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What's the difference between normal and Christmas beer? What makes them special?

Jamie Eltringham
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Lucas Kauffman
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3 Answers3

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A Christmas Ale seems to be another term for a "Winter Warmer" beer -- a dark, malty beer (raisins, dark fruit) meant to be enjoyed in colder months, with a warming effect, either from the actual alcohol, or spices it was brewed with (think nutmeg, clove, that sort of thing). To my mind, its kindred to a barley wine, just spiced up. This is not a warm summer day, sitting on the porch, type of beer, as you may have guessed.

So a Christmas Ale is a sub-classification of beers in general.

object88
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What's the difference between normal and Christmas beer?

Beer may be beer to most people, but in Norway the Christmas beer par excellent is the juleøl:

The drink par excellence is the juleøl, the Christmas beer. It is a sweeter than usual beer that norwegians usually drink at Christmas and that is supposed to be good with the big meals. The other traditional drink at this time of the year is the gløgg, mulled wine with spices that people have with almonds and raisins. - The tradition of Julebord in Norway

Christmas beer

Christmas beer

Ken Graham
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Christmas beer are seasonal beers brewed for consumption during Christmas period. These beers often (but not always) contain more alcohol than the brewery's other types of beer and may also contain spicing. It is usually quite dark, but not as dark as a stout, with a big malt presence.

Lucas Kauffman
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  • Not all Christmas beers are higher in alcohol content - but most do indeed contain spices and seasonal blends. Spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, chocolate, etc... – Adam A Jan 22 '14 at 21:07
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    Cool a downvote without explanation. Constructive people being constructive. – Lucas Kauffman Jan 22 '14 at 21:17
  • And I like the comment restating exactly what was said in the answer. – JohnP Jan 22 '14 at 21:24
  • Actually I modified that after the comment :) – Lucas Kauffman Jan 22 '14 at 21:45
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    Perhaps the negative voter was upset that you posted a question with an answer ready? – Greg Jan 22 '14 at 21:57
  • @Greg No, the negative voter, (who, I will add, finds grousing about downvotes sans comments to be the single most offensive thing anyone can do on SE short of posting flat out hate speech), voted down the answer because he felt that it wasn't a very good answer, and didn't do a particularly good job of articulating what makes the "Winter Warmer"/"Christmas Ale" style unique. That said, the pejorative use of the 'r-word' has managed to rile me up even more than your complaining about my downvote, so good job! – LessPop_MoreFizz Jan 23 '14 at 00:59
  • This answer feels like it should be an edit to the original question, since it doesn't answer the question and is more of a clarification on the question – Gamora Jul 10 '19 at 13:19