christmas beer 🍺
I'll be getting in plenty of St. Bernadus. I'm not big on Belgian beers but I absolutely love their Christmas Ale. I've also spotted a nice looking local Winter Warmer, and Hook Norton's new Greedy Goose is INCREDIBLE on cask. 🍻
I do love a Xmas beer but this year i've invested in a couple of Founder's Canadian Breakfast stouts (2019), expensive but definitely going to be worth it, I had one gifted to me for my birthday last month and it was glorious!!
Nice review. Wish I was able to get those kind of beers here in the USA. Cheers!
Great Video!! I tend to gravitate to the Abby Ales this time of year along with Dunkel and Schwarzbier
So, where does the style “winter warmer” begin? Just curious. I love Christmas beer…the best Belgian one to me is “Bush/Scaldis Noel Premium.”
Interesting question. It might begin with harvest ales/October beers - historical beers made every harvest with the new season's hops and malts. Usually VERY strong (up to 14%) and aged for at least a year.
Preaching for my choir here - if you can get beers from eastern Canada, get the "Réserve de Noël" from Les Trois Mousquetaires brewery.
Literally Christmas in a glass. Gingerbread, fruitcake, evergreen smell at 10,5%.
It's a wonder! Better yet, age it 3 years. Delighftul
Last year I got a variety pack of La Chouffe. A great decision on my part, that Cherry Chouffe was great with the turkey.
Great idea!
Merry christmas
you've forgot stille nacht by the dolle brouwers. it is a Belgian winter special :)
I didnt forget it! We have had it in many videos as it is my favourite. But it is such a unique beer I didnt think it really fits with the wider narrative
Pretty sure it's all Jonny drinks on Christmas as he adores De Dolle ;)
@@TheCraftBeerChannel what about bush Noel :) I know you are a big fan of the Dolle :) can you still get it in the UK ?
I have a hard time clueing into the herbalness of Christmas ales. Just had Gouden Carolus Noël over the weekend, but it was not really my cup of tea. But I just bought Delirium Noël, because pink elephants in christmas hats, am I right?
Yep nailed it.
Troegs mad elf and mad elf grand cru awesome
Great beer, great brewery
Another great video. St bernardus Xmas ale is a must every year
Several! I want a winky monk!
the biggest issue i have with christmas beers is that they are so strong they make you believe back to the future 2 is the best movie in the trilogy!
Lol. I stand by it, and even if you dont you still get to spend half the film IN THE FIRST MOVIE.
Had this beer couple weeks ago and i got to say its AMZING GREAT FLAVOR bought it at TRADER JOES those that are in the U.S.A really RECOMMEND cheers ! 🍺🍺🍺
Are you able to get Troegs Mad Elf ?? if you can get it it's a wonderful Christmas Ale ...
Sadly not but we tried it when we visited the brewery in 2018 to film!
how about a christmas beer alignment chart where the x-axis is "its a sweet dark strong beer -> any dark ales are ok -> anything goes" and the y-axis is "its just beer -> it can have christmas related spices in -> anything goes". historical traditionalists go in the top left - scotch ale, rebels in the bottom right - raspberry sour. in the middle is true neutral - dark beers with christmas spices
Christmas beer was invented when marketers dreamt up romantic stories about poorly, brewed, homemade beer. Christmas beer was originally produced during Prohibition, and the ingredients came from a market. Across the aisle from the baker's malt, and baker's yeast in the market was the herbs and spices that were added for flavoring the beer because hops were difficult to obtain.
When Christmas beer is produced from single temperature infusion, the beer is American, home brew style, Christmas moonshiners beer, with a good story behind it, and some recipes.
Jeez...and I just thought it was a marketing thing. Thanks for the info! Cheers!
^^^^^ THIS VIDEO ^^^^^ Just ordered a few bombers of the St Bernardus Xmas and La Chouffe Dark
This year, we’ve made a Vossaol with cedar, nutmeg and cinnamon for our…lucky….customers?
Have you tried kasteel tripel yet? It's a delicious belgian beer and really strong at 11%.
A wonderful beer!
@@TheCraftBeerChannel Have you featured it in a video yet? If so I would love to see it
@@lukasdebaene ya know what I don't think we have. We should fix that.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel haha, definitely gonna watch. Love the videos btw.
Chouffe does have a Christmas beer though (blue label) caled n'ice chouffe
It sure does, we've had it in a few videos as it is excellent! But we wanted to tell the tale of Belgian-brewed scotch ale for this.
An enjoyable romp thanks. But I felt you missed out a whole chunk of info, viz a viz UK Winter Ales. In the late 70's I was introduced to Youngs Winter Warmer (wow) and I soon realised that most (all) breweries produced a winter warmer of some type. I always hunted these down with relish come November. Gales was a particular favourite of mine. At some point in the past 20 years, winter brews seem to have morphed into Xmas Ales noted by the cliched Xmas label. I do feel that a review of the winter output of traditional regional brewers is long overdue. For me, I already have a case of Sam Smith's Winter Welcome waiting to be opened on Xmas Day :) Keep up the great work.
Fair point. Definitely the origin for many cask brewers' festive beers that are old enough.
Great stuff, where did you get your historical references from?
Lots of places but the link in the description is the key one
@@TheCraftBeerChannel cheers
You have 2 of the best in St B and Chouffe Xmas beers
Both amazing, but neither as good as De Dolle Stille Nacht, which is king.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel Few things in life are as good as that
Let's end the back in forth, there's plenty of great holiday American beers
The recepie?
Wait Jonny... What do you mean by Back to the Future Part II is the best one? It's the ugly duckling of the trilogy.. Sorry had to say it. :)
Great video, and loving the book! Cheers!
You need to go back in time and change this comment.
they are liquorice sticks
I always thought that La Chouffe was french :D Because of the name I guess
Well it is from the Ardennes region in Belgium, which is in the French speaking part. So not a strange assumption at all.
Suggest West Berkshire Brewery Yule Fuel
Unfortunately we don't drink WBB due to allegations of sexism and toxicity at the brewery but we used to enjoy some of their beers
So basically McEwan's Champion
Christmas beer in the UK is when a brewer fucks up and needs to blend away and sell some beer so they blend and throw in some "Christmas essence"
Ha, not sure that's true. It has a long history and sells well these days so very much planned
haha "Its for Jesus now"
st bernardus christmas beer doesnt taste much different to me than st bernardus abt12
2nd :-)
So Christmas beer comes from religious oppression. I knew I hated it for a reason other than the taste.
Sadly most of western culture does.
People enforcing religion, well I never 😉