I have a bunch of vacation days that I need to use up before the end of the year, so on one of them last week I made a trip to the Spec's downtown to stock up on my holiday beer. One thing that surprised me was the number of people that apparently had the same idea. It was 10:30 in the morning on a Tuesday and I followed a stream of people entering the store. Once inside I went directly to the beer section to avoid getting distracted by the myriad of wines, alcohol and fine foods. And it was a good thing too as I ended up spending a lot more then I anticipated. In addition to just the holiday releases, there's also a lot of new beers that have entered the Texas market and it was difficult to restrain myself from filling the cart. However, I kept it to just the holiday releases, as the rest of new stuff should still be around after the new year. I typically save most of them to drink on or around Christmas day, so this should keep me occupied:
Anchor Christmas
Left Hand Snowbound
Affligem Noel
St. Bernardus Christmas
Scaldis Noel
Urthel Hibernus Quentum
Sam Adams Holiday Pack (Winter Lager, Cream Stout, Old Fezziwig, Holiday Porter, Cranberry Lambic)
Bad Elf Holiday Pack (Reindeer's Revolt, Warm Welcome, Santa's Butt, Lump of Coal)
I still have a bottle or two of some of the beer above from last year in my beer cellar, so I'll be able to do my own vertical tasting as well.
Its really a shame Sam Adams only releases the Holiday Porter and Old Fezziwig in these holiday packs. They're both great beers that I'd love to buy without being forced to also take the horrendous Cranberry Lambic.
Okay, I couldn't resist, I did pick up a few more things:
St. Bernardus gift pack with glass
Rogue Double Dead Guy
What can I say, I'm weak. I finally had to just close my eyes and push the cart in the direction of the checkout lines!
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