The next few days are going to be about family, traditions and festive celebration. There will definitely be beer involved, trust me. But it does mean a few days of internet silence – as it should be. So allow me to quickly offer a Happy Holidays to all my readers, both casual and regular. I hope the next few days are satisfying and enjoyable for you. Plus I hope you got some great beer for presents!

For what it is worth, my personal Xmas beer list will include a number of beer. Among my homebrew it includes a new Belgian Dubbel which seems quite nice, plus the leftovers of my latest Steam beer and an American Brown. Commercially I have picked up some Alley Kat Old Deuteronomy, Pike Auld Acquaintance and my new favourite Red Racer IPA. Also, I must admit, I got a couple of bottles of Alley Kat’s Xmas gift of an Orange Chocolate Porter, which is not available for sale. I won’t review it, as that seems unfair to those of you who didn’t get a bottle, but I do appreciate being able to sip on this one of a kind beer.

That said, Merry Christmas to all of you and here is to a 2011 full of great beer! See you in a few days.

Jason