Christmas Beer: The Cheeriest, Tastiest, and Most Unusual Holiday Brews (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Everett W. Faircloth (Photographer)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In your hunt for that perfect holiday elixir, there's a brand-new book that can help....He came up with an awesome selection. It's a great, informative read." ~The San Jose Mercury News

"Russell gives readers the lowdown on the best of these holiday offerings..." ~The Wine Buzz

“It is the first comprehensive collection." ~About Beer Magazine

"...a comprehensive look at holiday brewing history and tradition..." ~The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"The book is an entertaining history of holiday beer...” ~The Philadelphia Weekly

Product Description

Christmas beers, also known as Winter Warmers, are a tradition dating back at least 2,000 years, with the ancients making highly intoxicating brews to celebrate winter’s Saturnalia. This brewmaking evolved into a holiday celebration when medieval monks, the world’s first professional brewers, pulled out their finest ingredients to produce soul-warming styles for the occasion. Today brewers continue the custom, either with centuries-old recipes or newfangled concoctions with spices and herbs, enabling thirsty beer fans to put aside their everyday favorites each winter and deck the halls with the world’s most flavorful ales and lagers, brewed especially for the holidays.Beer expert Don Russell taps into holiday cheer with a look at the world’s best—unusual, exotic, rich, one-of-a-kind brews—detailing the styles and flavors that will leave beer lovers in a froth. From Smuttynose Winter Ale to Santa’s Butt to Troegs Mad Elf to Left Hand XXXmas, there’s a beer for everyone, even a Hanukkah beer, He’Brew Jewbelation. Including funny tales and trivia behind the beers, homebrew recipes and food recipes with Christmas beer as an ingredient, and instructions for building and cellaring your own vintage holiday brews so you can enjoy Christmas 365 days a year, Christmas Beer will put even the most curmudgeonly beer drinker in the holiday spirit. Cheers!

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Universe (September 23, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789317966
• ISBN-13: 978-0789317964
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #31,356 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful and Insightful Holiday Cheer, November 30, 2008

By	Carolyn Smagalski "Beer Fox" (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

No one shares holiday cheer better than Philadelphia beer writer Don Russell, who celebrates the season with this newest book, Christmas Beer: The Cheeriest, Tastiest, and Most Unusual Holiday Beers.

Snuggle into an overstuffed chair by the fireplace and revel in the charms of this delightful and insightful book. In the turn of each page, you will be immersed in traditions of Christmas past. Russell, alias award-winning author Joe Sixpack of the Philadelphia Daily News, seduces the reader with welcoming warmth as he alights on a journey across generations. He regales us with stories of wassailing and ancient yuletide raucousness. Among his many narratives, is the tale of a grisly butcher and the miracle of Nicholas, the bishop of Myra. He recounts stories of the European and Viking traditions of Sinterklass and relays the history of American Thomas Nast who gave us our image of that jolly old elf.

Russell takes us through Europe to Nordkapp Bryggeri, the northernmost brewpub in the world, located just 1,311 miles from the North Pole, and southward to Castle Eggenberg in Austria to see the blessing of Samichlaus Beer. We travel to America, into the little town of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, with its sassy Rude Elf Reserve, and westward to California, where Anchor Brewing celebrates the Christmas Beer of medieval villages and Shmaltz Brewing celebrates the Festival of Lights with He'brew Jewbelation.

Christmas Beer features more than 150 Winter Specialty beers that celebrate the season. Mr. Russell presents a chapter of "The World's 50 Best Christmas Beers," along with full-color photos that stimulate desire for a splash of malt and spice across the lips, accompanied by that warming sensation down the throat. Among this connoisseurs' cache are such beers as Mad Elf from Troegs Brewing in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Avec les Bons Voeux of Brasserie Dupont in Belgium, Baladin Noel of Birrificio Le Baladin in Italy, and Mahr's Christmas Bock of Brauerei Mahr of Bamberg, Germany. Russell expands the list with 100 more holiday beers in the subsequent chapter. I was astounded by the breadth of choices available for the season.

For those of us who love trying our own hand in the kitchen, Mr. Russell includes recipes for crafting your own holiday brews and cuisine a la biere. He explains styles, serving temperatures and the aging process as it applies to Christmas Specialty Beer. He also includes a section on places to purchase or taste these superb beers. I wondered why no one had written anything like it before. Even the late Beer Hunter Michael Jackson would have been impressed with this brilliant little gem. This promises to be a valued stocking stuffer long after the tree and lights are put away for the season.

5.0 out of 5 stars A book about Christmas Beer --- Awesome!, October 9, 2009

By	JK (Austin, Tx) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

There is no better time of year than Christmas because of all the wonderful beer that becomes available. The book reviews the top 50 best beers and then includes reviews of a number of other Christmas/Winter beers as well.

The book had opportunities to dig more indepth on the different beers and be more descriptive -- but, I'm hard-pressed to criticize any book devoted to Christmas beer.

If you love this type of beer and look forward to this season, I highly recommend this book -- it is a fun read!

3.0 out of 5 stars Reviews but no recipes, September 23, 2009

By	Still looking (englewood, co. USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

I purchased this book thinking it had the beer recipe as well as the review, it contains reviews only. Nice little book but not what I was looking for.