Beer:30... Rogue Santa's Private Reserve Ale.

Rogue Ales from Oregon, puts out quite a variety of delicious beers. Starting with their most popular, Dead Guy Ale, and on down the line to this delightful beer, Santa's Private Reserve Ale. They have a knack for putting beers out there that are a little outside of the box. Not as much as the over-hyped Dogfish Head, but just as interesting. Let's dive into this one:

Santa's Private Reserve is an amazing beer. Amazing smells coming from this beer, and the taste that follows is just as well. Not much spice flavor coming from the beer, which is a nice surprise due to this being a winter ale. Spice is a tricky ingredient for beers, and in my opinion it usually does not work. This beer has a nice balance of malt, and hops, and a nice clean finish, due to the higher carbonation. It is very easy to drink. It reminds me a bit of Alaskan Winter ale or even Sierra Nevada Celebration slightly. All in all, a very good, easy to drink beer.

Rogue is one of my favorite beer companies, and this beer makes me like them even more. One that I am looking forward to is their John John Juniper, which is aged in Gin barrels and brewed with juniper berries. As one who likes Gin, that sounds fantastic.

This beer is a must drink for this time of the year, if you see it, definitely pick up one of the big bottles and enjoy by your Christmas tree. I know I did. "From Oregon with love," is what this beer should have on the label.

Cheers!