A Beer Tribute in Prose (on a Cold Evening in November)

Great beer

Winter is coming. Know how I know? It wasn't the white walkers I saw the other night and it isn't because Ned Stark told me so. It’s because Jim Koch and the boys up at the Boston Beer Company have released their “holiday and winter-themed” Sam Adams variety pack. Which brings me to my annual rant about Old Fezziwig Ale and how it is the best Sam Adams beer there is and how they should offer it by itself in bombers and sixers. Needless to say, this rant is not that dissimilar to my rant about why the chex mix people don’t package a bag of JUST RYE CHIPS and spare us all the other garbage that goes into a bag of chex mix. (actually, you can get such a thing from Nuts.com)

But I digress.

My obsession with Fezziwig goes back many years, and yet I remember the first one like it was yesterday. The spice blend that goes into that brew is sublime. It’s not necessarily which spices and barley blends they use, but the proportions as well… it’s a thing of beauty. I don’t typically get excited to the point of mania over other seasonal brews, but the first Fezziwig siting of the year is an event to celebrate.

So last night, while at someone else’s house, I spotted the Sam Adams winter seasonal collection by the fireside and knew right away I had only one mission… drink the Fezziwig. Both of them. I didn't even feel bad about it. I am a generous soul until there is Fezziwig involved. I would've had three if there were three in the box. Why aren't their three in the box? Or four? Seriously, Jim… what gives? Why can’t we have more than two Fezziwigs in a single package? See my previous comments about sixers and bombers of Fezziwig.

An artist's rendering of Fezziwig's feast - also how I behave
when drinking this fine winter warmer

Full disclosure – I really enjoy this time of year because of beers like Fezziwig. The pumpkins are great in the fall, and then they make way for the winter seasonally spiced beers. If ever the phrase “craft-brewed happiness” was manifested into a real thing beyond just being a concept, this is it. These beers are unadulterated joy and elation in a bottle (or can, or from a tap… whichever you got). And having never been to the Boston Beer Company, I have no idea if they fill growlers of Fezziwig, but they should… for all you Bostonians.

As for the rest of us, I recommend drinking this beer if you happen upon it at a holiday party this season. Unless you’re at the same party I’m at… then we will fight. Winner gets the Fezziwig.

Here’s to craft-brewed happiness… Cheers!