Jingle Beers [1] has officially begun! After a minor hick-up, our inaugural Jingle Beer this year is Boulevard's Nutcracker Ale [2]. Boulevard is a local brewery here in Kansas City. They have a pretty decent selection of beers to choose from. My favorite would have to be their plain Wheat beer, followed by the Bully Porter. Boulevard's seasonal beers are pretty hit or miss though... I was never much of a fan of their Oktoberfest seasonal, Bob's 47. I like hops as much as the next guy but I don't think your Märzen should taste like an IPA. Call me crazy. But anyway, the Nutcracker is a different story. Boulevard did a great job with this seasonal.The Nutcracker Ale is a dark brown ale with a warm caramel flavor. The Nutcracker almost tastes like Boulevard's Sixth Glass special edition beer that was released as part of the Smokestack Series. At 6% alcohol this beer definitely qualifies as a winter warmer, but it doesn't have too strong of a flavor and will go with just about anything. Most holiday beers taste like they'd go well with a plate of gingerbread or sugar cookies and the Nutcracker is no exception.
Our Nutcracker Ales were enjoyed with a couple homemade reubens though. Cookies would've been great but reubens were even better. The sweet Nutcracker ale went well with the tangy mustard and sauerkraut of the reuben, oh and there were salt and vinegar chips which is always a plus. This beer has a nice tan, almost brown, head when you pour it into your glass. It smells pretty potent too, which is great if you enjoy caramel and gingerbread like me.
So there you have it, the first of our Jingle Beers has been drank and a good time was had by all. We don't have a whole lot to weigh this against yet but I'll go on the record as saying this is my favorite holiday ale thus far. Boulevard has set the bar pretty high...
Up Next: Sam Adams' Winter Lager