Tuesday Tasting: Four Holiday Brews

Tuesday Tasting is a regular feature of Lyke2Drink that explores some of the best beers, wines and spirits on the market. In this bonus session we taste four more holiday brews.

Holiday beers are among my favorites and I was pleased to get a home delivery of several this evening by my Brother-in-Law and good friend Darrin Pikarsky. In fact, a couple not listed below are safely stored in my fridge for tasting later in the week. I plan to keep reporting on holiday beers over the next several weeks. We did crack open four and found each to be enjoyable.

St. Feuillien Cuvee de Noel Belgian Special Ale: I think this is the first time I've had the chance to try an abbey ale from St. Feuillien Brewery in Le Roeulx, Belgium. It was an enjoyable experience. This 9 percent alcohol by volume beer had a nice rocky head and was a cloudy amber color. The flavor was slightly fruity with a very nice malty finish.

Cisco Brewers Celebration Libation: This winter warmer from Nantucket had a flashy fresh hop aroma and at first gave a wine-like flavor profile. The brewery uses cinnamon sticks, fresh ginger and honey from the hop yards in the brewing process. Even with all of this flavor, the brew finishes with an appealing dryness.

Very Bad Elf Special Reserve Ale: From Ridgeway Brewing in Oxfordshire, U.K., this pale, smooth beer is remarkably subtle for a product that some states have tried to ban because of its label art. It is pretty subdued for a holiday beer, but has a nice hop finish.

Wychwood Bah humbug Christmas Cheer: This red ale has a firm head. It weighs in at 6 percent alcohol by volume. It has a slightly sweet taste of dried fruits -- not quite figs, but along that line. A very pleasant holiday evening drink.