It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: Victory Winter Cheers, N'Ice Chouffe, and Blue Moon Gingerbread Spiced Ale

I have a couple days to catch up on, so here you go.

Victory Winter Cheers

Saturday night, I went to Rocks to start the 12 Beers of Christmas.  The first beer I had was Victory Winter Cheers.  I generally enjoy Victory's products, especially their Golden Monkey, which is a really good (and strong) Belgian-style ale.  Unlike most winter beers, it is a wheat beer, and a pretty good one at that, although in the winter beer tradition, it is stronger than most of its wheat counterparts.  It is really drinkable, and it was a good start to the evening.  FYI, I didn't finish all twelve beers that night, although I know someone who did.  Good times.

Name:  Winter Cheers

Brewery:  Victory Brewing Company

Location:  Downingtown, Pennsylvania

ABV:  6.7%

IBU:  N/A

Good for drinking if:  you want a refreshing change of pace from traditional, spicy winter beers, or you are very confused about what a winter beer should taste like.

Rating:  4 stars (out of 5)

N'Ice Chouffe

Yesterday, I decided to go with another Belgian winter brew, N'Ice Chouffe, made by Brasserie D'Achouffe in Wallonia, the French-speaking southern region of Belgium.  It poured a little bubblier than I expected, which I took as a bad sign, but the first sip quickly quelled any concerns I had.  This was fantastic.  Like you would expect from a Belgian winter beer, it is strong, clocking in at a hearty 10%.  But it is also dangerously easy to drink and doesn't taste like a ten-percenter.  Basically, it's a really good Belgian dark ale with some added spice for the holidays.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  The bottle even said that it can be cellared, which I thought was interesting.  Frankly, I don't have the patience to let a beer sit in my house for several years, much less something as tasty as this.

Name:  N'Ice Chouffe

Brewery:  Brasserie D'Achouffe

Location:  Achouffe, Belgium

ABV:  10%

IBU:  N/A

Good for drinking if:  you need a strong, delicious beer after spending two hours putting up and decorating your Christmas tree and, twenty minutes after hanging the last candy cane on the tree, you watch as the tree topples over and crashes to the hardwood floor, causing your favorite Elvis ornament to lose three limbs in the process, one of which has still not been recovered.

Rating:  4.5 stars (out of 5)

Blue Moon Gingerbread Spiced Ale

Tonight, I decided to go with one of the Blue Moon varietals from their holiday sampler 12-pack, the Gingerbread Spiced Ale.  As the name of the beer implies, there are some pretty strong hints of ginger in this one, as well as some molasses and cinnamon.  It's not bad, although the ginger taste is a little strong.  When I started drinking it, there was little to no aftertaste, which I didn't necessary like for a winter beer.  But as I got to the second six ounces, the ginger taste stuck with me a little more.  All in all, not my favorite winter beer, but still pretty drinkable.

Name:  Gingerbread Spiced Ale

Brewery:  Blue Moon Brewing Company

Location:  Golden, Colorado

ABV:  5.9%

IBU:  16

Good for drinking if:  you want to pound some gingerbread without destroying your kids' gingerbread house and putting it in the blender.

Rating:  3.5 stars (out of 5)