Travel by the Pint: the Blog

Anchor Brewing Company,San Francisco,California, has been brewing these special Christmas ales since 1975 with a unique (and secret) recipe and a different tree on the label each year. You can view all of the previous labels on their web site and commemorative holiday pint glasses are available as well. We bought a magnum of the 2008 ale for our own holiday celebration this year. Here’s what we thought:

SALLY: Each year the recipe for the Christmas Ale differs a bit from the year before. We tested the 2008 in a magnum bottle. The color was a deep reddish brown with a thick taupe head with excellent and lasting lacing. I was expecting a richer mouthfeel, but while it didn’t quite have the legs I expected, it was nicely moderate with excellent spice notes at the front, and smooth, clean end notes. Slightly dry. It was slightly reminiscent of the spices in gluwein: allspice and mace.

MICHAEL: Rich, dark brown with red highlights and a tan head that leaves plenty of lacing. An earthy smell of molasses and chocolate. Nice medium-thick mouthfeel and a hint of malty sweetness followed by a lingering touch of spices. Chocolate is there in the flavor, too. The finish is fairly dry but not bitter. Overall a very pleasant companion on a winter’s night. Good thing, too, ’cause the bottle is freakin’ huge.

Sally’s rating: 8
Michael’s rating: 8
Ratings are 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest

For our first beer review here on Travel by the Pint, we popped the cork (cap, actually) on a bottle of Santa Fe Brewing Company’s Sangre de Frambuesa. Part of Santa Fe’s “Big Beer” series, it comes in a big 1 pint, 9.3 fl. oz. (750ml) foil-wrapped bottle and contains a whopping 12% alcohol by volume. We picked our bottle up at their brewery on the outskirts of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Here’s what we thought…

SALLY: This raspberry Belgian ale reminds me of summers as a kid picking raspberries off my grandmother’s canes, and eating them warm swimming in heaps of half and half. Well, it does if one ignores the significant alcohol content. But it doesn’t taste as strong as it is, and the clear red hue and creamy foam head is both attractive and tasty. The complex flavors hit at both opening and finishing notes. This is a one of Santa Fe Brewing Company’s limited edition bottles that celebrate their 20th anniversary. Don’t bother to pair this special occasion beer with food. That will only distract from its quality.

MICHAEL: This is one beautiful beer. Red-copper in color with a slightly rosy head. The aroma is all about raspberries. When I took my first whiff I was immediately craving dark chocolate to pair with this beer. With the first taste I thought there might be too much raspberry — tart with a syrupy tang that sticks to the back of the roof of your mouth. But I couldn’t stop there. Taste number two and I was already adjusting to all that flavor. It’s strong — both in flavor and alcohol content — but it’s not overpowering. Not an every day beer but one great special occasion or dessert beer. As it warms, I get a little more of the alcohol flavor but it’s mostly a warming element. Very nice on a cold night. Makes me think a little of holiday gluhwein. The guys at Santa Fe Brewing did a fantastic job on this one.

Sally’s rating: 9
Michael’s rating: 8.5
Ratings are 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest