The true taste of Christmas

Here’s a short post, not just to round off 2023, but also to take the total for the year above that of last year. In addition, I promise, it will be the last article to mention Christmas, unless something particularly enlightening or relevant turns up prior to next year’s festive “celebrations.”

Right, here we go, and I want to launch straight in to the often-thorny subject of “Christmas Ales.” Now I’ve published several articles over the years, the most recent being two years ago, about what constitutes a decent Christmas beer, and what constitutes a fake – a cheap, marketing gimmick of taking a bog-standard BBB (Boring Brown Bitter), shoving a fancy label on it, and giving it a festive sounding name, that often incorporates the most cringe worthy puns imaginable.

You know the sort I mean - Good Elf, Rocking Rudolph, Tinsel Top, Merry X-Moose, Santa’s Sack (don’t even go there!), the list goes on, and so does the awfulness. It doesn’t have to be this way, but backing up what I wrote two years ago, a proper Christmas Ale, should be brewed to a decent strength to begin with, ideally something at around 6.0% or stronger. I also like my Christmas ale to be dark in colour (preferably darker than ruby), full-bodied and well-hopped.

For this reason, I have deliberately avoided those uninspiring, malt-led, brownish bitters in the 4.0 – 5.0% strength bracket, as there is nothing Christmassy about them. Even worse are those festive offerings that are pale in colour, and sometimes even golden! Low in strength and low on taste, the only connection with Christmas that these beers have is the name on the pump clip, or bottle label.  

Fortunately, I’ve enjoyed quite a few “proper” Christmas ales over the years, and this year has been no exception. Even better is the fact that one of the very best of these beers, is brewed just 30 miles down the road, from my home. There are no surprises for guessing which brewery and beer I am talking about, but before revealing all, I want to say the following.

Lots of Christmas ales claim to contain the "spirit of Christmas", and perhaps some do more than others, but until I cracked open this 500 ml bottle of Harvey’s delectable Christmas Ale on Christmas afternoon, I thought they were all missing something. This followed hot on the heels of a bottle of St Bernardus Christmas Ale, which despite the claims on the bottle was something of a disappointment.

Not so with this bottle from Harvey’s with a BBE date of December 2023, the beer had if anything improved as it aged in the bottle. I know some will maintain this isn’t possible in a bottled beer stabilised by filtration and pasteurisation, but despite this treatment, there will always be a few viable yeast cells that make it through the aforementioned processes.

Harvey’s delectable Christmas Ale has a respectable 7.5% abv, and basically is a strong, dark, barely wine reminiscent of the strong “stock ales” drunk during the 18^th and 19^th centuries. Consumed over two sittings, given it strength and volume, this particular bottle contained the real essence of Christmas, far more than the St Bernardus version. Without going all Jilly Goolden, in last Monday’s bottle I found notes of pine needles, spices, oranges, dates, raisins and other vine fruit. The pine needles were reminiscent of Christmas trees, whilst the other components embodied the true essence of Christmas, by literally warming the soul. An award-winning beer which is definitely, pure class in a glass. I have consumed more than a few glasses of cask Christmas Ale as well as the occasional bottle, but somehow that aged, bottled version tasted even better.

I scored it at 4.75 on Untappd, but with hindsight it was a definite 5.0. If you are lucky enough to come across this beer, either in bottle or cask, then don’t pass up on the chance of missing one of the finest, and most authentic Christmas ale around.

In the meantime, given the timing of this post, I’d like to wish all followers and readers of this blog, along with friends and family, a happy, peaceful, prosperous, and above all healthy 2024, and thank you for your support over the year just gone.