Our beloved Christmas Ale has graced our fermenters and your fridges for over three decades. Since 1992, that perfect balance of fresh cinnamon, ginger, and honey has delighted taste buds and social gatherings through the special year-end months. In fact, Christmas Ale is such a holiday tradition, we brew more of it annually than any other beer we make!
A beer with such history, ubiquity, and popularity – all wrapped up in holiday cheer – naturally breeds many a tale. And some of those tales are, well, taller than others. So to clear the baking spice-filled air, we turned to our in-house experts to officially bust some Christmas Ale myths.
Didn’t the ABV used to be higher?
For various reasons, many longtime Christmas Ale fans recall the holiday classic boasting an elevated alcohol content well beyond its current 7.5% ABV frame. However, this would have put us on the naughty list, as before 2002, such alcohol content for beer was illegal! “Years ago, the alcohol by volume (ABV) limit in Ohio was 6% alcohol by weight (ABW) which equals 7.5% ABV,” says longtime Brewmaster Mark Hunger. “The legal limit was raised about 20 years ago or so. We brewed Christmas Ale to this limit then, and it has always been the same ABV since.” While double-digit ABV Imperial Stouts and Double IPAs may be common today, a beer above 7.5% simply wasn’t a possibility when Christmas Ale was formulated.
Fun fact: while the original has always been the same ABV, our limited release Barrel Aged Christmas Ale clocks in at a filling 10% ABV! Regular Christmas Ale aged in bourbon barrels picks up a few additional percentage points of ABV by absorbing the residual spirits remaining in the barrel’s wooden staves, alongside the delicious notes of wood and vanilla the barrels impart. Find it in 16 oz. Can 4-Packs for an extra special holiday treat.
Does the recipe change every year?
If we made an “Overheard at Christmas Ale First Pour” list, perhaps topping it would be, “oh, it tastes different this year,” or “I hear they change the recipe every year.” While we certainly trust our fans’ palates, rest assured, Christmas Ale is brewed the same way every year, with 20 pounds of fresh-cut ginger, 20 pounds of whole cinnamon sticks, and over 600 pounds of honey per batch!
So why are many convinced of recipe tweaks or flavor differences? “When you have your first sip of Christmas Ale for the season, you most likely have not had one for many months,” says Sensory Specialist Jacob Eaton. “So many factors are at play here: memory fading, taste buds changing, even your mood and other consumption habits can have drastic effects on what you perceive.” Plus, there might be a little bit of peer pressure at play: “When you are about to take your first sip and you are expecting it to taste different, you are very likely to believe it does taste different! And while there’s absolutely nothing wrong with spirited discussions about our favorite beers, our brewery’s sensory panelists do go to great lengths to remove any bias when making sure our beers meet our specifications.” We owe them a Christmas gift for that!
While Christmas Ale’s recipe remains untouched, our Cookie Exchange Milk Stout features a rotating cookie flavor each year! Try this year’s version, inspired by the Peanut Butter Blossom cookie, available in 6-Packs and with Christmas Ale in the Holiday Pack.
I heard another brewery has the original recipe.
It’s no secret that our region is full of warming, spiced amber ales released for the holiday season. And we’re here for it! In fact, it’s a bit of an honor to see the style we effectively originated in the early 90’s become a mainstream phenomenon amongst fellow brewers and festive craft beer fans. We’ve even seen “Northeast Ohio-style Christmas Ale” brewed as far away as the west coast! As far as we’re concerned, the more holiday cheer, the better.
With so many other similar holiday beers out there and so many fellow brewers out there who used to work at Great Lakes (we consider them our extended family, by the way), it’s believed by many that the original Great Lakes Christmas Ale recipe was the victim of, well, industrial espionage. Not true, says Brand Coordinator and in-house historian and archivist Michael Williams. “One of my favorite GLBC memories is our 2016 Alumni Beer Dinner, where former GLBC brewers paired their beers and stories with our food. Tim Rastetter, Brewmaster at Thirsty Dog in Akron, was one of the invitees, and publicly cleared the air regarding the original Christmas Ale recipe. Like any good brewer, he thought he could make our beer even better, and so when he moved on to his own brewing operations, made his own version of our Christmas Ale with his modifications.” So while there are many homages out there, the original Christmas Ale recipe still lives on [Christmas] Carroll Ave. in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood!
Can I get a cinnamon sugar rim at the brewpub?
Many consider their enjoyment of Christmas Ale incomplete without a cinnamon sugar rim adorning their pint glass. However, for our brewpub staff, this popular garnish is a sticky situation, according to Brewpub Manager Scott Smith. “Christmas Ale is a fantastic, full-flavored beer all on its own, and our brewers work hard to make it every year, so we offer the beer on its own merits to show respect for our brewer’s hard work.” On top of honoring our production teams’ efforts, Smith continues, “Offering the cinnamon sugar rim at the volume we sell Christmas Ale would cause slowdowns in service and make quite a sticky mess, to say the least. We sell more Christmas Ale than any other bar in Cleveland, including roughly 8,000 pints at Christmas Ale First Pour! We pride ourselves on providing a memorable experience at the brewpub that includes prompt service and a clean environment.”
While you won’t find plates of sugar and cinnamon by the brewpub taps, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with enjoying it that way. “If you enjoy your Christmas Ale with a cinnamon sugar rim at home or an establishment that offers it, go for it,” Smith says. “We’re all for whatever brings you more merriment!”
Now that you’ve got some conversation starters for your holiday gatherings, all you need is the beer! Locate Christmas Ale, Cookie Exchange Milk Stout, Barrel Aged Christmas Ale, and the Holiday Pack near you using our Beer Finder. If you want to learn more about holiday classic, register for our Holiday Beer Hop College class here.
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Questions? Email GLBCinfo@greatlakesbrewing.com for more information.
