Great Lakes Christmas Ale: A Personal History

The holidays might have been less than stellar, but one tradition has carried over well into 2009.

Thanks to old friend BC, I have spent the past two weeks working my way through two six packs of Great Lakes Christmas Ale - my favorite holiday libation, and easily the best winter ale I ever tasted.

I’m always thankful I didn’t discover it alone. Too often, being a devotee of good beer is a lonely existence; it’s a Flavorless American Lager World out there.

I remember the night well. After Braif, Nirav and myself helped BC and Abigail move into their Northwest Columbus pad in Fall 2004, the couple had us working folk over for a celebratory dinner.

Abigail picked out some mixed six-packs from the Kenny Road Market. As we each picked music while hanging out before dinner, we dove into the bucket of beers and everyone marveled at the Christmas ale. Our adoration of GLCA was so strong, I couldn’t tell you anything else Abigail bought. Nothing like it had come before; our beer worlds had been forever altered.

That winter, it became a regular libation, even at $10 a six-pack, a hike from my typical $6 Goose Island selections at the Sharon Square Beverage Shop. That skillful addition of honey, cinnamon and ginger pushes this ale into the stratosphere. I could no longer separate it from the season.

BC left town in August 2005, Abigail followed in October, but the tradition would survive the 800-mile gulf between us all.

At a 2005 dinner at the Winking Lizard, I landed my official Christmas Ale glass, which has served me well in years since. Before trekking down to Hilton Head to see BC and Abigail, I loaded a cooler with 12 Christmas ales, stocking us up for the week in South Carolina.

By Christmas 2006, the ale departed from store shelves and taps by the week before Christmas. The Winking Lizard last longer than any other pub, but other sad events intruded, so hunting down beer was far from my mind.

In Nashville, it wasn’t a matter of the separating GLCA from the season – distance did that for me.

But 2007 still brought plenty of GLCA. Bob’s Bar returned it to the taps in time for a November trip to Columbus. A few sixers held me over in December, and when back in Columbus for the Mumm-Terman wedding, Bob’s still had some kegs to empty. I gladly aided their cause.

I thought I had almost no chance of scoring some this year, so I turned to an old friend. BC dutifully carted around two six-packs in his trunk for several weeks, until I took ownership on New Year’s Eve.

Two weeks later, I’m slowly coming to the end. I’m down to a pair of GLCAs, and will every savor every drop.

Although I recently discovered that a liquor store in Bowling Green, Ky. (a one-hour drive) stocks Great Lakes beers, that won’t serve any good at this point. Those two are all I have until the tradition resumes in November.

Something tells me BC will once again be involved. I wouldn’t have it any other way.