Happy Hanukkah Beer Geeks!

It's time for the Festival of Lights, people! 8 days of lighting candles, gift giving, and spending time with the family....or so many of us goyim like to think. I know the holiday is more than that, but those of us that were raised in homes with a christian sleight like to think it's close to our holiday equivalent. it's not, but it's close enough to the fake birthday of the Christ for all the ignorant goys out there to think it's relative.

As secular a lifestyle I represent, there are still many things to look forward to during the holiday season. Namely, holiday and winter seasonal brews. But for all the beers out there with Santa and Krampus on the label reppin' the holidays, I'm surprised I never taken the time to wonder why Hanukkah beers are sorely lacking on the market. Thankfully, I'm a godless liberal who subscribes to NPR on my Facebook news feed, and chances are you may be too. Just in case your not though, NPR released a nice reader-and-listener friendly article mere hours ago about the growing Hanukkah holiday beer market, and a little bit of background on Jewish brewing for those history buffs out there. It's a short article, but a good read and relative to the subject of this website.


 NPR - With Hanukkah Microbrews, A Taste of Jewish History

Brooklyn Brewery...Brown Ale and Winter Ale

Lo and Behold!!!! I'm finally going to review a couple from my most local of Breweries. Brooklyn Brewery is actually located about 25 minutes walking distance from my place,15 minutes if i walked to the subway and took the train. I'm suprised I haven't yet took a tour. I have loved BB since I first visited NYC over 4 years ago,and now I am blessed with livng in the same area as one of the most renowned micro-breweries in America. Today I'm going to be giving you the scoop on the Brown Ale and 2006 Winter. Both great and both available almost everywhere in the city.



The Brown Ale poured a nice reddish-brown with a fairly good head. I noticed right of the bat that it smelled like grass. Not pot, real grass. From what I understand this was the hops. It wasn't very bitter,in fact it tasted quite nice. Fairly sweet and it went down really easy. A little too easy.

The Winter Ale was what started my adventure called Wednesday Night. A lighter color than the brown (obviously) and the head was about 2 fingers thick. The beer was pretty thick itself with quite a bit of flavor. Spicy even. Definetly something to sit by the fire and drink. Since I started drinking it as soon as I left the store, I didn't really start noticing the best parts until it warmed up for about 20 minutes. A mistake I've made less and less as I learn about beer. Overall, a great winter ale. I'll probably bring some up to VT for my in-laws to try.