Category Archives: Rituals

History, Holidays, Labels, Rituals

Christmas Ales

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The Book of Ecclesiastes wisely states that “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens”. Adapted to the world of craft beer the appropriate sentiment might read that “there is a time for everything, and a season for every beer under the heavens”. While the seemingly ubiquitous IPAs are enjoyed year round there are several styles of beer that are associated with particular periods on the calendar. While I am not a fan off pumpkin beers I know plenty of people who look forward to their appearance each fall. Oktoberfest Marzens, in contrast, is a style whose arrival I eagerly await. And as I write this we are a few weeks away from Christmas, and Christmas Ales are in abundance. I do enjoy Christmas Ales and currently have a six-pack of one from Bell’s Brewery of Comstock, MI sitting in my basement refrigerator.

Christmas Ale from a Bell’s Brewery in Comstock, MI

Earlier this week, I gave a talk on a Christmas Ales to alumni of the University of Toledo. With the Covid-19 pandemic in full swing it was a virtual talk. When I agreed to give the talk I knew a little bit about Christmas Ales, but learned more about them as I did some research. Christmas Ales have their origins in pre-Christian pagan rituals. Take Norway as an example. Long before Christianity, Norwegians celebrated the winter solstice by brewing and drinking beer to honor Odin, Frey, and other Norse gods. The period was known as Jul, and stretched from mid-November to mid-January. Indeed the brewing of Ale was one of the most important tasks of the early winter season, with the first brew often laid out or poured on a stone for the local gnomes and spirits. Peasants would travel to the local pagan temple, bringing along food and ale for a feast Everyone was expected to take part in the drinking of Ale The first toast was to be made to Odin, then the other gods. Additional toasts were then drunk to the memory of the departed. No Norwegian farm was complete without a brewhouse — the bryggehus – this was the case up until about 200 years ago.

King Hakon the Good, who ruled Norway from 934 to 961 made it illegal to celebrate Christmas without Ale. Those who didn’t have Ale at their Christmas feast were issued a fine. In the 13th century the Gulating, an annual parliamentary assembly that met in Gulen on Norway’s west coast, passed a law similar to the decree issued by Haakon the Good. According to the Gulating:

“Yet another beer brew we are required to make, man and wife from equal amounts of malts, and to bless it Christmas night in thanks to Christ and St. Mary, for a good year and peace.

If this is not done, three marks must be paid to the bishop. But if someone sits three winters without doing so, or cannot pay the fees that we have added for our religion, and this can be proven, then he has forfeited every penny of his worth. The king shall have half, and the bishop the other half. But he may confess his sins and make church penance and stay in Norway. If he will not he shall leave the realm of our king.”

Fines and possible banishment from the kingdom indicate how seriously Christmas Ale was taken in 13th century Norway.

King Hakan the Good issued a decree making it illegal to celebrate Christmas without Ale

12 Dogs of Christmas Ale contains honey, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg

After talking about Christmas Ales in Medieval Norway, I turned my attention to Christmas Ales in modern-day America. Interestingly enough, Christmas Ale is not a recognized beer style – at least not by the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) or the Brewers Association. The BJCP does include a Winter Seasonal Beer among its list of over 150 recognized styles. So what is a Winter Seasonal Beer and what are its defining characteristics? According to the BJCP Winter Seasonal Beers “suggest cold weather and the Christmas holiday season, and may include holiday spices, specialty sugars, and other products that are reminiscent of mulling spices or Christmas holiday desserts”, while “a wide range of aromatics is possible” including those “reminiscent of Christmas cookies, gingerbread, English-type Christmas pudding, evergreen trees, or mulling spices.” For example, 12 Dogs of Christmas Ale, brewed by Thirsty Dog Brewing Co. of Akron, OH includes honey, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. The flavor of a Christmas Ale will reflect the spices used in the brewing process. In terms of appearance, Christmas Ales tend to be generally medium amber to very dark brown, with darker versions being are more common.

While they have existed in Europe for over a thousand years, Christmas Ales first made their appearance in the United States in the early 1900s. Prohibition arrived in 1920 and lasted until 1933, making American Christmas Ale fairly short lived. They did not reappear in the aftermath Prohibition. Indeed, it was not until 1978 that Christmas Ales reappeared on the American brewing landscape. And we have Fritz Maytag and Anchor Brewing in San Francisco to thank for that. Founded in 1896, the brewery was on the verge of going out of business when Maytag purchased a 51% share in 1965. Maytag rejuvenated the brewery’s fortunes, partly by expanding its portfolio of beers to include IPAs, Barleywine, and Porters. In 1975 Maytag introduced the first Christmas Ale to be brewed in the United States since the end of Prohibition – Anchor’s Christmas Ale.

Anchor Brewing in San Francisco
Anchor Brewing was struggling until Fritz Maytag purchased a 51% share of the brewery in 1965

Each year Anchor’s Christmas Ale is brewed using a different recipe and over the years it has evolved from a Pale Ale to spiced Brown Ale. Not only does the recipe change from year to year, but so does the beer’s distinctive label. The label always features a tree, but a different tree each year. Between 1975 and 2019 (with the exception of 1976), the labels were all designed by the same artist – 93 year-old Jim Stitt. His decision to retire, however, meant that the 2019 label was the last one designed by Stitt. The 2020 label was designed by Nathan Yoder. Given the unique challenges that 2020 has presented Yoder opted for a label that featured The Three Graces, a trio of sequoia trees, which represent radiance, joy, and hope. After the year that we have all just experienced I think that it’s safe to say that we would welcome all three of these in abundance.

