I am the kind of guy who doesn’t get into the Xmas spirit until a little closer to the day. Around the 19th or 20th of December I will start get that the holiday spirit kickin’. Before that the store crowds, the irritating tinny holiday musak, the growing army of twinkle lights serve to irritate me. Maybe I should lighten up, but that is how it is.

So you can imagine my frame of mind when a couple weeks ago (it wasn’t even December yet!) I had to sit down to write a column about Christmas beer. You know, the nutmeg, cinnamon and clove infused concoctions that are somehow supposed to remind us of mulled wine? Yeah, those.

Don’t get me wrong,  I have had some wonderful examples of spiced winter ales. But, to be honest, I  have grown tired of that style recently. Combine that with my un-festive mood and I wasn’t looking forward to sipping on a class of ginger cookie. So this year, I didn’t. Or tried not to anyway. I selected three beer that I thought might deviate from that standard Xmas pattern – that could speak of the holiday without getting all cliche. I was looking for something more Simpson’s Christmas rather than Jimmy Stewart Christma, if you know what I mean.

The product of my labours is in the current issue of Vue Weekly (read it here). For the record, I think I did a good job on two, but blew the third (what was I thinking?). I chose Harviestoun’s Mr. Sno’balls, Alley Kat’s Cringer and Dead Frog’s Christmas Beeracle. I was particularly pleased with my decision to go with the Harviestoun. As usual that amazing brewery did not disappoint and got me exactly what I was looking for – something that spoke of the season without being ordinary. A lovely beer.

The Alley Kat was a natural choice. Their decision to do alight, summer-y beer as their December Big Bottle was, in my opinion, inspired. I wrote about the beer here when it first came out.

And then there was the Dead Frog. Why did I think it might offer something out of the ordinary? In hindsight  I have no idea. Instead it is your usual spiced holiday amber ale. Not bad, but it could offer more. Really, if I had of been thinking I would have chosen Dieu Du Ciel’s Solstice d’Hiver. I did contemplate the St. Bernardus Christmas beer, but it wasn’t/isn’t in the province yet/this year.

Alas, that is what happens when you drink Xmas beer in a distinctly un-Xmas-y mood.  I have at least one more holiday themed column to do – my CBC gig on December 23 – but at least that one will be done when  I have hit my holiday stride.

But for now, I return us to the ban on Christmas-themed anything here on onbeer.org.