Christmas Cheer and Christmas Beer

This year's Christmas tree with a beer theme was my best-looking one yet thanks to some feminine touches by my wife Ashlee and our friend, Tarryn, who added silver ornaments throughout and spruced up the six-pack cartons with some glittering spray-on snow.  We also tied on a few empty bottles as ornaments including a home brew made by Tarryn's husband and my friend, Chris.

The beer tree got even more adornment when our friends, John and Monique, surprised me with several strands of beer-cap garland that they made by hand!!  They had a bartender at their local watering hole save caps for them and then drilled two tiny holes in each one and ran steel wire through each.  Above is a close-up view of their fantastic work.

Some of the new-to-me beer that I offered at our annual Christmas party (and whose cartons I displayed on the beer tree this year) were Saranac Brewing's Season's Best Nut Brown Lager, their Big Moose Ale (a hoppy winter pale ale) and their Caramel Porter (by far, my favorite).  I also picked up a six-pack of Abita's Christmas Ale which was very good also.  Thanks to the Mt. Juliet Beer Company for providing such an excellent selection of beer to choose from again this year.

I had a New Belgium Snow Day Winter Ale at my friend, Caroline's Christmas party.  It was tasty.

I also got a couple good high-gravity pints in my stocking from wife including:

Missing Elf Double Bock (9.5%) and Lobster Lover's Porter (8.2%) from the Rinkuskiai Brewery in Lithuania