Happy holidays, seasons greetings, and festivus for the rest of us. Since I dearly love winter beers (with which I love with a sensual fervor that would shake my entire house down)I decided to grab another semi-local delicacy from the rocky mountain region of the southeast Idaho area. I was taken in by a feisty looker that tickled me visually and gave me an immediate reaction, lazer beam, sucked me right in. The beer is Griswald's Holiday Ale from Red Rock brewery in Salt Lake City Utah. For those of you who do not know what the Griswald's is in reference to (PS for legal reasons I'm guessing is why they had to use the A instead of the O), you have lead an empty shell of a life until know. Please go out and rent National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation IMMEDIATELY!!!!! Don't stop for beer (I know heresy), don't pick up your kids, rent this movie, it should be on the naturalization test to be an American. By now you can probably guess why the label sucked me in then, the foot tangled in a smattering of lights, oh the light scene from the movie absolutely classic. And to be honest I do not know how this stroke of genius naming and labeling had been overlooked until now. On to the beer, this one is another standard style of beer in the holiday stable is the spiced beer. A beer that uses a blend of spices such as allspice, cardamom, cinnamon, etc. usually accompanying a sturdy plain ale so as not to overpower or overhop in most cases. Well this one totally undershot that notion and this pony should be put out to pasture and make room for a new recipe. Possibly to the reasons that I just mentioned so there is a nice soft flavor. This one however just has a very bland finish, and doesn't have the solid body of some other beers in this category of holiday ale such as Pike's Auld Aquaintance. According to the alcohol percentage of 8.5% this is another one of those beers that you would expect to be a little heftier in the body and provide a little more fulfilling in the taste department for this beer. Alas it tastes like Clark Griswold watered this one down with his garden hose. If the spices were not in this, I shutter to think how bad this beer would have actually been. It also helps with the smell because the beer hardly tickles the nose at all except for the spices that help to try and keep this pony standing on at least one leg. Now I've had a great IPA from this brewery, so this was kind of dissapointing considering and should not dissuade others from giving some of their other beers a try. Should you buy this, yes for the label along, just give the beer to some of your less refined or beertarded people. Just like alot of the world's newscasters attractive on the outside, with not alot of substance on the inside. Also sorry for the photography I know there are probably some solid finger paintings out there that have a clearer picture.
