It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: Brooklyn Winter Ale and Anderson Valley Winter Solstice

I apologize for the delay in posting the last two installments of It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer.  After New Years, I went to New Amsterdam for a few days and was unable to perform any blogging-related activities.  Thanks for indulging my winter beer obsession over the last month.  I quite enjoyed it, as my gut can attest.

Brooklyn Winter Ale

December 30, my winter beer selection was Brooklyn Brewery's Winter Ale, which I enjoyed after my second slab of Twin Anchors ribs in three weeks.  I like several of Brooklyn's beers, including their Brown Ale, Dry Irish Stout, Oktoberfest, and Black Chocolate Stout.  Their Winter Ale is a Scottish-style ale, so it's not like your typical winter beer.  It has a nice copper color and is pretty malty, which you would expect from a Scottish ale.  Frankly, I'm not sure why this beer should be limited to a seasonal release, since in my mind, it is not a true winter beer and it's good enough to drink year-round.

Name:  Winter Ale

Brewery:  The Brooklyn Brewery

Location:  Brooklyn, New York

ABV:  6.1%

IBU:  25

Good for drinking if:  you wear horn-rimmed glasses, a beard, and a pancake hat when it's not Halloween.

Rating:  4 stars (out of 5)

Anderson Valley Winter Solstice

New Years Eve was pretty low-key for us this year, since we were flying out to New York relatively early the next morning.  Fear not, I still imbibed a few beers, one of which was Anderson Valley's Winter Solstice.  For some reason (maybe because of the bear with antlers that graces their labels), I always think Anderson Valley is located in Montana, although it may as well be, since it's actually located in a relatively remote part of California about 2 hours north of San Francisco.  Their Winter Solstice is a traditional "winter warmer," meaning that it has the spices, maltiness, and relatively high ABV you would expect from a winter ale.  It was quite good, and pretty easy to drink.  For me, it was the perfect ending to 2014 and the first It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer.

Name:  Winter Solstice Seasonal Ale

Brewery:  Anderson Valley Brewing Company

Location:  Boonville, California

ABV:  6.9%

IBU:  6

Good for drinking if:  you are watching a possibly intoxicated Mark Giangreco and Janet Davies vaguely and uncomfortably flirt with each other as you wait patiently for your hoverboard to arrive.

Rating:  4 stars (out of 5)