For the Second beer of Christmas...

~~~~For the Second beer of Christ-mas,~~~~

~~~~the beer-store gave to me,~~~~
~~~~Christ-mas Ale by Abita Brewery!~~~~

For the second brew of Christmas I'm drinking a Southeastern staple, Abita Christmas Ale! This beer is a great follow up to the Deschutes Winter Ale particularly because it is sooooooo different.
You see, one of the main reasons I look forward to winter seasonal beers so much is that the category has very few restrictions, and as a result, contains an extremely wide variety of brews. If variety is the spice of life, during the holidays, life can get quite spicy!!
So, what is it about the Abita that makes it so different from the Deschutes winter ale? Well I'm so glad you asked!

The beer pours a beautiful crimson red with a dusty beige head. The aroma is very hoppie and there is a strange tangy, blood-orange flavor on the front of the palate. After a couple big sips flavors of cooked barley come through and there is a very distinct lemon zest to balance the malt.

Maybe equally as interesting as the flavors that are present, are the flavors that are not present... I don't pick up on any of the typical Christmas flavors of cinnamon and nutmeg.

In fact as the beer level works it's way steadily down my glass I'm quite surprised by how much the malt and cooked barley dominate the beer (I kind of feel like I'm eating bowl of whole grain cereal). The finish is a little more rich and round and I pick up on something that's not quite chocolate (but close).

Finally, there's just a little bit of a strange sour, tangy flavor that reminds me of fried plantains (LOL, I know, a bit ridiculous, but that's what I was reminded of).

Okay, that's all for now. I hope I didn't scare you off with the plantains, and if you get a chance to try it, I'd love to hear what you think!

Thanks for reading, and be sure to stay tuned, more seasonal suggestions are on the way!

-Prost!
D.Lux