Christmas beers and gear

Happy holidays, Kwanzaa, Festivus, Christmas and Lá an Dreoilín to you. Even in the dead of winter, there are green things. Let us rejoice, and worship them.

Beerwise, nothing all that special this year, I'm afraid. But I'm not working so, hey. Blog it, whatever it is!

Anchor brewing Christmas Ale

Anchor Brewing puts out a unique holiday brew every year, a tradition they've been at for a few decades now. Everything about the brew is TOP SECRET, but if I had to guess I would say this year's has something to do with root beer. No kidding, it tastes a lot like root beer. I expected this to be sweet with a lot of alcohol warming, but it was actually quite dry. That's good because if it had been any sweeter, the root beer comparison would have been really accurate, and then I couldn't have given it my patented "bottoms up" rating. As it is, I'm saying, meh. There are better holiday ales out there. Plenty more.

Wells IPA

And this is not one of them! Actually, I just picked this up because it's a Brit IPA, and it's in a tall can, and that's something I thought I'd never see--except for Young's. And Boddington's, and that other one. And then there is that other one too, and then probably a bunch more. OK. I just liked the Christmassy colors maybe. But how does it taste?


My first impression was, "WFIPA? Whose idea was it to print that on the label?" Then I looked at the label again, which says something (exactly) like, "Brewers since 1876" and "from the heart of England" and I figured I'd give 'em a pass. So it's not hoppy, big deal right? They invented the IPA, they can do what they like with it. So it's not "interesting" or "complex". Those are just terms, right? And who wants to sit around talking about their beer anyway? This is a beer for quaffing out of a pint glass, at a pub with your mates (or your kids), not one for talking about. Still, I felt a bit ripped off. It was a 400-yen lesson I learned today.


The flavor is clean, with just a bit of malt toast, almost like a dark lager. The tiny bit of sweetness is killed by the tiny bit of bitterness, and if it weren't for the tiny bit of body you'd hardly know you were drinking anything as it slides down the old gullet. Sorry, Wells, you didn't bring me the holiday hops I was hoping for.


If I had really wanted a spiced holiday beer, I probably should have headed over to one of the Baird taprooms, to try their Jubilation Ale. Here's a description of that delicious holiday beer:

This malty rich, festively red-hued ale derives its special character primarily from the addition of two wonderful local ingredients:  (1) fully ripened and freshly picked figs (ichijiku) and (2) cinnamon twigs culled from a Japanese nikki tree.  The full bodied character combined with the attendant alcohol strength will warm the flesh just as it brings jubilation to the soul. 

K, new item on tomorrow's agenda...


I just want to add, in all seriousness, that we are extremely lucky to get the craft beers that we can get here in Japan, and in spite of my cheeky little tone, I am extremely thankful that I can run across them once in a while. You who live in beer-rich places, take a few moments to count your blessings.


In fact, it's a good time to count your blessings anyway, like this guy's doing. Look: he got a new fermentor. See how happy!

Santa has smiled

And he's even happier because when those commercial beers dissapoint, there is always delicious homebrewed beer on tap. Good people, if you want it done right, you may have to brew it yourself.

Happy holidays to all.