Each year Anchor’s Christmas Ale is adorned with a different label featuring a different tree. Labels from 1975-1982 are shown here
93 year old Jim Stitt, now retired, designed all the labels for Anchor Christmas Ale between 1975 and 2019. The only year Stitt did not design the label was 1976 (Photo credit: SFGate.com)

The three sequoia trees on the label of Anchor’s 2020 Christmas Ale represent radiance, joy, and hope

Beer Styles, Rituals

A Time For Everything

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I have lived in Toledo, OH for twenty-eight years. One of the things that I like about living in this part of the country is the seasonality of the weather. We have hot summers (average high July temperatures of 84.5 degrees Fahrenheit) and cold winters (average high January temperatures of 18.4 degrees Fahrenheit). In between we have beautiful spring and fall weather. Before moving to Toledo, I lived in the Phoenix, AZ for four years, where the average high July temperatures are 106.4 degrees Fahrenheit. I still recall June 26, 1990 when the temperature hit 122 degrees Fahrenheit – a record for Phoenix that stands to this day. Before emigrating to the United States in 1985, I lived in Scotland. When people ask me about the weather in Scotland, I jokingly say that if you watch the nightly news, there are one of two weather forecasts – wet with dry periods, or dry with wet periods. Glasgow, where I spent four years as an undergraduate student, gets on average 13 more inches of rain per year than Portland, OR.

The Book of Ecclesiastes (chapter 3) states that, “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens“. And so it is with beer. Just like the weather in Toledo, OH, beer is also a highly seasonal beverage. While all breweries have their year-round flagship brews, almost every craft brewery that I know have seasonal releases – Märzens in the spring, pumpkin ales in the fall, Christmas ales in the winter, etc. Some seasonal beers I really enjoy ( Märzens), while others (pumpkin ales) I can take or leave.

Over the years, I have come to realize that there is a seasonality to my own beer drinking habits. For example, I consume considerably more beer in the summer months than other seasons. This is directly related to the weather. During the winter months, when I spend more time indoors at home I simply do not drink as much beer. For example, I rarely drink beer at home when it is just my wife and I watching a movie on TV. If we have guests, that is a different matter, especially if at least one of those guests is a beer drinker. During the winter months I also go out less to bars and restaurants.

Summer is a different matter. At home, during the summer months, I spend more time outside, mowing the lawn or doing other yard work. Yard work of any type usually ends with a beer to two. Summer is also grilling season, and I never grill without a beer in my hand. One of my favorite summer beer rituals occurs right after I arrive home from work. I usually get home before my wife. So I take advantage of this time, grab a beer from the refrigerator, and sit on the front stoop and consume it. As I sit there, I observe the comings and goings of the neighborhood. I see others arriving home from their workday. I say “Hi” to folks walking their dogs, and even to those not walking a dog. More often than not, Barbara my neighbor is in her front yard pottering away. Barbara is an elderly retired African-American lady, She was there when we moved into our house in 1994. So as I sit and drink my beer, Barbara and I will exchange pleasantries and chat for a few minutes (usually about our yards). Sitting there with a beer in my hand also provides an opportunity to reflect on the workday just completed and to plan for the one ahead. Another habit that I gotten into is to take a photograph of the beer that I am drinking and post it on social media (Facebook and Twitter mainly). I have posted some of these pics below).

In terms of the styles of beer that I drink, I tend to have quite eclectic tastes. Unlike one of my friends who seems to have an IPA in his hand every time I see him (you know who you are Joe), my taste in beer is pretty wide ranging. Even within the space of one evening I can shift from a Lager to a Sour to an IPA. I do however, drink more Stouts and Porters during the colder months, with more Lagers, Sours, and Fruit beers in the summertime.

But sitting on the front stoop of my house with a beer is by far my favorite beer drinking ritual. There is quite a lot of evidence that having daily rituals are beneficial in all sorts of ways – from promoting creativity to giving us a greater sense of self awareness. According to one observer, “rituals, in essence, provide the structure and substance to our every day lives, and without their comforting presence, our lives are thrown into disorganization, uncertainty and chaos.” Who wants disorganization, uncertainty, and chaos in their lives? – certainly not me. Rituals can of course take many forms – exercising first thing in the morning, having coffee with friends at a local coffee shop, taking an afternoon nap etc. Apparently the Swedish movie director,  Ingmar Bergman and the Danish philosopher, Søren Kierkegaard, took walks everyday to recharge their batteries. As far as beer is concerned, some people have attributed their longevity to having a daily beer. When Mildred Bowers, from Mount Pleasant, SC, turned 103 in 2016, she revealed that a glass of beer at 4pm every day was one of the keys to her longevity. I am not sure if my summer beer drinking ritual is going to add one day to my life, but it sure improves the quality of my life on those days when I do have one.