12 Beers of Christmas (plus 3)

Anchor Steam Christmas Ale 2010
I guess it was a MacGyver moment. Duct tape, super glue, wood glue, a pair of clippers, a plant stake and left over model paint is all you need to make a little boy happy.

We were running late this morning. Ben was dressed and eating breakfast early but I was running late. Mr. Ben can always find a way to push my buttons when I’m running late. Mr. Ben cornered me with his broken dinosaur Christmas ornament just before I got in the shower. He got it from Ms. Angie a couple of weeks ago and broke off a leg almost immediately. So for several weeks our tree has been graced by a handicapped dinosaur, its foot sitting on the kitchen counter.

With ornament and detached foot in hand he said “Dad, can you fix my dinosaur.” As I climbed into the shower I told him “I’ll try.” I hoped he would forget by the time I got out. He didn’t. When I saw the time I went into panic mode. I went a notch above panic mode when I realized Mrs. Dan hadn’t brushed Mr. Ben’s teeth or his hair while I was in the shower. Now that Mr. Ben is in Pre-K we can’t just waltz in sometime before 9.

He wasn’t getting into the car until I fixed it. I did a verbal rope-a-dope and distracted him enough to get him in his child seat and on the road. While he was in school I used the aforementioned McGyver stuff to fix his dinosaur. He proudly hung it on his little Christmas tree when he got home.

Proud of my fatherly accomplishment I tried the next Christmas Beer that the Beer Elf brought me.

Wow, this is a real Christmas Ale. Anchor Steam is probably one of the bitterest American beer I drink. I don’t drink it alot because I’m cheap and I typically go for a darker maltier brew. Each year a different recipe is used for their Christmas Ale. This year its very much like a porter. I drank it very cold (the little fridge in the laundry room is getting some chilling help from the colder temps lately). This is a very dark brown ale with a slight hint of red. Very chocolatey, very rich but it doesn’t taste as heavy as it looks. Now as it starts to warm up the feel becomes a bit heavier. I think this would one of the brews I could drink at a bit warmer temp and enjoy. It has a very long finish that is hoppy like the regular anchor steam. The head was a very creamy brown. (it’s been 5 minutes since my last sip and I can still taste the toasty malty chocolate taste. Got some spice going on. I thought about it might go with some cocktail wienies which we don’t have so I settled for Jimmy Dean links I have in the freezer).

If you don’t care for a porter or dark beer then you’re out of luck. If you like a full flavored beer this is a great one. I have to admit the lingering aftertaste screams for something to snack on. Looking at their website they’ve got a pretty cool pint glass with their Christmas Ale design on it. (Each year they feature a different tree on the label. This year it’s a Ginkgo biloba tree)./p>

Nice to prop my feet up with a nice brew watching Mr. Dinosaur sparkle in the Christmas lights. All and all a good day.
From: San Francisco, California
Brewery: Anchor Brewing
Year: 2010

12 Beers of Christmas (plus 3)

Day 6: Anchor Steam Christmas Ale